NYC to NYC, heading via NC-FL-GA-TN-MI-Canada-MA

Hi there!

We'll planning on coming over from the England to the US in August for 3 weeks driving. We're flying into and out of NYC and renting a 7 seater mini van for the trip as there are 5 of us - 4 of whom will be driving.

We are progressing steadily on our scheduling - for the most part trying to work out how much time we should be wanting to spend in each location. We've calculated fuel costs (based on $4 - which trust me, is extremely cheap compared to over here!) so theres no issue there.

I feel that we have hit a [road] block of sorts, in that we're not natives to the USA, so we don't have the common knowledge of stores, outlets, government regulations - the sort of things you pick up from growing up/living in a country. I'm not sure if I'm missing any obvious websites to find information about places to see, eat at, drink at and sleep in.

New York - > Washington
Washington - > North Carolina
North Carolina - > Orlando (Theme Park!)
Orlando - > Miami
Miami - > Key West
Key West - > Atlanta
Atlanta -> Tennessee
Tennessee - > Chicago
Chicago - > Toronto
Toronto -> Montreal
Montreal -> Boston
Boston -> New York

I realise there is a lot of stops in there, but we're quite happy to put in the hard work. I've a lot of experience driving the west coast of America, so the east is a new experience for me.

For the major cities listed, I think our plans are fairly good, but any suggestions would be welcome. I really wondered about Tennessee and North Carolina - Any towns recommended over others? It would be nice to find some smaller towns with "real" people.

On a completely different note, I'd been looking into the possibility of taking a day out of driving to camp (tent or cabin) in some of the USA's wilderness - I assumed a national park? The Great Smokey Mountains sounded great, and I'd seen suggestions in the forum for the Newfound Gap Road. It a slightly romantic vision of life in the wilderness, we'd all really like to get away with camping out under the stars with a fire and the suggestion of fishing for dinner came up. I've no idea how possible this is as such things over here are fairly restricted - many rules about fires, camping, fishing and keeping the caught fish. I've checked the rules on the NPS.gov site, but it would appear all too easy - have I missed a catch or three? (pardon the pun) I'm a rather seasoned camper, so roughing it isn't an issue.

Please forgive the long post, I thought some background might be nice.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks so much in advance .

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

I've been to the British Isles maybe half a dozen times, doing RoadTrips on all but the first visit, and I have never had any trouble adjusting almost instantaneously to the local culture, driving on the other side of the road, finding good places to see, eat and stay. I strongly suspect that the same will be true for you when you come here. Especially with the globalization of trade, you will recognize many of the same stores, restaurants, and hotels. More's the pity! Yes, gas (petrol) costs only half as much here, but don't try to convince most of us that it's cheap. I doubt that you will even be aware that we have a government, you will have so little contact with it once you clear customs. Traffic laws are nearly identical the world around. However, one of the hosts of the BBC(?) show, Top Gear, once famously noted that America's sole contribution to civilization was the rule that allows you to make a right turn at a red light, once you have ascertained that you will not hinder traffic that has the green light! And with all due modesty (After all, I stumbled on this site just as you did) you have already found the best web site for getting information regarding RoadTripping in America. As a case in point, here are 26 (or so) things to see/do in each state. And here and here are a couple of sample itineraries for the general area of the country you'll be exploring. And your 'dream' of "camping out under the stars" is really quite attainable Every forest in the National Forest system offers some sort of dispersed camping - just check! The one item in your list of things to do that might require some care is your intention to fish. That is regulated on a state by state basis and most, if not all, will require you to purchase some sort of permit, but a little inquiring at any welcome or visitors center, or fishing supply store ('bait and tackle shop'), should set you up quite easily. Anyway, I do hope you enjoy your trip and come back often.

AZBuck