Ohio to D.C. to Skyline Drive to Virginia Beach and back

I have been planning a trip at the end of August to head from Ohio to Washington D.C., then travel to Luray to see the caverns and pick up Skyline Drive and then head from there to Virginia Beach. The drive from Ohio to D.C. is about 6 hrs from our location and is easily doable between my husband and I. The problem is (and where I REALLY need help) is the drive home from Virginia Beach to Ohio is a little over 10 agonizing hours in the car. I would love to break this up through out the day with short stops at interesting destinations, but the direction we are coming up is pretty much small towns (I-64 W to I-70 to I-76 [up through VA, WV & PA]). We are making a stop up in Williamsburg on the way home to see Ripley’s, but I would like a few more short stops on the way back. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

(Just an FYI, we are passing by Richmond, Fredericksburg, Winchester, Berkley Springs, Somerset, Pittsburg - but Pittsburg is less than a 2 hour drive from us, so I do not want to stop too close by)

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

From your description, I'm guessing that "passing by" a town indicates your direction of travel and not the fact that you'll be actively trying to bypass those towns by as large a margin as possible, and that "Ohio" means roughly the Akron area. With those two assumptions, here are some suggestions. I have found (as have others) that the way to make a relatively long drive palatable is to (paradoxically) break it up into many shorter segments with decent breaks in between that, while it actually makes the overall drive longer, keeps the driver/navigator more refreshed and engaged. So, what I'm going to suggest is a series of 4 or 5 little 'Sunday drives' to pleasant little attractions where you can get out of the car for a bit, take a short walk or have a picnic in a scenic setting, or otherwise deal with fuel and other necessities of the drive.

Your first stop would be around Fredericksburg. There are several Civil War Battlefields in the area that would make a great short break to just check out the Visitor Center and take a short stroll. Next would be short side trip from Hancock MD down I-70 to Big Pool and one or both of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and Fort Frederick. For a final stop, somewhere just short of Pittsburgh would probably work, like New Stanton or Youngwood, just for an evening meal and a stroll around town. That would break your drive up into four roughly equal segments of just 2½ hour drives each. Allowing for a half hour to hour break at each stop, you'd make the entire drive in about 12 hours total, so leaving at 8:00 in the morning would have you inside your own home at 8:00 in the evening. Yes, it takes longer than just driving, driving, driving, but you should actually end up in better shape.

AZBuck