Creating the quintessential East Coast Road Trip for Teens

Hello Roadtrippers!

I'm going into my senior year, and planning ahead for a Road Trip for myself and 3 or 4 of my closest mix of friends in June of 2013 as "One Last Hurrah" before College (i.e. mountains of debt.)

We live in Southern PA and wanted to get as far as we can for less than $1000 a person and for a max of two weeks roundtrip (preferably less) heading south.

(The car we would end up using has about 29 mpg.)

What I'm asking of the Roadtrip America community are different stops we can make that are teenage friendly (meaning, not bars or the like). As a group, we're looking for sightseeing, anything low budget, and oddities with a sprinkling of a nice hotel here or a interesting theme park there. We'd love to get a sense of the culture of unique areas and stop at museums (particularly art and weird science), but everything's got to be low cost. We're all working hard already to earn money for this trip!

Along with a list of destinations, I'd appreciate any advice or "must-haves" that a novice road tripper might need in order to have a safe and affordable trip. Thank you in advance!

Welcome!

The very first question we have to ask is this - will all of you be 18 when you go on this trip? If not, there are some legal issues you will have to be aware of, and may or may not be able to be worked around.

Washington DC is probably the best place in the country for a variety of free museums.

It might be nice to do a trip where you went close to the coast one way and through the Appalachians (like along I-81) on the way back, or vice versa. You could visit some beaches and see some nice parks in the mountains, both of which wouldn't be too expensive.

Interesting theme parks -- now there's a question. Along the Eastern seaboard, there are plenty of those.

Near Norfolk/Virginia Beach, you have Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg (not a whole lot of thrill rides there, though, if that's what you're looking for). In Florida there are a BUNCH, from the Walt Disney World to Universal Studios/Universal's Islands of Adventure, all kinds of water parks, Circus World, Sea World, and more. If you want something interesting, hit the Florida Space Coast to the Kennedy Space Center. Warning, however: none of these theme parks are Budget-friendly. They cost an arm and a leg to get in, then your food and drinks are more expensive once you're in. (They will all allow you to bring in your own food.)

Take a peek at the forum, "Saving Money on the Road" for a bunch of budget friendly ideas about hotels, food, etc.

But you'll have to ALL be 18, because of the legal aspect of medical care (in the event of illness or emergency) and more.


Donna