First Road Trip with Friends!

Hello! So, my friends and I have decided that we are taking a road trip this summer. This will be the first time that we have went on a road trip without a parent. We plan on going the last two weeks of June. Our route is tentatively set as going to Ohio, down through Kentucky and Tennessee, into Alabama, over to Georgia, then up through the Carolinas and Virginia, and back to West Virginia. We know we are stopping at the Lost Sea in Tennessee, we're spending a couple days in Savannah, Georgia, and we're spending a couple days at a beach on the way back up the coast. We were just wondering if there were any other sites we should definitely add to our list and if anyone had any tips or advice? Thank you!

Nickie

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

First RoadTrips can be fraught with problems, mostly because the participants see only the joy and romanticism of being on the road and none of the nitty-gritty of making them actually work. So the first set of steps you need to be aware of are the real basics. First and foremost is the absolute necessity that everyone on this trip be 18 years old or older. If not, you won't be guaranteed of being able to rent motel rooms and you might even be technically in violation of a federal law known as the Mann Act. Second is the cost. I take it from your description that there will be at least three of you and maybe as many as four. More than four simply won't work for two weeks in a single car. For 3-4 people over two weeks, you're going to need in the vicinity of $4,000 by the time you budget for food, lodging, gas, admission fees, etc.

Once you've cleared those hurdles, we can start giving you some more detailed advice, but before we can do that you first have to be a bit more precise in your description of where you want to go and what you want to accomplish. A simple list of states doesn't really help anyone narrow down the nearly infinite range of possibilities that could be included in your itinerary.

AZBuck

Oh yes, everyone going on the trip are 19. There are three of us that are going right now. I really think what we want to accomplish is just to find some fun things to do together. We are really looking for like natural attractions, like taverns and whatnot. We also really like unusual attractions. We had planned on stopping at the Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue in Georgia. We are also planning to go down to the South of the Border rest stop. We had planned on going over to the World's Largest Rocking Chair in Missouri, but we couldn't afford it. So really, nothing is off the table when it comes to attractions. But we are also trying to enjoy the areas that we end up in. So, if we need to cut down our route, that's not a problem either.

Please do not edit posts after others have commented on them. - Mod

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natural attractions, like taverns

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I hope you meant caverns!

I did! I don't know why I put taverns!

We still don't know where you're starting from in West Virginia or what you'd like to do other than see one underground lake, one city, and "spend a couple days at a beach". But assuming you're simply looking for nature and entertainment, there are at least a few places on your very general route that might interest you. You can head a little bit farther west in Kentucky than you otherwise might be planning on and visit Mammoth Cave National Park. If that's out of your way but caves still intrigue you, you could try Carter Caves State Resort Park. Not far from Lost Sea is Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Depending on where you're headed in Alabama, Huntsville and its NASA facilities might interest you, and if you want to miss Atlanta and swing a little farther south in Georgia on your way to Savannah, FDR's Little White House in Warm Springs or the Andersonville Prison National Historic Site in the town of the same name are certainly noteworthy. Heading up the coast from Savannah, Hunting Island State Park offers perhaps your first and best access to unspoiled sandy beaches.

AZBuck

Since this trip is still months away, and you appear to be quite uncertain at this point, as to exactly what you will be doing (I know it is clear in your mind), it may pay for all three of you to take this quiz. It could help focus your planning on the things all three of you want to get out of this trip.

Lifey