Miami to Boston

[East Coast with kids]

This summer, we have decided to take a month road trip from Miami to Boston as a family vacation. Must stop in Jacksonville, DC and Philadelphia to visit family. Other than that we are free to explore. Please recommend any interesting points along the way. We have a grandmother (in great health) and 3 children ages 7, 12 and 15. Would love any great beaches, nature, history. Must have great food and good hotels to stay. -no road side motels, no fast food- (Any tips on interesting Bed and breakfast, historical homes or great beach houses to stay).
Many thanks for all your recommendations.
East Coast Mom traveling with kids and grandma

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum and congrats on deciding to take the family on an adventure.

I don't have a lot of specifics on things to do along your route, but I would recommend keeping your itenerary as open as possible so you can simply stop at places that look interesting, without worrying about a timetable. A month for this trip should give you time to explore all sorts of great things.

A word of caution however, I don't know how many family friendly B&B's you'll find. In my limited experience, they tend to frown on children.

Here are some more tips for family road trip fun!

[AZBuck]

For a combination of history and beaches, you could hardly do better than a trip up the east coast. For a good overview of what's along I-95, which will form the backbone of your trip in at least one direction (I assume this will be a round trip), look into this book. But most of the beaches and many of the historical sites will be somewhat removed from the interstates. First up, as you head north, are two cities with a plethora of historic homes, Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC. My wife and I spent a week in Charleston a couple of years ago and were barely able to scratch the surface. There are a number of well preserved antebellum plantations along the Ashley River Road. The boat trip out to Fort Sumter is also well worth the time. Since we were there the restoration of the Hunley has proceeded to the point where it is now open to tours. Just north of Charleston, on US-52 is Old Santee Canal State Park with a nice little museum and canoes for rent to travel the canal for a few bucks per half hour.

Some of the best beaches on the east coast are along the Outer Banks of North Caroline and the ferry ride out to Okracoke Island from Cedar Island across Pamlico Sound is only $15. At the north end of the Banks is Roanoke Island and the town of Manteo, home to the first English settlement in the New World, and of course, there's Kitty Hawk. From here up to Philadelphia you've got a choice to make between history and beaches. For history, of course, head up the west side of the Chesapeake Bay through Washington (more obvious sights and museums than I can even begin to list, but most of them are along the Mall and handy from the Metro), Annapolis (the U.S. Naval Academy and quaint streets), and Baltimore (Fort McHenry). For beaches, cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and head up the Delmarva Peninsula, stopping at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility. And perhaps the last undeveloped stretches of oceanfront beach you'll see as you head north are in Delaware Seashore State Park.

Between Philadelphia and Boston, you've got some of the most important location sin the founding of the United States including Independence Hall, the Betsy Ross House, and the USS Olympia in Philadelphia and all the locations along the Freedom Trail in Boston.

I'm afraid I can't help you much on the restaurants and B&B's. But what my wife does to find great lodging is to just do a web search on bed, breakfast and the name of the town, and then just picking the place with the decor that most appeals to her.

Best of luck

AZBuck

[East Coast with kids]

Thanks for the prompt response and all the great recommendations. We love beaches and history, so those are the right things for our family. Any good restaurants or good hotels to stay along the way? (Beach front places in the carolinas? or Amish farm stay in Penn?). Unusual, tipical things.
Thanks.

[East Coast with kids]

For the road trip with the kids, what is the best book guide for the coast with kids. Is the I-95 guide?

Any CDs that you can recommend for the car that are relevant to the region. Or that have historic talks on some of the areas?
The trips' plans are turning out pretty good so far with your help.

Many thanks

[AZBuck]

One book on CD that we've reviewed positively is this one about Washington, DC. As for the kids, I'd encourage you to let them pick their own favorite songs and put them on CDs or tapes (Most rental cars will have provisions for playing both media.) Two or three such compilations by each of your children would be plenty. Children seem to love repetition and will not get tired of hearing the same songs over and over. You might but they won't

AZBuck