NYC to Chicago

[grasshopper]

We're planning a road trip from NYC to Chicago the last week of August,on a 7-day trip, so there's no rush to get there. We are going to be 3 guys and a girl, all of us in their late twenties. I'm kind of confused trying to find a rout that will combine nature and "real" american culture. We thought of maybe stopping a day or so at the Great Lakes (even driving into Michigan for that) for a chill-out beach day, or even drive to St Louis and take Route 66 to Chicago from there (obviously, not both!). Other things we thought about, and I hope you can correct me if you think it's crazy, are: Mackinac strait, Nashville, Mamooth caves, Blue grass trail, Niagara...

We think we've got plenty of days to take "the long way" but we would like to know any cool places to visit that will make our trip memorable. Any suggestions?

By the way, we're all from Spain. Thanks!!

[Paulinakelly]

Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan is on the way to Chicago. It's located on Lake Michigan, but near the Michigan/Indiana border so you wouldn't have to drive too far North into MI to see some nice beaches.

http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/parksandt...=504&type=SPRK

[AZBuck]

Bienvenido al bordo RoadTrip América foros! Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Pretty much everything you've listed falls on one or the other of two mutually exclusive long ways to get from New York to Chicago. The northern route would have you go up through New York state through the Finger Lakes region to Niagara Falls and cross into Canada (Make sure that your car rental agreement allows this.), then up through Toronto and over the top of Georgian Bay/Lake Huron to Sault Ste Marie and back into the US. You would then come over the straights of Mackinac and follow the eastern shore of Lake Michigan to Chicago.

The southern route would have you first come down through Philadelphia and Baltimore to Washington, DC and then southwest along the Shenandoah Valley and/or Blue Ridge to the Great Smokey Mountains. Head west from there to Nashville and then north to Mammoth Cave an up through Blue Grass country to Indiana and on to Chicago. St. Louis is also possible on this drive, but might be a reach, and Route 66 was decommissioned 25 years ago and doesn't officially exist anymore, although you can follow the old roads with some careful navigation in the Chicago area.

AZBuck