BOSTON - MIAMI - BOSTON in 3 weeks

[Ben-fr]

Hello everybody. I'm from France and I'm planning to do my first road-trip with a friend on september during 3 weeks. This is our schedule. I'd like your advice : thnigs not to miss, things that I forgot, things that seem impossible,...

DAY 1 (september 4th) : Flight from PARIS to BOSTON

DAY 2 : BOSTON / CAMBRIDGE

DAY 3 : BOSTON - NEWPORT - NEW HAVEN

DAY 4 : NEW HAVEN - PRINCETON - PHILADELPHIA

DAY 5 : PHILADELPHIA / ATLANTIC CITY

DAY 6 : ATLANTIC CITY - CAPE MAY - LEWES - VIRGINIA BEACH - WILMINGTON

DAY 7 : WILMINGTON

DAY 8 : WILMINGTON - CHARLESTON - SAVANNAH

DAY 9 : SAVANNAH - JACKSONVILLE - ST AUGUSTINE - DAYTONA BEACH

DAY 10 : DAYTONA BEACH - ORLANDO (no park) - CAP CANAVERAL - PALM BEACH

DAY 11 : PALM BEACH - FORT LAUDERDALE - MIAMI

DAY 12 : MIAMI - KEY WEST - MIAMI

DAY 13 : MIAMI - EVERGLADES - TAMPA

DAY 14 : TAMPA - ATLANTA

DAY 15 : ATLANTA - MABRY MILL (by BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY)

DAY 16 : MABRY MILL - WASHINGTON (by BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY and SKYLINE DRIVE)

DAY 17 : WASHINGTON

DAY 18 : WASHINGTON - BALTIMORE - NEW YORK

DAY 19 : NEW YORK

DAY 20 : NEW YORK

DAY 21 : NEW YORK

DAY 22 : NEW YORK - PROVIDENCE - BOSTON

DAY 23 (september 26th) : Flight from BOSTON to PARIS

That's it ;) I know some days requests a lot of road but we are not afraid of that and we want to see all we can.

[Quebec Gen]

Bonjour et bienvenue sur RoadTripAmerica!

I think you'll have plenty of time to fool around in 3 weeks since it only takes 2-3 days to go straight from Boston to Miami. Of course it depends on how much time you want to spend visiting each place. However, you did forget an important destination : Cape Cod, PTown is only 1½ hour away from Boston, they have beautiful beaches, art galleries (PTown) and stuff. I believe you can even take a ferry from Boston. Also, you should add Cape Hatteras, NC to your list, especially if you like lighthouses. You're going to love South Beach (Miami) and Key West, such nice places (and people:-) to see there. Eat some key lime pie à ma santé!

Bon voyage!

Geneviève

[Ben-fr]

Merci beaucoup ;)
Thank you for your answer. I will definitely consider to go to Cape Cod but it will be hard because I have only 2 days in Massachussets...
Cape Hatteras, NC and all Outer Banks seems also great.
I'm really excited about that road trip. 2 months to wait... :)

Ben

[Quebec Gen]

Ben,

If you plan on spending some time in Boston, walk the Freedom Trail and go to Bunker Hill Monument for a great view of the city. On your way back, why don't you push it to New Orleans? It's not that far from FLA and it is definitely worth seeing. Real party city, cool people. And then you could cut through the Bayous of Louisiana and through Alabama...See if there are any French folks left down there (good luck!:-).

Je te souhaite un merveilleux premier roadtrip, tu vas adorer!

Gen

[PNW Judy]

Pretty cool itinerary! My only observation: I think you're shortchanging yourself on day 12 and that you should try to spend more time in Key West. Is it possible for you to drive there that day, spend the night in Key West, and then go straight to the Everglades and onto Tampa?

I've never been there but, from everything I know about Key West, I'd sure want more time in that wacky place.

[Mark Sedenquist]

DAY 12 : MIAMI - KEY WEST - MIAMI
DAY 13 : MIAMI - EVERGLADES - TAMPA

Judy is right about this -- it would be a darn shame to spend on only 20 minutes in Key West on this day. (And 20 minutes is the most you could allow to Key West if you really are going to start the day in Miami and return to Miami). The road out to Key West is very fatiguing to try and drive fast -- driving for hours on the causeways will test every fiber of your driving skill -- it is a great road -- but there is something about passing over those miles and miles of ocean that get to you. There are bars and nightlife galore in the keys -- it would be a shame to pass them all by.

You had better plan on a police escort if you think you can drive from Miami through the Everglades and still reach Tampa in one day. You could spend all day in the Everglades and only see a tiny portion of what is there.

I just looked at the rest of your schedule -- you are going to spend 10-14 hours on the road, every single day to meet those objectives. That seems a bit work-like to me.

Mark

[Ben-fr]

Hey everybody

I just did it. I came back home 2 days ago after a 20 days road trip all along the east coast. It was just really great with a lot visits, some new friends and the discover all these big cities : boston, new york, washington, piladelphia, atlanta, miami...
We had some long days on the road (6-8-12-14-15-16, no these are not the numbers from lost... ;)). Of course, we could'nt see everything but we did the most we could. Like we just stay 4 hours in Key West for 8 hours of drive but it was great.
Anyway, I have a website about this road-trip : http://roadtripusa2005.free.fr
Of course, it's in French, but you can see the road we drove each day and all the pictures. If you have any question, don't hesitate...

[Quebec Gen]

Salut Ben,

J'ai adoré ton site web et surtout les éléments rétros, je suis une véritable maniaque de ces trucs là (voiture, logo, etc). Great field report, very humoristic... I completely agree with you about the suburbs of NYC by the way and I didn't have any problem with Kevin's humor...well I think so!:o) So I guess America will see you again pretty soon uh?

Cheers!
Genevieve

[Ben-fr]

Thank you Genevieve.
Yes, we are already thinking about doing an another road trip next year, but this time on the west coast... Il will keep you informed...

[PNW Judy]

Cool website! I love the map and the graphics. Wish I could read it. :-)

I'm glad you had a great time. See you when you come out to the west coast!