learning about the east coast

[aloha07]

I'm flying from Hawai'i to Chicago in October -- then to Wilmette and Winnetka, IL, on to Fort Knox, KY, then to Fort Monmouth, Red Bank, and Little Silver, New Jersey. I have a friend in Provincetown to visit, and don't want to miss a beautiful drive -- have a friend in Indiana and could go that route, or stop in Arlington, VA. I really know the West Coast well and Hawai'i and what not to miss there, but the East Coast has pretty much been an arrive in a plane and see the city experience. Thought I could return to Chicago via Niagara Falls...any ideas are welcome on this trip! I'm not used to big freeways, hoping for smaller ones and something lovely.