A short Thanksgiving trip, starting from New York City

[dtelad11]

After two years of living in the US, my wife and I finally found a long weekend when both of us can go on a trip. We're very interested in using this opportunity to spend as much time as possible outside of NY (or any big city, for that matter). Unfortunately, our knowledge of US geography is pretty limited, and we do not even have a starting point.

We plan to rent a car/van and leave New York on Thursday, 11/25, and return on Sunday, 11/28. Can anyone recommend any interesting roads or destinations we should aim for? During our stay, we've basically seen New York, Washington DC and Boston, and would like to have a taste of the less urban areas of the East Coast.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

That late in the year, and wanting to see "the less urban areas of the East Coast" your choices are actually pretty limited. Fortunately your single good option is also a very good one. Basically what you'll want to do is drive down the coast of New Jersey on the Garden State Parkway to Cape May, take the ferry over to Lewes, DE and then continue south down the Delmarva Peninsula to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Virginia Beach. From there it's a relatively short drive to Nag 's Head, Kitty Hawk,Manteo, and the rest of the Outer Banks. Between the Jersey Shore, the Delmarva Peninsula and the Outer Banks, you will see some of the best uncrowded venues of the east coast. Places you may want to explore at your leisure on the way include the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, Cape Henlopen and Delaware Seashore State Parks, Assateague Island National Seashore, NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility, Chincoteague Island National Wildlife Refuge, Wright Brothers National Monument and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. YOu can mix and match sites seeing some on the way down and some on the way back, or you can take your time working south and just hop on I-95 your last day and make the straight shot run back to NYC.

AZBuck