NC to Maine with cultural/historical/natural stops

[EmilyB]

We are planning a drive from Chapel HIll, NC, to central Maine in mid-July.

We did it last year in 3-1/2 days, taking a route that allowed us to see Luray Caverns (VA), Antietam Battlefield (MD?), Fort Ticonderoga (NY) and Ben & Jerry's (VT). We're hoping to do it in 3 days this year.

We're open to new routes and would like especially to have a 1-2 hr stop each day to see something interesting, preferably on the cheap.

We have an almost-8-year-old boy, who really enjoyed Anteitam and Ft. Ticonderoga.

Any suggestions for diversions would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Emily

[Foy]

Hi Neighbor,

From Chapel Hill, I'd look to run up US 15 from Oxford, through central VA, and there consider Madison's Montpelier, Jefferson's Monticello, or on up to Newmarket in the Shenandoah Valley (along I-81) where the Civil War battle of Newmarket involved "boy soldiers" from the Virginia Military Institute, just south of Newmarket at Lexington. For that matter, Lexington is a good visit.

If you don't jump over to the Valley, you can stay on US 15, skirting the far western suburbs of DC, into and across Maryland, and directly to Gettysburg, PA. Gettysburg is a short hop from Harrisburg, where you can pick up I-81 through the Poconos to Scranton, where you can slant over to NY at Newburgh, visit West Point, and on across western MA. Near Monticello, NY lies the original site of the Woodstock in 1969 (note it's +50 miles from the TOWN of Woodstock, NY). The kids might not get it, but it's a pretty cool sight for Baby Boomer parents (and grandparents).

Stay well west of I-95 and have a ball on your Summer 2011 RoadTrip!

Foy