Roadtrip north/south east USA: New York --> Miami, May 2015: Which route?

[The Driving Dutchman]

Hey everybody,

It's time for a new roadtrip!

The last one was in may/june 2013 and covered 9 western states and 5000 miles of driving.
The thread can be found here: http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum...read.php?31502

This time my girlfriend and i would like to start in New York and finish in Miami, we really love beautiful scenery (NP's), old parts of cities, beautiful coastlines, and so on.

So nothing is set in stone and i would really like to hear any advice or 'must see' tips you guys have.
Please take a look at the attached picture of a google maps route i just made, we'll go for the period of three weeks this time and don't mind driving.
Last roadtrip we drove 8200 KM in 25 days, so if we have about 3000 miles to cover in three weeks: that's ok.

Thanks in advance!RouteOptie2JPG.jpg

[edit1]Oh I forgot to mention we pretty much hate the regular big interstates and try to avoid those for 80% of the time.

[edit2]About last time...we drove in a loop from SF through the parks, through Nevada, Arizona, Utah to Montana and back through Oregon and down the Cali coast.
What we liked/remembered most are: Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Arches, Yellowstone, Crater Lake, Californian coast and of course just the superb diversity of things...
I know that won't be possible on the east side, but still!

[edit3]Other stuff that makes us happy is driving through small rural towns, getting to know the locals a bit and getting their point of view on stuff (and tips what we should do and see :D )

[Boothimd]

Hi Dutchman, we live in Maryland and know a little about the east coast I will list somethings you may like and can look in to. The Baltimore inner harbor, Fort McHenry, St. Michael's, Pigeon forge and Gatlinburg Tenn., The smokies Mountains, In Georgia there is a place call Jekyll island its a place you don't want to miss they also have a Hospital where they save the turtles and you can go., St.Augustine Fla., and Cedar Key Fla. is a small town and a lot going on. there is so much i just can't name them all, these are some of the best.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

First let me also welcome Boothimd to RoadTrip America as well. It isn't often that a new member's first post is an offer of help to another RoadTriper, and it is much appreciated.

Driving Dutchman's map seems at first blush to combine a couple of my favorite trips from days past and so I will start by first directing you to previous descriptions/discussions of the drives around New York State and down the interior of the east coast.

More generally, I share your aversion to pure Interstate travel, especially when tolls are involved. It is generally easy to avoid the superslabs (if you are of a mind to) in the East where the bulk of the former and current "US" highway system is located. Routes like US-11, US-15, and US-31 are good north-south interstate (small 'i') routes along or near the Appalachians. More generally north-south US routes that end in 1 or 5 tend to be major routes. In the southeast especially, many of these roads are dual-carriageway and allow for rapid, relaxed, scenic travel where you can bypass or enter small towns as the mood strikes you.

AZBuck

[DonnaR57]

If you like nature and scenery, look into Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive. It runs between Front Royal, VA and Waynesboro, VA, paralleling I-81. Bear in mind it's pretty slow, mostly 30mph plus all the stops you want to make. When we traveled through there 3 years ago, it took us over 5 hours to make the 105 mile drive, but we felt it was well worthwhile! My husband was especially interested in Stonewall Jackson's ties to the area, and both of us enjoyed the scenery. We didn't see much wildlife though we were out early in the day, except for some bees, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.


Donna

[The Driving Dutchman]

First of all: Thanks Boothimd, AZBuck and Donna!

I realize the info i gave is pretty limited and that there are a lot of ways we could travel down to Miami.

In the latest chat i've had with the gf, she mentioned that she'd love to visit the places with a "southern feel" (she means Louisiana and in particular New Orleans)

So combining our love for nature/scenery, coastal routes (and ending with a fair amount of high temp days for the semi-cold blooded gf) i've come up with a different trip.

I'd really like opinions on this one as it crosses through the Appalachians and connects with New Orleans and follows the coast down and into Florida.

Please take note that this is just a google maps route with a couple of waypoints and a slight "drag'n drop" so any info or places to see along this route or places NOT to see is really appreciated!

[Lifemagician]

From New Orleans I can highly recommend you take US90 rather than I-10, and then US19/27 out of Tallahassee. The former being a great drive along the beach. US19/27 is virtually interstate standard. It is a very pleasant scenic drive. I have only taken it as far as Ocala, but there is no reason to believe it would be any less enjoyable/scenic into the Tampa area. If your girlfriend is interested there is a quilt museum along that route.... somewhere around Chiefland, if I am not mistaken.

Further south you have two options to cut accross Florida. There is Alligator Alley, which is a toll road, and there is the Tamiami Trail - US41. This takes you through the Everglades, although not the national park. The short detour on route 94 has a real Everglades feel to it. US-41 also passes through Big Cypress national preserve, the refuge of the last 120 or so, panthers in FL. Tours are held regularly, and if you're lucky you might get to see a panther in the wild.

Both have a lot to recommend them, it all depends on what interests you most.

Lifey

[The Driving Dutchman]

I wanted to edit the startpost with some new info, figured that was easier for people reading this thread for the first time, but i can't seem to find the edit button?


Here's the latest possible route, we'll be landing at JFK on may 21st and departing from Miami on june 12th.

By the way i just found out about 'one way fees' at the rental car companies... darn that could cost us anywhere between 300 and 800 dollar extra for the rental car!! :(

[Midwest Michael]

I wanted to edit the startpost with some new info, figured that was easier for people reading this thread for the first time, but i can't seem to find the edit button?

The edit button isn't there, because that's exactly what we don't want people to do! You can only edit your posts for a brief period after you've posted, basically to allow you to clean up typos or other minor mistakes.

If you edit your post after others have responded, it makes it much more difficult for others to read the thread - especially because the responses often no longer make sense. If you edit your post, it also mean that those who originally read your post often won't see your changes. Finally, the planning of an roadtrip is an evolution, and the first plan rarely is the final one, so showing others how things have changed from your original plan has it's own value.

[Lifemagician]

By the way i just found out about 'one way fees' at the rental car companies... darn that could cost us anywhere between 300 and 800 dollar extra for the rental car!! :(

This is one reason why mostly you will find recommendations here for loop trips. The other is that flying in and out of the same airport often attracts a similar saving.

And to illustrate Michael's point, I just went back to your first post and realise you have added a couple of things which were not there the first time I read it. Things to which I would have made a positive comment.

Lifey

[Yeehaw]

We often use www.drive-usa.de for carrental. Good service and reliable. We rented cars from Newark bit cheaper than from NY but actually I suggest to take public transport (train) between NY, Philly and DC because you don't need a car there and pick up the car from DC. If you are keen on southern cities you should not miss Charleston and Savannah and also St. Augustine Fl makes a great visit. We did the whole of Blue Ridge parkway 20 years ago and found it quite boring after a while. Also between Memphis and Nola dont miss places like Vicksburg and Natchez and try to drive the old hw1 through MS.
Yeehaw