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Well, 'Great Lakes' covers an awful lot of ground for your starting point. Given that you say you don't want to go through Canada/Niagara Falls, I can assume that you're starting out from somewhere west of Detroit, but that's about it. If you're just interested in getting to Maine in relatively short order, then I-90 is your route of choice. If you're looking for something more leisurely, then you might want to consider US-20 or US-30 through Ohio and US-6 through northern Pennsylvania. Once you're in New England, there is no dearth of things to see.

AZBuck