Rhode Island to North Carolina

[pmc2428]

I will be traveling in an RV this summer from Providence RI to Morganton, NC. I have never drove to NC and was hoping someone could tell me what is along the way. I wouldn't mind stopping at a few places of interest along the way. For example, is Hershey Park along the way? What must see attractions are between RI and NC? I appreciate any and all advice. Thank you in advance.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

What must see attractions are between RI and NC?

The answer to that seemingly straightforward questions depends on two things we don't know: What route you will end up using, and what your interests are. One of the things that make this website unique is that the experienced RoadTrippers, who freely give their best advice here, have seen enough different routes and have diverse enough tastes that they know that there is no single list of 'must see' attractions in any area or between any two points.

So before we can give you any advice, you'd have to at least let us know what your driving styles are. Do you prefer the open road or driving through urban areas? Freeways or two-lane back roads? Is time on the road important or would you be willing to make detours (and how significant) to see something. How many hours do you plan to drive each day? How many days do you have for your trip? Is it one-way or round-trip? Have you driven any of the potential routes before, and if so what did you like and would you be willing to drive them again or more inclined to try something new?

And of course, even knowing your driving style we'd still like to know what interests you and what sort of things you'd like to see. You mentioned Hershey. Is that because you like chocolate or amusement parks? What about history? Any particular time period? Nature? Museums vs. parks? How much time would you want to devote to any given stop? How much overall?

We can't do justice to your question until you at least give us some clues to the answers to the above.

AZBuck

[Lifemagician]

If you do not know what route to take, or if Hershey is along the route to where you are heading, it is time to take out the maps. Electronics will not guide you here. Will not even help you to answer all of Buck's questions.

So if you do not already have them, get hold of some really good maps such as are published by AAA (free to members) and Rand McNally.

Then you might like to start of by following the advice the guru wrote in another paragraph recently.

Start with maps. Not GPS, not software, not Google, but real honest-to-god paper maps that show you your entire route, that you can mark up (and erase), that you can stick pins in, and that show something about the land you'll be driving through. Those are your essential tool in any RoadTrip planning process. Start by marking all the places you know you want to visit. Then connect the dots. Then look for more places of interest and scenic routes along the lines connecting the dots. Repeat until you've got as many sites and roads as you think you want.

You can't do better. Good maps will show you all the attractions along the way, and all the routes you have at your disposal. They highlight scenic routes and show all the towns and cities along the way so you can see how large they are. Follow the guidelines on the 'key' to the maps.

Good maps are invaluable when planning a roadtrip, and essential when on the road. You will see so much more than you ever will on a small, and not so small screen. Don't be tempted to rely solely on your electronics. Many have done so at their peril - some fatal.

Enjoy the planning

Lifey

[pmc2428]

I will be traveling in an RV this summer from Providence RI to Morganton, NC. I have never drove to NC and was hoping someone could tell me what is along the way. I wouldn't mind stopping at a few places of interest along the way. For example, is Hershey Park along the way? What must see attractions are between RI and NC? I appreciate any and all advice. Thank you in advance.

I have contacted AAA and they gave me lots of maps. They suggested taking I-78 to I-81. I do love chocolate so I would like to visit Hershey Chocolate World if it is not too far off the highway. I don't mind making small detours to visit attractions but certainly don't want to go more than an hour out of the way. I enjoy sending time outdoors and spending time with nature. Stopping at parks along the way is of interest to me. I have never been to North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland or Pennsylvania. This is only a one-way trip. I plan on traveling in the middle of July. Thank you in advance for any and all advice.

[Mark Sedenquist]

In about 2 minutes I created this map showing 35 attractions along the most direct route between these two cities. These 35 attractions only represent the places that we've written about within 10 miles of that route. As AZ Buck mentioned, the choice of attractions could number in the thousands depending upon your choice of route and the things that interest you.

If you scroll in on that map (above) and click on any one of the little flags you can see the kinds of places that we like to write about.

While paper maps are fine -- when you are on the road -- there are some pretty great mapping tools on the Web. One of the things you can do as a RTA member is to click on some of the areas along your possible routes and search for those attractions we've written about from 1 mile to 100 miles from that point. That can you help you decide your route.

Mark