Family Trip from Virginia to Philadelphia (and Back!)

[abrynnes]

Hi!
My siblings and I are planning a road trip this summer from our hometown in southeastern Virginia to Philadelphia, PA. We're hoping to spend nights in Richmond, VA; Washington, DC; Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia, PA; and a small town in southern Delaware on our way back home. We don't have anything planned at all, but we're starting to work on our plans. I was just hoping for some general advice about where we should go along our route and we're open to any sites that you can suggest. Also, we're still looking for a place to stay in/around southern Delaware, so if anyone has any advice, please feel free to share!
Thanks for your help!

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

You didn't say how long the trip will be, which will make a big difference in what we might offer. You could also help us help you by telling us a little about your interests. At RTA, we don't do "one size fits all"; we try to tailor recommendations to the interests of the traveler -- that's the beauty of a road trip!

Also, when you say "southern Delaware", did you want coastal or inland? (Watch out for those beach towns if planning to stay on a weekend. Get reservations!)


Donna

[AZBuck]

As Donna pointed out, the advice we'd give you very much depends on what you'd like to see/do and how much time you have to do it. But here's some simple advice and why it depends on things you haven't told us.

None of the four cities you've mentioned are particularly car friendly so the one thing you don't want to do is plan to stay in the suburbs and commute in and out each day. Not only would you be fighting traffic but parking is scarce and expensive. So you should plan on either staying outside the city near a rail/bus/subway connection or staying at a hotel in the heart of the city that offers reasonably priced parking. In both cases, you'd be doing most of your actual exploring of the cities on foot or using mass transport. Personally, I'd aim for the western/northwestern fringes of those cities, avoiding I-95 altogether, and using routes such as US-522, US-15, US-1 and connecting state highways between my major stops.

As far as where to stop on the Delmarva Peninsula, there are any number of great small towns that would make for a pleasant overnight stop on your way home. Dover or Georgetown in Delaware, or Federalsburg or Salisbury in Maryland would make a nice overnight stopping point since each of them have compact and walkable 'downtowns'. I would probably avoid both the Atlantic shore (too crowded and expensive in the summer) and the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake (mosquito and gnat heavy).

But again, the more info you can give us on what you want to accomplish and any time or budget constraints you have, the better and more useful the advice you'll get.

AZBuck

[abrynnes]

Hi Donna!
Thanks for the welcome!

Sorry about leaving out pertinent information. Here's all that we know so far:
We're planning for 8 days (including the return to VA) staying two nights in DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.

We're interested in the arts and history. I've been looking at some of the options for our interests and we've found a couple of examples: the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond and Edgar Allan Poe sites (in VA, PA, and MD). Also, any and all National Parks always peak our interest. Also, not all of us are old enough to drink so we're trying to avoid sites that won't allow all of us to participate, which means to breweries or wineries.

I actually spoke to my siblings and they would prefer to spend more time in bigger cities so we won't be staying the night in Delaware. That being said, do you have any suggestions for sites to see in that part of Delaware and Maryland mostly oriented toward history, art, and local culture. I should also mention that I would prefer inland sites because we live close to the beach in Hampton Roads, so we know what small-town coastal cities look and feel like.
Again, thanks so much for all the advice!

Let me know if you have any more questions or need any more information.

[DonnaR57]

In Philadelphia, of course there is the Historic District, in itself a national historic park with the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, many other buildings, and right across the way is Benjamin Franklin's grave (and his wife Deborah's). Also nearby is the US Mint. If you like "arts" that include organ music, trot up the main drag about 7 blocks to Macy's, now the home of the famous Wanamaker Organ. There are concerts daily -- current 2017 schedule appears to be at noon every day, and either 5:30 pm or 7:00 pm every day -- click to get the schedule.

Have you ever been to Chincoteague Island? That's actually in the very northern corner of Virginia, but we were able to see two of the wild horses when we were there a few years back. So exciting, as I had read Marguerite Henry's books when I was a child. Nearby was a small Goddard space history museum, right along the way, along with all sorts of satellite dishes in a field belonging to the Goddard center.



Donna

[AZBuck]

The Chesapeake Bay area, which broadly defined includes most of your RoadTrip, is of course filthy rich in both History and the Arts. And therein lies a problem. You're going to have to be brutally rigid in cutting down on the number of places you do decide to actually visit. Even with taking out the overnight stop on the Delmarva Peninsula, you will have at best a single full day in each of the cities you plan to visit, and a single day to drive between each successive pair. But that does leave you a little time to visit a site or two on each driving day. Given that time constraint, I'd urge you to plan on staying as close to the city centers as possible, driving into town after rush hour (not so important since you will be going the opposite way from traffic, but still...) and leave after rush hour on the morning of your departure.

That said, you do have a day/night unaccounted for. Your last post said that you plan to take eight days for the trip, but you still only have six nights accounted for. So, where do you spend that seventh night that was going to be in southern Delaware? Spent in any of the cities you mentioned, it would allow for two full days in that city rather than just one. Personally, I would probably spend it in Washington, home to so many historic monuments and museums, art galleries, and iconic government buildings that even two full days would barely let you scratch the surface of what's available.

OK, so what is available in those cities that might pique your interest but wouldn't be as obvious as the National Mall in Washington, Fort McHenry in Baltimore, or Independence Mall in Philadelphia? And on the drives in between?

If you plan to visit the Fine Arts Museum in Richmond on your way to DC, I'd say that and the driving would be plenty. One of the common mistakes made on initial RoadTrips is to try to pack too much in, resulting in just running from place to place and not spending nearly enough time at any stop to really appreciate it or learn anything.

In DC, the Smithsonian comprises at least a dozen different museums. Those of particular interest to you might include the American Art Museum, the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. Non-Smithsonian sites would include the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Just walking the length of the Mall between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial will take you past more memorials and museums than you could possibly explore in even two days.

Between Washington and Baltimore, you can take a side trip to visit Annapolis, an historic and very beautiful town on the shores of the Chesapeake that is eminently walkable, and is also home to the U.S. Naval Academy. Or, you can just use the time to stay in Washington a bit later or arrive in Baltimore a bit earlier.

In Baltimore, besides the aforementioned Fort McHenry, there's also the Inner Harbor; and besides Poe's grave at 515 W Fayette St., there's the site of his death at ~1501 E Fayette Street. It is now a set of newly constructed condos but was formerly the location of Washington Medical College in October of 1849 when Poe died there.

Between Baltimore and Philadelphia I would strongly recommend that you try to avoid I-95. I absolutely hate that road. It is basically a bumper to bumper parking lot with all the cars moving at 75-80 mph. And they charge you to drive it! Instead, leave Baltimore using I-95 (It's really your only workable option out of the city) but then leave it at Exit 74 and use MD-152 north to US-1 and take that north to Philly. That will take you over the Conowingo Dam and past the Brandywine River Museum of Art (home to a world class Wyeth collection, they have a home nearby), Brandywine Battlefield Park (site of a major fight of the Revolutionary War), and Logwood Gardens (a horticultural masterpiece). You probably can't visit all those since, as I said earlier, you have more choices than time.

In Philadelphia, again there's the obvious: the Museum of Art and Independence Mall, But you might also want to look into Elfreth's Alley, the Betsy Ross House, the USS Olympia (Dewey's flagship in the Spanish-Aerican War), and even the Italian Market along South 9th Street.

Finishing off with a drive down the Delmarva, I think your best bet is still to take a break in Dover DE, another quaint and historic town where a little walk would do you good. The same could be said for Georgetown DE but US-13 provides a slightly faster route down the peninsula. And of course you can make a short stop n one of the islands built to be part of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and just enjoy the view and salt air.

AZBuck