Rhode Island through the East coast

[demersw]

My family and I wanted to take a nice road trip before the kids have to go to camp. I want it to last about a week and we are traveling from Rhode Island. Our destination is Washington D.C. but I was wondering of possible sites that we can visit on the way there and back. I know there are a lot of historic landmarks throughout that area so does anyone have any ideas?

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

I just got back from a similar (completely different) trip with my two grandsons between Tucson and LA, and yes a couple of stops each way really help to break up the trip. I think you could make do a couple of 1-2 hour stops and still make the trip in a day. So here are two different routes with a few possibilities along each one.

1) From Providence(?) head to South Glastonbury, CT (south of Hartford) and take the ferry across the Connecticut River to Rocky Hill and Dinosaur State Park. Then Swing wide around New York City on I-84 to Port Jervis, NJ and come down through the Delaware Water Gap on US-209. PA-33 and I-78 will then take you to the Harrisburg area from which US-15 will take you by Gettysburg and allow you to approach DC from the less traffic clogged northwest.

2) Hug the coast and stop at Mystic Seaport, then as you're leaving the New York metro area, a stop at the site of the Battle of Monmouth is in order. After crossing the Delaware River, if time permits, you can take a swing down through the Eastern Shore to St. Michaels and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum before crossing the Bay Bridge past Annapolis and into Washington on US-50.

Or you can always just take I-95 and make stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore.

AZBuck