I had posted on this forum with amazing results a couple of years ago when I was driving from NY to New Orleans. Thank you so much to those who helped me out then. I have passed this site on as a resource to many friends who have also had awesome experiences. I was hoping to have the same success. I'm about to leave on a trip that over three weeks will take me from New Orleans up to Acadia National Park, passing through Charleston, Durham, the Outer Banks, New York (to see family) and then up to Maine.
The parts that I don't have ironed out that much are my time on the outer banks, I'll be there from August 9-11 (3 nights) and then my time in Maine which will be August 20-25 (5 nights).
I have been trying to get my research done but its been difficult to find interesting and credible information. I'm very interested in nature and scenic things and it would be fun to go camping in either or both of these places. I really enjoy off the beaten path kind of things and food (I already have plenty of recommendations for the latter though).
My initial thought for the outer banks was to drive from durham to cedar island and take the 2pm ferry over to ocracoke. Camp there at the NPS site for that night and explore the next day and night. Then for our last night, drive up the island to hatteras and leisurely make our way up to nags head or kill devil hills to stay for the night, stopping along the way at beaches or whatever we might see. Id love any suggestions about what to do along the way or on ocracoke for that matter other than just general exploration. I'd even be up to changing the plan entirely over those days but it seemed like a way to head north without being redundant as opposed to driving to the outerbanks directly and then going up and down multiple times.
Then for Maine I was looking to get up to Portland from close to NYC and then take the next 4 days to drive up route 1 (along the coast) to get to acadia national park. I am absolutely clueless about Maine and the park. I'm just intrigued by the idea of Maine being this pristine beautiful, not overly hot amazing location. I'd love to hear about inexpensive places to stay along the way. Which towns or islands to stop in. What to explore in the park with only a couple days and where its worth it to camp.
I'd like to stay more away from commercial areas and find some really unique beauty on this trip. I'm going with two of my best buddies.
Thanks so much in advance for the help and I'm leaving on Thursday morning. Its exciting that it's happening so soon.