East coast road trip need tips

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plymouth4onthefloor

plymouth4onthefloor

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Hello everybody
we are planning our East Coast road trip from Boston, to Niagara Falls, NY, Washington, NJ and all the coast way down to Key West.
We are looking for insider tips not the usual tourist traps, also restaurants and Linedance, Country and car shows.
Best outlook to Niagaras should be from Canada, right? Is the Herb Mc Candless Museum a detour of almost 6h worth?
Thanks for any tips
 
Can't say for sure about the McCandless museum. Not been there myself.
But depending on time day you would be traveling through Raleigh, Durham, and Burlington, traffic is BAD.

Going down the Outer Banks on NC12 is nice. Cape Hatteras lighthouse a must see. Last I heard they do allow people to climb the stairs to the top. Plan on extra time. NC12 is two lanes and beach traffic can be slow plus you will have to wait for and ride 2 ferries. Ocracoke is still fairly nice. Not too built up. If you have the time, rent bicycles and tour the island. It's flat and is an easy pedal. Also, a lighthouse at Ocracoke but, is not open to the public.

Some nice places to eat at Morehead City and Atlantic Beach (coworker goes there fairly often, I'll ask him about dance/intertainment venues).
Mixed reviews recently on Sanitary Market.

Don't know what y'all's interest are. I assume you'll be taking a lady friend so, I'll try to think of various interests.

Get used to "y'all", you're in the South.

Fish Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
NC17 usually rolls pretty good. Avoid it Friday or Sunday evenings. Crowds going to or from the beach.

Battleship NC at Wilmington. Unless, you're really into investigating old ships, you could just admire it from the parking lot and drive on.
Waterfront district in Wilmington has some shopping (esoteric stuff, local handmade crafts, etc. ) and restaurants and bars. Can't think of anything specific. Nice old town dating back to the 1800's or earlier.

If you stay on 17 it'll take you down to Myrtle Beach with a fairly easy drive.
Or continuing down the coast road, Wrightsville Beach is the happening place with bars and restaurants but is expensive. Just parking the car $$.
Carolina Beach has many, many restaurants.
Fort Fisher is a Civil War fort. Not much to see. A public beach access with bath house just a little further down the road. Very nice.
Another ferry will take you to Southport. An old port town. Has a historic district with old homes.


I"ll try to think of car related stuff. Got to go for now.
 
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iScamp said:
Can't say for sure about the McCandless museum. Not been there myself.
But depending on time day you would be traveling through Raleigh, Durham, and Burlington, traffic is BAD.

Going down the Outer Banks on NC12 is nice. Cape Hatteras lighthouse a must see. Last I heard they do allow people to climb the stairs to the top. Plan on extra time. NC12 is two lanes and beach traffic can be slow plus you will have to wait for and ride 2 ferries. Ocracoke is still fairly nice. Not too built up. If you have the time, rent bicycles and tour the island. It's flat and is an easy pedal. Also, a lighthouse at Ocracoke but, is not open to the public.

Some nice places to eat at Morehead City and Atlantic Beach (coworker goes there fairly often, I'll ask him about dance/intertainment venues).
Mixed reviews recently on Sanitary Market.

Don't know what y'all's interest are. I assume you'll be taking a lady friend so, I'll try to think of various interests.

Get used to "y'all", you're in the South.

Fish Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
NC17 usually rolls pretty good. Avoid it Friday or Sunday evenings. Crowds going to or from the beach.

Battleship NC at Wilmington. Unless, you're really into investigating old ships, you could just admire it from the parking lot and drive on.
Waterfront district in Wilmington has some shopping (esoteric stuff, local handmade crafts, etc. ) and restaurants and bars. Can't think of anything specific. Nice old town dating back to the 1800's or earlier.

If you stay on 17 it'll take you down to Myrtle Beach with a fairly easy drive.
Or continuing down the coast road, Wrightsville Beach is the happening place with bars and restaurants but is expensive. Just parking the car $$.
Carolina Beach has many, many restaurants.
Fort Fisher is a Civil War fort. Not much to see. A public beach access with bath house just a little further down the road. Very nice.
Another ferry will take you to Southport. An old port town. Has a historic district with old homes.


I"ll try to think of car related stuff. Got to go for now.
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A lot of great locations in NC, thank you for the great informations. Most of the time we have also great tips from local citizens when we are travelling!
 
I’ve been to the North Carolina battleship twice. THAT! Is one cool place to stop at. Do a little shopping in town. There’s a home made ice cream shop that is very good.

Don’t stop in Washington D.C. unless it’s a federal holiday. On the holiday, it’s a ghost town and it’s super expensive to stay at a hotel. Prohibitive pricing! BUT! The Smithsonian museums are excellent places. Worthy showcases to stop at for anyone. My favorite is the air space museum. Actual real deal used craft inside.

If you break down, give a shout out. There’s plenty of us FABO’ers on the east coast. I’m mid Florida. I’ll be glad to whip out my trailer and get ya if need be.
 
Daytona International Speedway, The Garlits Museum in Ocala a little out of your way, In Georgia go see Stone Mountain they have a real nice Civil War Museum there. If you pass anywhere near Fayetteville NC, they have a Special Forces Museum there that's free, but they ask for a donation. A little hot for car shows this time of year in Florida. Motels in the keys maybe problematic there is a campground in Big Pine Key, but it is usually booked out 2 years or more. You may be better to stay in Marathon and do day trips out on the keys. Also, if headed to the keys pay attention to Hurricane Central as it is Hurricane season.
 
Stone Mountain should be a good park day but stay for the night festival at the carved face side of the mountain. When it gets dark enough for the laser light show, it gets good.
 
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Lots of places in Philadelphia.
You just need an armed escort service.
If you want a good cheesestake
Stay away from Genos And Pats.
 
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Second on Ocracoke, but it'll be some time...maybe down the outer banks, see the lighthouse, then 1/2 hr. ferry to Ocracoke, drive across it, then 2 hrs on the ferry back to mainland (you'll be at the bottom of the Outer Banks, then). Eat at Eduardo's Tacos (we like the shrimp tacos). If you're interested and can't do Outer Banks, Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Art is a very good art museum.

If you do Outer Banks and need a place to stay, as soon as you get off the Ferry back on mainland at Cedar Island, there's a small hotel/campground recently renovated that has horseback riding on the beach, kind of cool.
 
Second, on the horseback riding on Cedar Island. You need to book soon for that.

Jockey's Ridge in Nags Head. Hang gliding on the big sand dune.
Wright Brothers Memorial/museum with a replica of the 1903 camp at Kitty Hawk. Small admission fee.

Amos Mosquito's Restaurant in Atlantic Beach gets good reviews. Never been there myself.

You didn't say the time frame you would be visiting. Cruisin' Car show in Myrtle Beach, October 5.

Your location says: Switzerland. You may not like August in the southeast U.S. 90 degrees+ with high humidity. Late September or early October has very nice weather. Unless there is a hurricane.
 
rumblefish360 said:
I’ve been to the North Carolina battleship twice. THAT! Is one cool place to stop at. Do a little shopping in town. There’s a home made ice cream shop that is very good.

Don’t stop in Washington D.C. unless it’s a federal holiday. On the holiday, it’s a ghost town and it’s super expensive to stay at a hotel. Prohibitive pricing! BUT! The Smithsonian museums are excellent places. Worthy showcases to stop at for anyone. My favorite is the air space museum. Actual real deal used craft inside.

If you break down, give a shout out. There’s plenty of us FABO’ers on the east coast. I’m mid Florida. I’ll be glad to whip out my trailer and get ya if need be.
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Good points for D.C. , battleships are cool to visit, we have seen Midwest in S Diego. Thank you for the offer if we break down in FL.
Marco
 
bcschief said:
Daytona International Speedway, The Garlits Museum in Ocala a little out of your way, In Georgia go see Stone Mountain they have a real nice Civil War Museum there. If you pass anywhere near Fayetteville NC, they have a Special Forces Museum there that's free, but they ask for a donation. A little hot for car shows this time of year in Florida. Motels in the keys maybe problematic there is a campground in Big Pine Key, but it is usually booked out 2 years or more. You may be better to stay in Marathon and do day trips out on the keys. Also, if headed to the keys pay attention to Hurricane Central as it is Hurricane season.
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our trip is planned for may 2024, should be more relaxed than holiday season. Thank you for the Georgia and NC, its harder to get some sightseeing from there than FL!
Marco
 
B-i-n-g-o said:
Second on Ocracoke, but it'll be some time...maybe down the outer banks, see the lighthouse, then 1/2 hr. ferry to Ocracoke, drive across it, then 2 hrs on the ferry back to mainland (you'll be at the bottom of the Outer Banks, then). Eat at Eduardo's Tacos (we like the shrimp tacos). If you're interested and can't do Outer Banks, Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Art is a very good art museum.

If you do Outer Banks and need a place to stay, as soon as you get off the Ferry back on mainland at Cedar Island, there's a small hotel/campground recently renovated that has horseback riding on the beach, kind of cool.
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cool insider tips, thank you. Hope we have enough time!
Marco
 
Be very careful on I 95.

In the state of Georgia, do the speed limit not much more. In Florida, it becomes a free-for-all and is like running the Indy 500 track. On qualified drivers serpentine me in and out of traffic at 100 miles an hour. This, is not a joke! Be careful!
 
If you're crossing the Susquehanna on 95 South in MD and it's ice cream time, about 3.2 miles off I 95 exit 80 is Broom's Bloom ice cream shop. That have sandwiches and soup too. The ice cream machines are in the field. 1700 S Fountain Green Rd, Bel Air, MD

Havre de Grace has an antique row, nice little shops that's fun to explore. There's the decoy museum, lock house museum and plenty of places to eat, shop. It was almost our nations capitol, but they picked a different swamp.

Stay away from Baltimore.
 
The Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel is a work of art to cross if you make it that way. It connects the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Virginia Beach Virginia. The bridge is built with two tunnels to allow space for ships to float over.

As others have said, North Carolina Outer Banks is a neat drive. My wife and I were married barefoot on the beach at the Oregon Inlet in Nagshead, so I'm a little biased.

If you stop in Savannah, Georgia for the night, stay at The Marshall House. It was used as hospital during the Civil War. My wife and I stayed there and "no lie", we were awakened at 3 am by screams. Needless to say we didn't sleep much after that.

Definitely Key West, Florida. The first time we drove the keys, you couldn't tell where the sea ended and the sky began. It was breathtaking!! It's a requirement to have your picture taken in front of the buoy marking the "Southernmost Point of the US", only 90 miles to Cuba!
 
44070dart said:
Chef's restaurant near Museum, Italian restaurant, good food. Canadian Niagara Falls much better, safer. Clifton Hills, Niagara Falls, CND, kind of tourist trap, but some cool places.
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The Buffalo Navel Park is there too. You can spend the day walking through the ships.

Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park | Family Museum

The Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park is a museum in Buffalo NY honoring the US Armed Forces; USS Little Rock, USS Sullivans, USS Croaker.
buffalonavalpark.org buffalonavalpark.org
 
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