North East States Trip Suggestions

[emam]

Sitting still for the past year, Cindy and I are really starting to get the itch of staying in one place for too long.

I told her we needed to start planning the next leg of the adventure so I would have something to keep my mind from going stir crazy.

In all our travels, 40 states and over 2 months in Baja, we never made it to the North East section of North America.

We sat talking last night and decided that in 2012, we want to take 6 months or so and leave from Florida and drive up the Eastern Seaboard.

What I'm looking for is a place where members of the forum can post suggestions and tips for what NOT to miss. If all goes as planned, we'd like to keep going and head into New Brunswick & Nova Scotia.

If anyone has route information, please share. I know Norm has spent numerous months traveling through this area, so rather than just send him a PM and get information for myself, I thought it would be good to have a thread that all could read.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated and if I get anything from another forum that I posted this same question, I'll be sure to re-post them here

 

[awellis3]

Hey, Pat, I noticed you are "rigged for boondocking" so what kind of places are you looking for?
I've spent over 40 years trying to see everything in Virginia worth seeing and haven't quite finished.
If you are coming up from Fla. along the coast then Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown for Colonial history. Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg for history of the War of Northern Aggression (AKA Civil War). And Washington D.C. of course.
Let me know what you want and I can help in eastern and central Virginia.

Teach

 

[SteveC7010]

Pat, we are here in the southern Adirondacks. If you plan to see this part of NY, let me know and I can offer some more detailed suggestions.

My first thoughts are:

Kayaking almost anywhere up here is great. Many of the SP campgrounds sit on some fine rivers and lakes.

Visit Old Forge on Route 28, stay at Nicks Lake for a night, and have lunch or dinner with Poppy and Nana. Kayak the Moose River after you've toured Nicks Lake.

If you come up from the south via Route 30, stop here in Northville and we'll take you out on the Great Sacandaga Lake. Stay at Sacandaga Campground.

Go on up to Tupper Lake and spend a day or two at Fish Creek Ponds or Rollins Pond campgrounds. Lots of good boating, hiking, and more. (We'll be at Fish Creek in June and in August.)

See Lake Placid and the US Olympic venues. Ride the bobsled in the middle of summer - they keep the track frozen year 'round. Lake Placid village is kind of the eastern version of Estes Park, CO.

Take Route 3 over to Plattsburgh and hop the ferry to Vermont. It is big enough for tractor trailers and will save a whole bunch of driving time. And it is one great ride. Photogenic, too.

From the ferry landing on Grand Island in Vermont, head down through the Magic Kingdom and then work your way across New Hampshire and up into Maine. US 1 in Maine is a mix of super touristy and rural. You have to go through Freeport anyway to get up to Acadia NP and Bar Harbor, so stop and see LL Bean's headquarters. Everybody has to do that once in their travels.

All of the SP campgrounds in the Adirondacks are no-hookups but you'll be ready for that!

Let us know, maybe we can connect for a day while you are in the area.

 

[EMD_Driver]

Sounds like a wonderful idea Pat... If you end up in our neck of the woods, would it be possible to get a look at the mods you've done to your Sunline?


Gary


.

 

[poppyandnana]

Pat - if you make it to the Central New York region, we will be happy to show you around this area (Old Forge)......

 

[Tweety]

Steve and I really enjoyed Acadia. I had always heard that Acadia gets really crowded but we were there in July and never had a problem driving to the visitor center to park. We loved bicycling the carriage trails. Park at the lot across from Lower Hadlock Pond and ride the carriage trails that are in the less touristy part of the park. They were so gorgeous with views of the ocean, and blueberries along the trail to snack on and almost no people. Steve recommends one of their more difficult hiking trails that had ladders on it - Jordan Cliffs Trail. We stayed at Hadley's Point Campground...not fancy, but fine for our needs and one of the cheapest in the area. (summer 2007) It was also one of the closest to Acadia. There's a put in point for kayaking right down the road, and a lobster shack that delivers to the campground across the main highway. (although we picked ours up)

 

[emam]

Thanks for all the suggestions already.

It looks like I'm going to have to get a ringed binder and start jotting down the tips people are offering and mapping them to create a route

We're not planning on doing this till the summer of 2012, so hopefully this thread can be chocked full of cool places so it will be a great adventure.

Maybe if the M&G is going on somewhere around that area that year, we can meet up to re-connect with everyone again and meet some of the new members

 

[Gene-SUN]

I have to add my vote for Acadia too. We have been going to Bar Harbor and Acadia for several years and always love exploring Mount Desert Island (Bar Harbor). There are some real photogarphic spots along Sargeant Drive on the way to Northeast Harbor. The views from Cadillac are fantastic.

As a side note, there are some wonderfull lighthouse views going up the coast of Maine to get there such as Nubble light in York and Portland Head Light.

 

[MACK C-85]

General Routing suggestion for the mid atlantic area: I-81/95 corridor in one direction, brings you right through the heart of civil war history Richmond, Washington DC, Annapolis, Baltimore, Frederick, Antietum, MD, Harpers Ferry, WV, Gettysburg, BUTTONWOOD in PA!!! Then stick to the coast in the other direction, Jersey Shore, Delaware Shore, Assateague Island in MD, Chincoteague Island in VA (try to time for the annual pony swim), and Cheasapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel into Norfolk and Williamsburg.

 

[henryj-SUN]

Hi Pat and Cindy,
I was wondering when you'd get cabin fever sitting in one spot. Here's a link to a previous thread

We've been to Acadia NP 3x and will go again in a year or two and have driven from there up the coast into the Maritime provinces--all of it beautiful country. The last time we were there was in Sep. which diluted the crowds considerably, but most attractions were still open. Unfortunately the ferry between ME and Yarmouth, NS has shut down so you'll either have to double back into the US or go a completely different route into NB, to Gaspe, QC, and then down the south shore of the St. Lawrence R. to Quebec City, Montreal and then back into the US in VT. We have done the Canadian part of this loop in 4 wk, but have also been there several times so don't come close to seeing all the attractions in one trip. The weather does get a little dicier in late Sep. and pretty much everything shuts down after our Thanksgiving (your Columbus Day).

One of the big attractions is the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, Halifax, Nova Scotia at the beginning of July. You should either make reservations and go or avoid that time completely. We haven't been anywhere near everywhere, but some of our favorite spots are:
in NS: Lunenberg, Peggy's Cove, Mahone Bay, Halifax, Fortress Louisbourg, Cabot Trail
in NB: Bay of Fundy, Hopewell Rocks, Kouchibouguac NP
in PEI: anywhere; it's not big
in QC: Perce Rock, all of Gaspe Peninsula, Quebec City

Perce Rock is 1200 ft. high and you can walk out during low tide. In Sep. we were almost alone in this beautiful spot. In mid summer you need a motel or campsite just to park your vehicle, then walk or bike.

Gaspe Peninsula

Fortress Louisbourg

Cabot Trail

Henry

 

[ROC-REQS]

Hi Pat,

Thanks for starting this thread.

New England and the Maritimes is a trip that Mary and I have been thinking about doing also and starting to plan on sites to see and places to go.
So I’ll be watching this post closely.

Not sure when we’ll be doing the trip, but thinking about September time frame either 2011 or 2012.

One of my assignments had me working with a group located in Saint John, New Brunswick and here are some ideas they provided me on things to see in the Maritimes:
In New Brunswick:
- Reversing Falls in Saint John
- Hopewell Rocks in Alma
- Fundy National Park
- St. Martins (very close to Fundy)
- St. Andrews (awesome Whale watching!)
- Shediac (cute seaside town)
- King’s Landing outside of Fredericton (this is great if you like History)

In Nova Scotia:
- The City of Halifax
- Peggy’s Cove
- Mahone Bay
- The Ovens in Lunenburg
- Cabot Trail
- Louisbourg Fort

In PEI:
- The city of Summerside
- The city of Charlottetown
- The whole island is very small and all of it is beautiful!!!!

Hutch

 

[Bobo 3008]

Emam,

If your doing the Adirondacks, Swing over to the Thousand Islands region. It is Amy's and mine favorite place to vacation. If you go after Labor Day weekend, the crowds all but disappear. Our favorite park to stay at is Cedar Point SP. There is a review on it at this forum.

Bobo

 

[Nessmuk-SUN]

Being from there originally, Don't forget Lexington and Concord. There is also the Freedom Trail and other wonderful sights in and around Boston especially if you are interested in US history and the Revolutionary War. On the Monday around April 19, the day the "shot heard 'round the world" was fired, there are battle re-enactments on the Lexington Green and at the Old North Bridge in Concord. Get there @ 3:00- 3:30 AM for the best viewing of the battle at about 5:30 if you are going to Lexington. There are some great pancake breakfasts at the local churches afterward. There are plenty of other sites to see in the town too. The White Mountains of New Hampshire are beautiful as well.

 

[Split-SUN]

WOW , I stumbled across this older post , thought I would Bump to top. Started almost three years ago.. Guess the rolling rally never left the station.. Does this guy still have his dual sport motorcycle to bring along... Could be a fun trip up thru Maine & almost Nova Scotia.. We did our Full Time year up thru St Lawrence River , 1000 islands..
If we go now , a bicycle stop in Poughkeepsie New York is worth the old RR bridge 212 ft over the Hudson River , web search Walkway Over the Hudson.. Yes LL.Bean in Freeport is a nice stop . Our son is N.W. of here & have land & small engine dealership. Right along a ATV network, & good hiking at Streaked Mtn... One nice history stop we did twice was HARPERS FERRY where three state come together & the A.T. thru hikers can be seen with the big backpacks.. This would be a typical pic of Maine, rolling farm to boondock & this hide mtn to climb & picnic or ATV

On the West side of Hudson River Saugerties, we stayed at this Nuns Convient, right on bluff of Hudson river, 50 rooms we were only guest,! Good Breakfast.