DrewE wrote:
There is a lot more to New England than big cities and the Maine coast, you know. We do also have rural areas in abundance, and mountains, and small towns, and state parks that are fairly reasonably priced to camp in. I'm not unbiased, not in the least, but I think New England and upstate New York would make for a great trip.
I might suggest as one possible rough itinerary going up the seaboard cities (Washington DC, Philly, Boston, etc.) on the way north, also stopping at Mystic Seaport, possibly Newport, RI, and Cape Cod, maybe about 2 weeks or a bit more. Next a week meandering up the Maine coast, including a few days at Acadia and Bar Harbor, preferably making it all the way to Quoddy Head. Then a few days in the White Mountains, a few in Vermont, and over to New York. In New York, maybe Watkins Glen for a day, Letchworth State Park for a couple, a day or so at Niagara Falls, and then start heading south. Knoebels (in PA) for a day, and take a week or so meandering down Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway to get back. That probably works out to be a week or two too long...but it might be my starting point.
Just GSM NP, the BRP, Skyline Drive, and then PA and upstate NY would also make for a fabulous trip, for that matter.
I'm also a biased New Englander (currently living in RI, but have lived in MA and VT as well) and I could not agree more with this itinerary! I would check out a little bit more of RI (Charlestown Breachway, Fisherman's Memorial for state park camping; Newport, Providence, Slater Mill in Pawtucket...the Big Blue Bug on 95!...and best pizza in USA!).
You can always avoid all of the cities, if that's not your thing. New England is beautiful when you get off of the major highways.
