First time road trip

[bcullifer]

Hello everyone, I am wondering if anyone will share there trips from Maine to North Carolina. My wife and I have never been more than 3 hours from home in our 2000 MH. We are wanting to travel and stay for about a week somewhere on the ocean in Maine. We would like for the trip to be about 3 weeks to a month, and would like to go up the east coast, if possible.
This will be a BIG step for us to travel this far. If anyone would take time to help us That would be great. As well as places to stop and see and campgrounds on the way up.
Thanks again
Bill and Lynn

[Tvov]

sdianel's post is great.

If you end up anywhere near Gettysburg battlefield, that is a great place to plan to spend a day touring. Stopping at campgrounds that have bus tours of Washington DC and/or New York City is another great idea.

A lot of the "coastal route" is very commercial, and/or just highway driving. Unless you get off I95 and travel Rte 1, in which case you will then be going about 40mph. You will probably want to loop around areas like DC and NYC - very common to do (unless, of course, you are planning on visiting there). Read other threads about routes up and down the coast. When you get closer to your departure date, make a post asking about up to date information on your route.

If you just want to get up to Maine, then certainly look at taking inland routes to avoid I95 traffic. And I95 has traffic! If you can sneak through, I95 will cut many hours off your drive time... but it is a bit of a gamble.

Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor, Maine is very much worth stopping at. The dry campgrounds in the park are great (which we prefer), but if you want hook ups there are a bunch of private campgrounds available - some with views of the ocean. Don't miss sunrise at the top of Cadillac Mountain - it is just neat to do.

[NCWriter]

I agree, too, about heading up via Scranton versus DC corridor toward NYC and Boston.

We loved the Maine coastline, especially visiting as many lighthouses as possible. Plenty of coastal campgrounds available but do book ahead. They won't be cheap, and you may have to pay a night's deposit that could be forfeited if you cancel but they have a short season....very worth it to see that beautiful part of the country.

Don't miss Acadia National Park.

[1ofmany]

sdianel wrote:
great trip! First of all I would not go up the coast. You would have to go thru Washington DC unless you want to sight see there the traffic is miserable. Also New York City and Boston we wanted to avoid. So we took I-81 north to Scranton PA and took I-84 east. We stopped at the Newburgh NY KOA and took the bus tour into NYC. You could stop in Gettysburg, Hershey. We liked the KOA in Luray VA. We also thought Harper's Ferry WV was interesting. There is a KOA there. Once you get around Boston, you can take I-95 north and US1 if you want to stay on the coast in Maine. In Bangor ME we stayed at Pumpkin Patch RV Park and in Bar Harbor we stayed at the Narrows Too RV Resort. We found that if you get waterfront in ME with hookups it will be very expensive. Maybe someone on this forum knows somewhere cheaper on the coast. I would spend most of the time in Maine near Acadia National Park.

Completely agree with this post...You might want to include the Freeport KOA on your itinerary if you are interested in checking out the LL Bean stores. Also, time is getting tight...you probably should make your reservations really soon.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

great trip! First of all I would not go up the coast. You would have to go thru Washington DC unless you want to sight see there the traffic is miserable. Also New York City and Boston we wanted to avoid. So we took I-81 north to Scranton PA and took I-84 east. We stopped at the Newburgh NY KOA and took the bus tour into NYC. You could stop in Gettysburg, Hershey. We liked the KOA in Luray VA. We also thought Harper's Ferry WV was interesting. There is a KOA there. Once you get around Boston, you can take I-95 north and US1 if you want to stay on the coast in Maine. In Bangor ME we stayed at Pumpkin Patch RV Park and in Bar Harbor we stayed at the Narrows Too RV Resort. We found that if you get waterfront in ME with hookups it will be very expensive. Maybe someone on this forum knows somewhere cheaper on the coast. I would spend most of the time in Maine near Acadia National Park.