Area between Washington DC and Manhattan

Hi,

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to spend
the night somewhere along thi route. Any suggestions to where?
We want to avoid big cities, so Philadelphia and Balitmore are not options.
Also, are there any sights we should try to catch along this route?

Thanks,
Heine Didriksen
Bergen, Norway

"Heine Didriksen" wrote in message
...
Hi,

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to
spend
the night somewhere along thi route. Any suggestions to where?
We want to avoid big cities, so Philadelphia and Balitmore are not
options.
Also, are there any sights we should try to catch along this route?

Thanks,
Heine Didriksen
Bergen, Norway




Its only a 4 hour drive so a stop is scarcely necessary.

Keith

Heine Didriksen wrote:

Hi,

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to spend
the night somewhere along thi route. Any suggestions to where?
We want to avoid big cities, so Philadelphia and Balitmore are not options.
Also, are there any sights we should try to catch along this route?


Many sights, including Philadelphia and Baltimore. But if you want to avoid
these, a good place to stop is Chadd's Ford, Pennsylvania. You would get off
I-95 in Wilmington, Delaware, and take a local road. Sights in the area include
an art museum that features the works of 3 generations of artists from the
Wyeth family, the Wyeth studio and home, and, nearby, Longwood Gardens and the
Winterthur Estate. These last two were the residences of scions of the duPont
family. Longwood Gardens is a 1,000 acre property with spectacular gardens.
Winterthur includes gardens also, but more importantly, the 186 room Manor that
has been turned into a museum of American decorative arts. This area is midway
between Washington and New York; about 2.5 hours from either.

Larry

--
Larry Finch

N 40° 53' 47"
W 74° 03' 56"

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to spend
the night somewhere along thi route.

You could drive thru Delaware and take the ferry from Lewes to Cape May New
Jersey and stop and spend the night in Cape May. It is a long about way.
Susie Q

On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 15:52:56 +0100, "Heine Didriksen"
wrote:

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to spend
the night somewhere along thi route. Any suggestions to where?
We want to avoid big cities, so Philadelphia and Balitmore are not options.
Also, are there any sights we should try to catch along this route?

It's only a four-hour drive, but if you truly want to spend
the night somewhere along the way, I'd recommend Princeton,
New Jersey. It's a beautiful university town with a lot of
charm. You can stay in the town proper at the Peacock Inn (a
terrific B&B), or the historic Nassau Inn, or at one of the
modern hotels along US Route 1.

Have the best thin crust pizza anywhere at Conte's, have
breakfast at PJ's Pancake House, or an excellent supper at
either Lahiere's or the Alchemist and Barrister.

(Can you tell I used to live and work there, and miss the
place? 8 )

-- Larry

Heine Didriksen wrote:

Hi,

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to
spend
the night somewhere along thi route. Any suggestions to where?
We want to avoid big cities, so Philadelphia and Balitmore are not
options.
Also, are there any sights we should try to catch along this route?

Thanks,
Heine Didriksen
Bergen, Norway


I would suggest a route that takes you east from DC across the Chesapeake
Bay (crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge); this whole area is very nice, and
is a busy resort destination in the warm months. There are lots of beach
towns, some older colonial towns on the Eastern Shore of Delaware, and some
parts of the area are very rural (the many farms remind me of the US
Midwest; there are many poultry and vegetable growers), so you actually get
a fairly varied cross - section of the US in a compact area. You can cross
from Lewes DE to Cape May NJ on this ferry (there are some maps and links on
this site to help you in planning):

http://www.capemaylewesferry.com/

Cape May is a historic old resort town with many fine Victorian houses (some
of which are inns). Depending on your interests, you could stay in Cape
May, or if you want a busier beach town (with honky - tonk boardwalk, tax -
free shopping, etc.) Rehoboth Beach DE is a good bet. So is Lewes DE (just
north of Rehoboth Beach) - it's smaller and a bit quieter than Rehoboth.
There are other nice towns up the New Jersey shore, too....

You could spend several days or even a week or more in the area. There is
lots to see and do. If you like seafood, there is plenty to eat (I'm from
Chicago, and I just love this whole area...).

This is a decent seafood resto on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (St.
Michaels) which is just south of the the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Kind of
touristy, but the food is good, and if the weather is nice you can sit by
the waterside and eat. I'm partial to it. It is adjacent to an interesting
maritime history museum, worth a look, especially since you are from Bergen:

http://www.thecrabclaw.com/

Museum site:

http://www.cbmm.org/


One caution: Traffic going east out of Washington DC on summer weekends,
e.g. Friday nights is horrendous -- people are fleeing to the beaches (as is
everybody from Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc.). If you are going mid - week
in May, should be no big problem, though....

Any more questions, just ask :-)

Have fun!

Below are some links to some of the towns in the area: (found these at the
www.washingtonpost.com travel website):

"The following telephone numbers and Web sites can help you find more
information on lodging, attractions, special events and other information on
the Mid-Atlantic beach resorts:


NEW JERSEY

AVALON -- 609-967-3936; www.avalonbeach.com

CAPE MAY -- 609-884-5508; www.capemaychamber.com

OCEAN CITY -- 800-232-2465; www.oceancityvacation.com

SEA ISLE CITY -- 609-263-9090; www.seaislecity.org/main.htm

STONE HARBOR -- 609-368-6101; www.stoneharborbeach.com

WILDWOOD -- 888-729-0033 or 609-729-4000; www.gwcoc.com

DELAWARE

BETHANY BEACH/FENWICK ISLAND -- 302-539-2100 or 800-962-7873;
www.bethany-fenwick.org

LEWES -- 302-645-8073;. www.leweschamber.com

REHOBOTH BEACH/DEWEY BEACH -- 302-227-2233 or 800-441-1329;
www.beach-fun.com

MARYLAND

ASSATEAGUE ISLAND -- Assateague State Park, 410-641-2120;
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclan...ssateague.html

ASSATEAGUE ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE -- 410-641-3030 or 410-641-1441. (Toms
Cove area near Chincoteague, 757-336-6577); www.nps.gov/asis

OCEAN CITY -- 800-626-2326; www.ococean.com

/

Pomeroy3 wrote:
We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to spend

the night somewhere along thi route.


You could drive thru Delaware and take the ferry from Lewes to Cape May New
Jersey and stop and spend the night in Cape May. It is a long about way.
Susie Q

This is what I'd do, too. I love the Victorian homes, circa. F.Scott
Fitzgerald. I stayed in an old hotel - large B&B? that was within walking
distance of everything.

Marv

In article ,
"Heine Didriksen" wrote:

Hi,

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to spend
the night somewhere along thi route. Any suggestions to where?
We want to avoid big cities, so Philadelphia and Balitmore are not options.
Also, are there any sights we should try to catch along this route?

Baltimore would be too close. Why would you want to avoid big cities?
Other than some rather bland suburban areas along I95 (which is the
logical route to take), there isn't much interesting in that area
outside the cities for a brief stay unless you want to go out of your
way and stay in an area such as Lancaster County, PA or perhaps
Ghettysburg. I really do suggest you consider Philadelphia, which is
where I grew up. There is a lot to do in the Philly area and it is an
inexpensive town to visit, compared with Manhattan and Washington.

In article ,
ojunk (Pomeroy3) wrote:

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to spend
the night somewhere along thi route.

You could drive thru Delaware and take the ferry from Lewes to Cape May New
Jersey and stop and spend the night in Cape May. It is a long about way.
Susie Q

Its an interesting idea, but several hours out of the way. Also, I
suggest people avoid eating the cooked food on the ferry. There's been a
few times in recent memory that the food concession on the ferry failed
its health inspection.

On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 15:52:56 +0100, "Heine Didriksen"
wrote:

Hi,

We're driving from Washington DC to Manhattan in mid-May, and want to spend
the night somewhere along thi route. Any suggestions to where?
We want to avoid big cities, so Philadelphia and Balitmore are not options.
Also, are there any sights we should try to catch along this route?

Thanks,
Heine Didriksen
Bergen, Norway

I think some others mentioned going the Eastern Shore route. From
Washington you would travel east on US50 and cross the Bay Bridge
(about 4.4 miles long). I cross it almost every day since I live on
the island that it connects to on the Eastern side of the bay. If you
want a good selection of seafood restaurants, try getting off at Kent
Narrows (exit 42), which is the next bridge you come to on the other
end of the island. There is a range of prices in the different
restaurants. There are a couple hotels in the area that are not too
terribly expensive. The Holiday Inn Express and the Sleep Inn(a
little farther on the North side of US50 are both fairly new. You can
meet a lot of locals at the Red Eye Dock Bar, walking distance from
the Holiday Inn. Of course these are only about 1.5 to 2 hours from DC
depending on where and when you start.

Being from Norway you probably won't get much value from our shore
areas. Most of them are commercialized to a great extent. The Cape
May/Lewes ferry is an option if you are not in a hurry. Haven't done
it myself, since I have never needed to go that way.

If you go up US301 from US50, which splits about 10 miles past Kent
Narrows, you will be driving on my secret slice of heaven. A four
lane highway on the east coast with next to nothing in the way of
traffic. Only a bunch of truckers seem to be aware of it! You can
pick up I-95 in Northern Delaware and continue on to NYC.

Going this way will save you about $6.50 in tolls, also. $2.00 in
Baltimore Tunnel, $5.00 crossing the river that feeds the northern
reaches of the Bay, and another $2.00 entering Delaware. The Bay
Bridge is only $2.50. Just keep going straight on US301, even after
it changes to a 2 lane road for a while in Delaware. It will put you
onto I95 just north of the toll booths.

It may be a few miles further than going up I95 all the way, but it
will let you avoid some of the worst parts of I95. If there are no
accidents you will still be in heavy traffic all the way. Go US301
and you won't need a neck and shoulder massage when you get there.

Russ
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