US roadtrip advice

[Adam C]

Last April, my wife and I took a last minute trip to California and ended up having one of the best trips of our lives.  A few days in San Francisco, before driving north for a few days in the Sonoma County wineries, then south back through SF, down the coast via Santa Cruz and Carmel to a final stop at more wineries in the Paso Robles area.

We arrived back in London with a suitcase full of wine, some great memories and a pregnancy testing kit with 2 blue stripes through it. 

10 or so months later, we have a 7 week old baby, and are thinking about trying another US roadtrip in a couple of months time.

As we have a number of folk here from that side of the pond I thought I'd see if I could tap into your local wisdom to help kick start our research process.

Right now, we're thinking:

* We loved California, but tempted to try the East coast for a shorter flight time
* We'll have around 2 weeks to play with
* The roadtrip element isn't a must, but we'd probably like to see a few different places, though happy to stay put for a few days
* Toying with the idea of a National Park visit/stay
* Warm weather would be nice (for us that would mean highs in the 60-75 F range)
* We'll likely travel in Apil or May
* Having the baby is no doubt going to mean we have to do some things differently

Any ideas welcome, no matter how vague or specific.

[Gurtie]

no ideas, but congrats! 

[Brad]

Congrats!

In the NE: Boston is a nice city (I hear) and built to a human scale and in Massachusetts you can visit places like Rockport, MA on Cape Ann for some nice little seaside towns.  Upstate New York, has their own wine country to tour. Lots of historical sites and charm all over.

Further south, there is Washington DC.  Best to visit before the heat of summer.  Museums, monuments etc. if you like those things. You can day trip out into places like Charlottesville Virginia and see Jefferson's Monticello and plantations.

Deeper South I'll leave to others to recommend, but Charleston and Savanna have always been on my list of places to see.

[Mackin USA]

There are always cheap flights to Orlando, FL
From there to can travel North to GA, SC & NC
Drastic & I were talking about getting a small group together in Savannah GA about that time.
RC might join us there OR we could meet in North Carolina closer to RC

In any event Rasmus could be talked into coming over. He's RICH now.

LUV to see ya.

[littleman]

>Boston

Boston is nice in the Spring.  You may want to make it a general New England trip, Rhode Island is really nice too.  I remember people being very friendly and they have great accents. If you decide to fly a bit farther, the Pacific North is really great in the Summer, you could do Oregon to Victoria BC.

[ergophobe]

If you do decide on a National Parks itinerary and Yosemite is on the list, get in touch with me. I can almost certainly help out in some way there.

[JasonD]

Huge congrats

[Rumbas]

Congrats Adam!

>Deeper South I'll leave to others to recommend, but Charleston and Savanna have always been on my list of places to see.

Do it. Charleston is on my top 5 cities and the South is just.. well a really nice place with some of the nicest hospitality I've ever come across.

>In any event Rasmus could be talked into coming over. He's RICH now.

Hahaha, absolutely! However being a low life consultant wont make anyone rich. Selling other peoples stuff on the internet can

[Travoli]

I took a road trip across the USA last Summer.  Did 14,450 miles in 6 weeks and lived in the truck.  It's the thing I should have done in my 20's (better late than never). 
Here's a few photos from the trip:  http://imgur.com/a/tW7Fn

If you're set on East Coast in April/May, here are some ideas.

-In Washington D.C., there is the National Cherry Blossom Festival March 20-Apr 12.  The current cold weather probably means a later bloom, so it might fit your travel schedule.  http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/
Washington D.C. is beautiful this time of year, and family photos under the trees look great. Just search Google images for "washington cherry blossoms"
-Charlottesville VA area is historic, and is a good home base if you'd like to tour Virginia wine country.  This page illustrates opportunities in the local area.  The mountains are very pretty also.  http://www.virginiawine.org/regions/central-virginia/
-Charleston, SC is beautiful, historic and has some of the best food in the country.  As other have said, it's worth the stop.  I've had success renting VRBO.com condos downtown, or there are many inns, hotels and B&B's.  Lot's to do and see. 
-Savannah, GA is also a great stop.  Very pretty, historic parks, buildings, and spanish moss hanging from the trees.

If you can wait until late September/early October, I recommend a trip starting in Vermont to see the legendary fall foliage, then over to Newport RI, then down to the Charlottesville VA area to watch the leaves turn orange and taste lots of wine.

[littleman]

You have a really good eye Travoli, beautiful photos. Did you trek it alone?

[Travoli]

Yep!  Had a great time.  Saw lots of National Parks, cities I hadn't been to, etc... great experience all around.
Interestingly, there were more Europeans than Americans in the National Parks.

[ergophobe]

a few photos from the trip

Nice! I wish I had known you were coming through Yosemite. Thought we haven't met, it's always fun to get a techie/SEO type to swing through and pop the bubble a bit.

14,450 miles in 6 weeks

Ouch!

Interestingly, there were more Europeans than Americans in the National Parks.

People say that to me all that time and sometimes (esp August) it can feel that way, but social science research from the National Park Service typically shows domestic visitors make up about 80% of all traffic to Yosemite. e.g. http://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/upload/Visitor-Use-Summer-2009-Study.pdf

[Rupert]

first Congrats! Go in a truck like Travolis, and you will come back with twins

Amazing trip Travoli, great photos as ergophobe said. I wish I had that eye. Do you take raw?

You Guys are the best. I would love to do an East coast trip too now. I think it will have to wait.

I think 20% of nutters from across the pond would seem a lot.

[Adam C]

thanks for all the tips and congrats.  Lots to get through here already.  Will reply more fully, no doubt with a few q's, when I get some time