WHAT TO SEE FROM MEMPHIS TO D.C, AND BEYOND?

Our sweep of the southeastern US is about to end.  From here (Trace State Park near Tupelo, MS – click here to read our review), we have one last, exciting stop – Oxford.  Then north to Memphis (Odel’s hometown) for a ten day stay and a family visit. 

Planning our trip to the southeast was easy, even though we’d never been east of New Orleans along I-10.  Savannah and Charleston were not to be missed, of course.  Biloxi, MS, through Alabama and the Florida Panhandle almost planned itself.  Asheville, NC, was on my “must see” list, and from there it was easy to map the route to Memphis to include the Unclaimed Baggage Center and Oxford, Mississippi, another town on my radar.

This summer, we plan to be in the northeast.  We visited the Great Lakes during our first year of travels, exploring parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan and making a quick run to Niagara Falls (today’s photos are from that trip in 2003), but have never been up the eastern seaboard.  We have a lot of planning to do.

We are taking two weeks, from mid-May to Memorial Day, to travel from Memphis to the DC area (another family visit), via Cincinnati (more family).  We’re undecided about what route to take.  We’ve stayed at Land Between the Lakes before, and at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington – and would be happy to return to either, but wonder what we would be missing.

What route would YOU take?  We don’t need suggestions for what do see or do around DC – we’ve both been there several times  – but the sightseeing and camping possibilities from Memphis to Cincinnati and on to southern Maryland is a mystery to us.

And then…!  We plan to spend June, July and August in the northeast and Great Lakes states (no leaf peeping for us, as we plan to be in California by mid-October).  We’ve never been to Philadelphia or Boston (been to NYC).  Don’t know anything about Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, upstate NY (except the phrase “the Finger Lakes”), Pennsylvania, little bitty Rhode Island… 

So, though our most immediate focus in on our route from Memphis to Maryland, we’ve got a summer to plan.   If you’ve visited Philadelphia or Boston with your big RV, where did you stay?  If you’ve explored the far NE in a bus-sized vehicle, where would YOU return – or, what would you avoid?  As usual, we’ll sightsee using our Jeep, but need campsites large enough to accommodate a 40’ motorhome. 

Campsites, attractions, restaurants, local food specialties (a lobster roll is a given)… advice welcome!  Comments, or email (click on our profile photo near the top left of this blog for a link to our email address) – both are appreciated.  Thanks!