I Did It!, I Took a Leave of Absence! Advice on East Coast Travel, No DC or NYC

Good for you! What a wonderful decision!

I'm outside of Boston, so do check in with me when the time gets closer. But if you want history, we've got it! Freedom Trail (one historical site after another, from Paul Revere's House to the "one if by land, two if by sea" church, etc.). Plimouth (yes, that's how they spell it) Plantation. Old Sturbridge Village west of Boston for the mid-1800's experience. Whale watching ships out of Cape Ann (north of Boston), Provincetown (tip of Cape Cod), or Hyannis/Barnstable (also Cape Cod). Boston Tea Party ship, USS Constituion ("Old Ironsides").

You cannot beat the Cape Cod National Seashore for ocean views. There's also the Cliff Walk and the Newport RI mansions - pick 1-2 for tours, then do the Cliff Walk between them and the water. Touro Synagogue - first and one of the tiniest synagogues in the US. Charming.

Mashpee, Wamponaug and Nipmuc Native American events and festivals - check local calendars.

Lots of whaling museums/sites in Maine, Boston, Cape Cod and southern coast. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole (near Falmouth, MA) at the beginning of Cape Cod. Great museums in Boston. Salem - whaling, fishing, witch trial history - it's an amazing and well-run town.

Revolutionary War history - Lexington/Concord MA, but also Lake Champlain areas and forts.

Walden Pond - Henry David Thoreau's retreat.

Battleship Cove, southern MA - tour a US Navy ship and a submarine. Take the ferry across to Long Island's north fork, then wind your way through fishing villages and wineries, stay on the North Shore for the Vanderbilt Museum (Centerport - a gem), then go south to the amazing Long Island beaches (Fire Island, Jones Beach), then follow the south short o the Verrazano Bridge (long suspension bridge, bypasses NYC) to NJ. Head south on the Garden State Parkway to the Jersey Shore. Asbury Park is honky-tonk amusements and ridiculously fun if you get into it, Spring Lake is charming and old school.

If you go into PA, try Gettysburg and Lancaster (PA Dutch country), and the Strasburg train museum.

New York State - Finger Lakes wine & history, lake tours by boat, Erie canal, Corning museum, and of course Niagara Falls. Howe Caverns are great. Herkimer "diamond mines" are fun (18-facet quartz - very cool to take a sledgehammer to rock and find some).

When you refine this some more, come back for more details!

Agree with Diane's recommendations. For Maine, I think that Acadia National Park is a must-see. It's a bit of a ways up the coast. I actually haven't made it there myself because every time we go to Maine our home base is a relative's house that's several hours inland but I think this is the year. Everyone I know who has spent time there has been blown away by the combination of mountain and ocean there. I have friends who stay in Ogunquit every year for a week in the summer and they rave about how cute and charming the town is. It's further south along the coast than Acadia is and I don't know what they have for off-season activity but check that out for a place to stay and take in the coast.

If you are sports fans, depending on when you visit, you might be able to catch either a late-season Red Sox game or pre-season basketball or hockey game in Boston. Patriots tickets are usually sold out in advance and prohibitively expensive. Fenway Park sometimes has tours, and there is the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. Speaking of Springfield/Western MA, if you want to break things up with an amusement park day, Six Flags in either Springfield, MA or NJ are still open Friday nights and weekends well into the fall. There's also a big fair called The Big E (Eastern States Exposition) in western MA the second half of September. It's another one of those things that I haven't actually gone to but have lots of friends who make a weekend of that every year and really look forward to it.

As you make your way south, if you end up going via CT, there is a really cool aquarium in Mystic, CT that would make a nice half-day trip along the way.

I've lived in DC for 22 years and I've still not seen everything.

If you're taking your sabbatical for history? then Virginia and DC are the places to be! There is so much history here!!

Three years ago - I think - I was a chaperone for my son's orchestra. We went to Boston and had a blast. We stopped in Mystic, Rhode Island and The Breakers Mansion. Both of these places were right on the ocean.

If you go to Maine? Acadia National Park - it's splendid!

what exactly are you looking for? Just places to see the ocean or theme parks and such?? You're taking two months so you don't need to rush through places. You can stay awhile. It would help if you told us if you wanted excursions, etc.

Newport, Rhode Island. I live in Massachusetts right now but spend every free weekend in Newport because I love it so much. They have mansion tours. Think Great Gatsby of the glided age. Mega yachts, sailing, surfing, beaches, small town feel on the water. Little shops and taverns on cobblestone streets. Good nightlife. International Tennis Hall of Fame and matches.

Newport, RI would be on my must see list. You can take tours of the mansions (the summer cottages of the Kings of Industry getting out of the NYC heat) and there's an amazing walk right in front of the mansions overlooking the ocean called the Cliff walk. We've vacationed there twice and had lots to do both times.

Here are some random smaller-town things that I've done (generally north to south order).

You can see the Van Trapp family house (Sound of Music) in Stoweflake VT. You can also go on a tour of the Ben and Jerry's factory there :) Lots of hiking in the area.

In upstate New York, you can do tours of FDR and other mansions on the Hudson river and for a contrast on the same leg of the trip, visit nearby Woodstock.

Not a small town, but visit Philadelphia and see the Liberty Bell and the history surrounding our first nation's capitol.

Outside Philadelphia, stay in one of the Poconos lodges and swim in a mountain lake and go hiking.

Gettysburg PA and all the history there about the civil war.

Camp on Assateague Island with the wild horses.

Spend a day in Annapolis MD on the waterfront and see the US Naval Academy. Eat blue crabs on a paper tablecloth at a waterfront restaurant.

Stay in Jamestown VA and visit Williamsburg VA at the same time, and learn about the early European settlers. There is so much to do in that area (and for a fun day, you can go to Six Flags/Busch Gardens amusement park).

I haven't been to Savannah, but I've heard it's beautiful and I want to go. If I were taking your trip, it would be on my list.

At the FL/GA border, I enjoyed Amelia Island. I went on a fun Segway tour there, and they also have kayak tours of the wetlands, etc.

There are so many fun things in south Florida, but I think I have 3 favorites: Miami Beach (fun and quirky and look for the free outdoor concert schedule for the New World Symphony); the Everglades for hiking (I've heard mixed reviews on boat tours, so we've always just hiked); Key Largo for snorkeling and diving (John Pennencamp Coral Reef State Park).

ETA: My family took all our vacations in our camper, so many of the items above were done by staying at nearby campgrounds. I specifically remember that we camped outside of Woodstock NY for the Woodstock/ Hudson River Valley mansion trip, just outside Gettysburg PA, on Assateague Island MD, and in Jamestown VA for the Jamestown/Williamsburg trip. I'm sure you could camp near the Everglades FL - then Miami Beach and Key Largo could each be a day trip from your campsite as long as you camp on the east side of the Everglades and not the west side. Have fun!

Couldn’t agree with Diane more. Boston is one of my favorite places to visit and she helped me plan my first trip there. You won’t go wrong with her advice.

We had work in New Bedford, MA. and visited a wonderful whaling museum. Absolutely fascinating for a girl from the south who knew NOTHING about it except from reading Moby Dick.

I would advise staying in cities outside of Boston and taking Uber or some other public transportation in. Parking in Boston is limited and expensive. Traffic is another challenge.

How far south are you planning to travel? The drive from Boston to Virginia is beautiful with lots of scenic areas.

Fall will be beautiful. I don’t know where you’re starting in Michigan but we recently visited Saulte Saint Marie both in MI and and Canada. Michigan was beautiful and we visited the Edmond Fitzgerald Museum and visited the Soo Locks which were so interesting. I love the song by Gordon Lightfoot “The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald” so I was very interested in it. My husband and son enjoyed it, but I had a great time.

We’ve traveled extensively up and down the eastern seaboard. If you want to message me, I’m happy to help.

Again, Diane is a great resource for all things MA. ❤️

Enjoy!

First of all, congratulations! Our list includes Outer Banks and Myrtle Beach. Make sure to get in some ocean time, there's nothing quite like an east coast sunrise at the beach. Enjoy your trip!

The Statue of Liberty and the White House are kind of meaningful, bummer that you are "avoiding those".

Maybe it would help if you give us some specifics about your "vision" for the overall trip.

Don’t know where in Michigan you are going but Lake Michigan is beautiful! Holland area. Also Makinaw Island then strait north to Whitefish Point! Pure, beautiful nature!

Others have given you great advice. I would concentrate largely on the Great Lakes -- the Erie Canal, the Lake Michigan dunes, etc. Don't forget Niagara Falls. And then all of the fabulous history-- Boston, Gettysburg, Philadelphia. Visit your local AAA office for guidebooks and other info.