East Coast road trip

[TimPio]

Hey guys,

me and my girlfriend are planning a trip to the US and we want to see as much as we can. We'll start in NYC, stay there for 3 days and than we want to drive along the east cost and come back to NYC after 2 weeks. Our journey will be in august.

On our list there are NYC, Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Charlotte, Charlston, Savannah and then (until now) a free drive back to New York.

For the drive back we would like to visit smaller places, no big cities.

So my question is, maybe you have some great tips for us where to drive, places we have to see or where we will get the best food in these cities

Thanks in advance!

 

[Chaos_Moon]

I live about 30 minutes from DC. There's a lot of museums and such that could be pretty cool for you guys to visit. The National Mall has a lot of monuments and museums nearby. A lot of the events that take place haven't really been planned for August yet, so maybe closer to the day there'll be some cool things planned.

One cool place to eat is Ben's Chili Bowl. It's a landmark in DC.

But fair warning, especially for the DC area: traffic is a nightmare at certain times of the day, so try to plan around that.

Richmond has never been too interesting a place to visit, imo. It would be pretty cool to live there, but I don't know many sight-seeing places over there. A couple cool venues that might be playing an interesting show around the time you're there.

Let me know when you're in the area! I'd be down to hang out for a bit!

 

[Clockwork]

It's important to note that the vast majority of institutions in Washington DC are free so you can really find a lot of places to check out. (East wing of the National Gallery is closed for renovation though should that be on your list.) One of my top favorite restaurants is Oyamel and it's close to a lot of the sights and stuff so it's a good dinner spot. If you have time I would also recommend hopping over the river from DC into Old Town Alexandria, that can be a fun place to walk around and there's a good selection of places to eat. I personally would avoid Georgetown but others might recommend it.

In Richmond I would say the Carytown area is pretty cool, The Village has an abomination called Pizza Fries which are one of my favorite drunk foods. Parts of Richmond can be pretty sketch though so be aware of that. It's a decent college town.

My prime recommendation for Philly would be to hit up Federal Donuts. They sell only donuts and chicken and it is so legit if you are into that.

Edit: Also prepare for much humidity in August.

 

[TimPio]

Thank you guys for these tips. Really looking forward to this trip.
We will try to avoid the big traffic in the morning times and the early evening.

Who is not into donuts?

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

Yeah, Natural History Museum and Air & Space Museum (both free) are must-sees in DC. I would also add the National Portrait Gallery- sounds lame, but they have tons of neat stuff and some mind-blowingly beautiful naturalist paintings from the 19th century. I would stay away from the International Spy Museum and the Newseum- horribly overpriced and boring.

The Botanical Gardens are also great, and it's definitely worth taking a walk around the Jefferson Memorial and the reflecting pool on the mall. Also the National Zoo has a pair of baby tigers and a baby panda, and they are cute as fuck.

If you don't mind a short drive, Great Falls National Park is about 20 mins away from DC and is great for hiking. Try going in the morning on a weekday to avoid crowds and to get a parking space. Parking costs $5 or something.

As far as restaurants, Founding Farmers has a legendarily great breakfast/brunch, but their dinners are crazy expensive. Ben's Chili Bowl has a lot of history but I think the food is awful