My friends & I (7 females) are planning a road trip from South Texas to New York City. We will be gone approximately 16 days so this gives us plenty of time for mini adventures along the way. Would appreciate any ideas on sites to see along the way, a route, must see/must experience....things along those lines. Everyone is 30 yrs of age or older, full of life & love to have fun & experience new things. We love to go out in the evenings or be outdoors during the day. Of course, we each have our own interests so any and all ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!!

> we each have our own interests

Unless you specify what those are, there's no way anyone can give a meaningful answer. A "must see" to one person is an absolute bore to another. For instance, I was in awe when I visited the site where W.C. Handy first heard "the blues;" for someone dis-interested in American popular music, such a place would be a complete waste of time.

It is also necessary to know the time of year you are traveling, and helpful to know your budget. Last month I was thrilled after visiting a place that charged $28 per person admission; that might not be something every traveller can afford.

16 days - does that mean driving TO NYC AND back in 16 days?

How many days do you plan on spending IN NYC?

Which other places have you been to before?

Are you interested in stopping at other E Coast cities such as Richmond, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia...etc

well yes, while everyone has their own interests, we are doing this together, which means if 1 persons wants to do something, then we are all doing it...for THAT person. Everyone loves music, 2 are nature lovers, 4 are serious shoppers, all love the nightlife, 3 history buffs..the list goes on. We are a very diverse group so any ideas or suggestions would be welcomed to throw into our pool of plans.


We are either flying to & driving back of vice versa.

We plan on spending approximately 5 days in NYC.

Been to IN, IL, DC, CA, NOLA, Vegas, FL, MI

And yes, going to Philly, probably going to spend a day in DC. We are going in January & the $$ thing really isn't that much of an issue. Even if it was, the trip is so far in advance, it won't be.

Does anyone like art glass or to craft things?

We just spent a day at the Corning Museum in Corning, New York. The town of Corning is filled with wonderful little shops, bars and restaurants. The museum follows the history of glass and has thousands of pieces of art glass that are truly amazing.

BUT most fun was that we got to make things out of glass ourselves--they have classes where one on one you get to create and blow things out of glass. They even wrap up and ship your creations home for you. Be aware- it is hard to get out of the gift shop without spending lots of money! http://www.cmog.org/

Since you're going in January, skip going the northern route - due north to Illinois and Chicago and then east to NYC. Instead, stay as far south as you can. This means starting out by going due east from where you start (Houston? Dallas?) to the Atlantic, then head up the coast to NYC. Since you've already done New Orleans and Florida, I won't suggest anything there. Instead, I'll mention must-sees on my basic route, then recommendations for each interest you've mentioned.

Must-see:
Charleston, SC (charm, history, garden)
Outer Banks of NC (scenery, beaches)
Washington DC
Philadelphia

Music:
Memphis TN (as well as a bit of history)
Nashville TN (but ONLY if you like country music)

Nature:
If you were travelling in any season but winter, I'd recommend Shennandoah and the Great Smokies. Unfortunately, neither places will have a lot of nature to see; the former, indeed, will be all but closed. Check out the wildlife refuges along the coast; most are places for migratory birds and some MAY have large gatherings during January.

Shopping:
NYC is the best places for this. You may want to save your bucks till you get there. But if you want places along the way,
Atlanta (a commercial center and little else, but this means a LOT of stores)
Delaware ("Tax Free Shopping" is almost its state motto)
King of Prussia, just outside Philly (largest mall on the east coast, has everything from Dollar Plus to Neiman-Marcus)

History:
Richmond VA
Savannah GA
Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown
Norfolk VA area

Can't help you with Nightlife -- to my wife and I, "late night entertainment" means watching Letterman.


One more thing to add about what you said:

> We are either flying to & driving back of vice versa.

The cost of a one-way car rental between NYC and Texas (going either way) will be horrendous. The cost of a round-trip airfare will be about the same as one-way. So you'll probably save money by each of you flying round-trip, going to your lodging there (you absolutely will NOT need a car in NYC), staying there as long as you enjoy it (which may the entire 16 days!), renting a car the day after you decide to leave (you can reserve one the night before, most likely at a good price if you use Hotwire or Priceline), doing a loop starting and returning to NYC, and then fly back to Texas.

While I generally agree with above comments, the costs of one-way fares may not be same as round trip IF you look at Southwest. Their one-way fares are half of round trip. Don't know whether one way car rentals would be huge, but easy to check and be sure to check both directions, often makes big difference - then fly the other way.

Well if you're coming in January you need to be prepared for the weather. NYC is just south of the snow zone -so we get a dusting or a couple of inches much more often than heavy snow falls. But a lot if possible - I've seen more than 24" in one storm. And it tends to be damp and quite windy.

So, you'll need warm winter coats, hats, scarves, gloves and waterproofed boots - for NYC, Philly, DC and possibly points outh - depending on the storm tracks.

The good news is that it's low season so the hotels should be very inexpensive.

Oh - and don;t try to drive in snow unless you know how - it's a whole different skill set.

Thank you so much for your responses.

Yes, we're completely prepared for the snow & cold weather. We never have the opportunity to wear winter clothing so it'll be fun. I spent a week mid-winter in Indiana & yes, it was cold. But luckily, we have an ex-northerner in our little group who claims to be fine with driving in snow should the need arise. We are traveling from way down South Texas, Corpus Christi to be exact so...6 hours & we're outta Texas!!! And, being so far south, taking the far South route is really what we're going for I believe. Crazy, we know.

Julie - we live just up the road from you but have driven a lot during the winter visiting family in upper Midwest (and our daughter goes to college in Ohio). Have the ex-northerner in your group help with tips for "winterizing" your car - appropriate anti-freeze, deicer in the windshield washer solution, etc. [In fact, where we live we can't even buy the appropriate anti-freeze that daughter needs in her car for the Ohio winters - she has to buy it there].

Not trying to nag, but the last thing you want is to have an unprepared car in case you run into a nasty storm - especially ice. It's happened to us (once was all it took) and it's not fun.

Have a great trip.

I would suggest a New Orleans - Birmingham - Atlanta - Charlotte, NC - Richmond - DC route. Lots of great things in each of those cities. Weather will still be relatively good up until you hit DC and north.

dfr made an excellent point about the de-icer windshield washer fluid. I moved back to NE from TX last winter, and it was an absolute nightmare when I found out the windshield washer I used in TX was completely frozen. This is the last thing you want when driving on a highway with snow/slush splashed on your windshield. I actually blew the fuse to my windshield washer "sprayer" when I tried to spray the washer liquid too many times without success.

Well, you are looking at a lot of driving...But you know that and I'm the last person to discourage it.

My recommendation is below. The addition of Boston at the end is my preference - I would prefer to go on to Boston for a day than spend a full 5 days in NYC...or spend more time up front in other places / take a break in an outdoorsy location...NYC is great, but 3 to 3.5 days is plenty for me.

Day 1 - Drive from Corpus to New Orleans (9+ hours)
Day 2 - New Orleans
Day 3 - Drive from New Orleans to Atlanta (6+ hrs)
Day 4 - Atlanta
Day 5 - Drive from Atlanta to Charlotte, NC (4+ hrs)
Day 6 - Charlotte, NC
Day 7 - Drive from Charlotte, NC to Washington, DC (7 hrs)
Day 8 - Washington, DC
Day 9 - Drive from Washington, DC to Philadelphia (3 hrs)
Day 10 - Philadelphia, PA
Day 11 - Drive from Philadelphia, PA to New York City (2 hrs)
Day 12 - New York City
Day 13 - New York City
Day 14 - Drive from New York City to Boston (4 hrs)
Day 15 - Boston
Day 16 - Flight from Boston to home

On most days, you can either get the driving done with early or late and have most of a day in whichever location you prefer (the one you woke up in or the one you are going to bed in). Even on the 9 hour drive to NOLA, I'd leave home early in the morning, check into a French Quarter hotel, take a nap, and spend the first evening partying in the French Quarter. Sleep a little late the next day, pick something to do in the morning/afternoon (shopping, historic, or nature), and then head back to the French Quarter for the evening.

In the Atlanta and Charlotte areas, you might fit in something for the "nature" lovers...as well as some history - although history will probably prevail in DC and Philly.

And while there will certainly be an extra charge for a one-way vehicle rental, with 7 people splitting the bill, it won't be that horrendous on a per person basis. Keep in mind that large vehicles can be difficult and more expensive to park in DC, Philly, NYC, and Boston. There are online resources for finding cheaper parking garages/lots - use them. You'll probably have to pay for parking in NOLA, too, but I don't recall any "large" vehicle surcharges.

This is packing a lot into this time...and you might need to build in a rest day somewhere. Spending just 2 nights in a hotel and then moving repeatedly can wear on some people. So, you know the temperament of your friends...Keep in mind whether something like this would be enjoyable - You don't want to get even one person stressed out or upset because it can make everyone else miserable for the rest of the trip. You will be spending 35+ hours together in a car...all girls...so hopefully everyone can be flexible and patient for 16 days.

If you did include Boston at the end, compare the cost of flying out of some of the smaller airports outside of Boston rather than Boston's airport. Also compare car drop off costs.

FYI - I checked a car rental through Thrifty for 1/8/09 to 1/23/09 from Corpus to Boston...Total, including drop off fee and taxes, without insurance, is $2,026.92 for a Dodge Caravan. Adding another driver is an additional cost should you choose to another. And if the renter is under the age of 25, there will be additional costs.

Budget another $300-$400 in parking costs.

You will also have some toll roads (some are pricey compared to what we are used to in Texas). I'd budget about $100-$150 for tolls.

Plus you have gas for a large vehicle filled to capacity for approximately 2200 miles. Estimating 15mpg (not sure of the reality), that would be about 150 gallons. Estimate $3/gal (more expensive up north and can't predict January's market) for a budget of $450+ for gas.

Altogether...just driving costs (does not include your accomodations, meals, shopping, misc spending, show tickets, admission charges, or the flight home) will require a budget in the $3,000 range. Luckily, with 7 people, that's less than $450pp.

So...What I would do is determine a budget for the one-way transportation costs, split it evenly and require that everyone pitch into a pool prior to the trip. Anything left over at the end can be split evenly.

Whichever city you end up staying in at the end, you can drop the vehicle off upon arrival and just use public transportation while there...possibly saving quite a bit on daily rental and parking costs.

There is probably even a public transport option between NYC and Boston...making it possible to drop the vehicle off upon arrival in NYC. And there might even be a way to drop the vehicle in Washington, DC or Philly and rely on public tranport from one of those locations through the end of the trip.