Hi all

Thank you for your help - this is what we have planned to date - would appreciate any other ideas. We like gardens and wildlife, history and colour... oh and butterflies.

While in New Jersey, visit Longwood Gardens.

Tuesday, 26/08/2008 - Philadelphia to Cape May visiting Leamings Run Gardens, Higbees Beach for seabirds, Nature Center of Cape May, Cape May lighthouse. Stay at the Inn of Cape May (historic)?

Wednesday, 27/08/2008 - Cape May to visiting Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (different wildlife at each?) and Chincoteague Island. Stay B&B Chincoteague

Thursday, 28/08/2008 - In Chincoteague, then Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge, to Williamsburg, stay Williamsburg

Friday, 29/08/2008 - Williamsburg to Charlottesville visiting wineries, stay Dinsmore House?

Saturday, 30/08/2008 – Charlottesville, visit friends, then to Charlotte visiting Mt Rogers National Recreation Area. Visit Daniel Stowe Gardens.

Sunday, 31/08/2008 - Charlotte via Congaree National Park to Savannah

Monday, 1/09/2008, Labor Day - Savannah via Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to somewhere west of Jacksonville, north of Gainesville.

Tuesday, 2/09/2008 – Florida visiting butterfly farms

Longwood Gardens is in PA, southwest of Phila, not in NJ.

Where are you flying into, Newark? Longwood Gardens, while in Pennsylvania, are well worth a visit, and are about a 2-3 hour drive from Newark airport. Your itinerary appears doable, but involves a lot of time on the road. If your starting point is Newark, you are planning a journey of close to a 1000 miles, and you have a lot of sightseeing along it, particularily of things that could easily absorb several days. Also, you will need to take 13 down the Delmarva, and it is pokey. I assume that you are planning to take the Cape May-Lewes ferry, and to drive the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. If you are starting from some point in North or Central Jersey, it might make more sense to drive down the Garden State Parkway and start in Cape May, then head west to Philadelphia and Longwood Gardens, then cut down into Delaware.

In Delaware I would add Bombay Hook National Wildlife Center...

In my book, it's kind of sad that you will spend a night each in places like Savannah and Williamsburg, but have no time to actually tour places there as you will probably arrive fairly late after a day of sightseeing along the way, and will have to leave the next morning to get to the next destination -- again by "slow" roads and planning to stop and sightsee along the way.

If your goal is to see things, mainly from the windows of your car, it's a good trip.