My husband and I have 5 days available over Thanksgiving to go on a mini vacation. We want to drive and we live in New Jersey so someplace with that in mind. We want to relax but have something to see and/or do as well as good places to eat. Any suggestions?

New York City
Philadelphia
Boston
Washington, DC

But -- I wouldn't want/need a car in any of those cities. Plus - pre-planning a road trip for the busiest travel days of the year in what could be gnarly weather might or might not work out. Does it HAVE to be a road trip?

I'm not sure that your question is answerable because there is nothing about your interests that could lead anyone to help fit a vacation to your needs.

Driving in the NE during the Wednesday before and Friday after Thanksgiving is a complete and unbridled horror. Doing so even close to those days (Tuesday, Saturday) is a bit bad but less so.

The Hudson Valley would make a great road trip if the weather isn't too terrible.

Operative words . . . >>if the weather isn't too terrible.

Drive west to Gettysburg, visit the Battlefield then head south and visit Harper's Ferry.

Cape Cod

I might not plan to go north, although Thanksgiving week is a tad early for really snowy weather, but how about DC? You don't need a car there, but you could park it outside the city and either Metro or taxi/Uber from there.

Perhaps if you gave us some idea about what it is "you like to do" we'd be able to make more meaningful suggestions.

Quite frankly, you can " relax, have things to see/do and find good places to eat almost anywhere.

Where in the Hudson Valley? Would Cape Cod be too desolate at that time of year?

Amish country?
Charlottesville? Richmond?
Poconos?

Kennett Square? Short drive, perhaps. Tons of stuff to see around there, depending on your interests.

No, not at all, Cape Cod is fabulous in the fall and winter!

Well I think it is.

Maybe someone could find is "desolate" if you don't care for the ocean & beaches in the winter-time.

Really anywhere in New England could also fit this request. Amherst & Northampton or the Berkshires in western Mass. Some place in southern Vermont or New Hampshire.

Niagara on the Lake in Ontario is a charming village just minutes from Niagara Falls... romantic wine region with dozens of restaurants,vineyard tastings and casinos nearby...

Cape Cod would be very nice, but the drive to and from it would be horrible. The traffic is brutal through CT, RI, and MA that weekend. Interestingly usually Thanksgiving day is often not as bad as the day before and the days after.

Anywhere you go, you'd be better off traveling on Thanksgiving Day and the Monday after.

We've done the MD/NH Thanksgiving drive and agree that traveling anywhere near NYC on the sunday after is horrible. We drove south to MD on Thanksgiving Day and that was fine. We have also flown to NC from NH for Thanksgiving week and that was not bad but we flew into a small airport in NC and rented a beach cottage. I don't recall what day we flew back and it might have been sunday and we did a sunday to sunday rental.

But, from NJ I would consider Frederick MD. Check the website for Community Bridge. There's a charming shop area, a wonderful Turkish restaurant and things to do. I remember driving to a winery and it was also fun to go to an apple orchard farm stand. A Frederick resident, friend's sister, was our tour guide. We also drove to a restaurant for all you can eat crab. I was surprised at how much country side is around that area yet kind of close to DC.

Thanksgiving driving

Terrible choke points I have suffered through

Junction of I-90 (Massachusetts Turnpike) and I-84 in Sturbridge, MA

Tappan Zee Bridge, I-287 and New York Thruway

Delaware Memorial Bridge between South Jersey and Delaware

Baltimore, MD to Fredericksburg, VA

Places I might go if I were you and lived in Jersey

Easton/St Michael's, Maryland and elsewhere on the Eastern Shore if you sneak around west of Philadelphia, through Kennet Square and Brandywine to connect with US 302

Southern Vermont via Taconic Parkway and NY 22

Central NY State via US 20