gail

Driving dtr to Chevy Chase from Boston mid-week in February. Since she is not due at conference until 1 PM, thought we would stop a couple of hours outside Washington and then do rest of trip the next AM after rush hour. Driving down NJ Turnpike to I95. What cities should I be looking at when I do hotel search - Newark, DE; Aberdeen, MD look possible on map. Wilmington, DE seems a little off course. Suggestions?

Ackislander

Don't look at cities unless you want to turn this into a city vacation. Hotels and especially parking are much more expensive than lodging along the NJ Turnpike. There are plenty of chains in the Newark, DE area, and it is the site of the University of Delaware, so there will be a variety of restaurants and maybe even some interesting cultural activities or lectures.

A more fun trip might be to drive from Boston to Cape May, NJ, and spend some time visiting the town before crossing the Cape May-Lewes Ferry and staying in Rehoboth Beach. But it might press you to get to Chevy Chase by 1 the next day.

gail

Thanks - I was finding resonable beds in Newark. Also thanks for Cape May routing - will save that for another trip since we drive this route with some frequency for other reasons (Son in Savannah, to where I will be continuing before picking dtr up 5 days later) and dtr will be attending college in NC starting in fall.

NJrunr3

How about Baltimore?

AnnMarie_C

Rt 896 is an exit off I-95 and will lead you directly into the town of Newark, DE. There are hotels along the 896 corridor. Main Street in Newark is fun for shopping, eating and is home to one of my all-time favorite stores, Grassroots.

http://www.grassrootshandcrafts.com/

At the (south?) end of Main Street is the Deer Park Tavern, est. 1851.

http://www.deerparktavern.com/

Klondike Kate's is another Newark institution,

http://www.klondikekates.com/

If it were me, I would choose Newark over Aberdeen. I love the U of DE campus, so pretty! Great place to walk around with food and shopping accessible by foot. In Aberdeen, I've only taken advantage of the train station...it's not far from the water and perhaps there's a little town right on the water (Havre de Grace?) but am unsure.

Havre de Grace is a cute little water front town but I don't find Aberdeen as appealing.

http://www.havredegracemd.com/

emd

What exactly is it you want? Just a hotel to stay in for the night? Or do you want a place to have a nice dinner and get a good hotel?


Baltimore involves getting off the highway and into the city a little bit (but not too bad, just a few blocks off the hwy, easy exit and entrance) to get to a hotel. You could have dinner at the Inner Harbor and stay around there. Although that area is more expensive for hotels, you can get pretty good rates this time of year.

Aberdeen is a small town on outskirts of Baltimore. No great hotels there- Quality Inn, Super 8, Travelodge. The only thing to do is visit the Cal Ripken Museum, and it is currently closed.

dfnh

Havre de Grace is a lovely little town near Aberdeen. Keep in mind that Aberdeen has a military base. We found the inexpensive lodging near the hwy to be a little, shall we say "scruffy". Should have rejected the room we got the last time but we were using military discount, it was late at night and I already knew the other hotel was full. I wouldn't stay in Aberdeen again if I didn't have to.

gail

Thanks again. Seems like Newark would be a good place to stop. Will be arriving with 17 year old dtr mid-late afternoon and leaving mid-morning, so some interesting shops and a decent dinner would be nice. Will report back on hotel.

AnnMarie_C

At the very least it should be an easy stop for you. Here's a link to the Wikipedia site for Newark.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark,_Delaware

Deer Park is on the west end of Main Street--I'd forgotten about the Edgar Allen Poe connection which explains the raven on the Deer Park website.

There is metered street parking on Main Street as well as pay parking lots.

If you decide to stop there I hope it works out for you. I love Newark, envisioned myself living there one day--how I ended up in TX is beyond me!

wopel

If you like driving 95, stop in Baltimore. It's had to overlook the inner harbor and there are plenty of hotels down there. Forget Aberdeen.

If you come the easier way - down Rt. 301, stop in Chestertown, or continue on to Annapolis.