Hello,

Planning a road trip with my husband. We're in Montclair, NJ (surburban to NYC) and driving to DH's father's house in Saint Louis. Here's a possible itinerary:

Montclair --> Manteo, NC (outer banks for some camping or maybe a b and b)

Manteo --> Smoky Mountains Park (more camping)

Smoky Mountains -->Saint Louis

Saint Louis --> Chicago (have never been)

Chicago --> ??? (don't know what might be of interest between chicago and montclair)

?? --> home to Montclair, NJ.

I'm thinking we need about 12-14 days for this trip. What do you think about this itinerary? My husband and I have never taken a road trip and would appreciate advice from those who have!

Itinerary suggestions would be great, too.

Thanks!

You've never taken a road trip?!? The only thing I can tell you about your destinations is that my family camped in Smoky Mountain Park when I was a kid in the 60's and we all still remember it as a favorite destination.
As far as road trip advice...
Have your maps and other navigational tools ready at all times. Plan well, then be flexible with the plan.
Agree before you leave not to argue. I don't know how much time you two spend together, but hour upon hour in the close confines of your vehicle for 2 weeks can make things that normally wouldn't bother you turn into major issues. DH and I have been on many, many road trips and this is key for us. We have a code word that we use to let the other one know that we are getting to a danger point. Don't get me wrong, we love long drives together and use the time to solve all the world's problems, discuss deep philosophical issues, make decisions about the house or the kids or what to have for dinner. But when you get lost or you make a comment about his mother or anything like that, it's great to have a plan in place to keep from ruining the trip with an argument.
Having said that, I'll just add that IMO road trips are the best kind of vacation you can take. Enjoy!

From Chicago to Jersey drive up to Niagara Falls and then across NY state and do some wine tasting. you are also in the Finger Lake area that offers some greast camping potential. give us a trip report when you return.

Something new I tried last year & this year, on our 2 very long driving trips (10,000 & 5,200 miles) was to make a small note book with all motel/hotel reservation confirmations in order, with little tabs so I could find them easier. I also add any information I've gotten on places to eat, things to see, etc., along with small computer maps of how to get there.

We usually book our motels prior to leaving so we don't have to "look" for a place to stay, no matter what time. The only problem with this, is that sometimes we see something/somewhere along the way we wish we had more time to spend at. So look at your maps carefully and decide where and when you want to stop.

You can either stop for meals, or take a cooler so you can stop and fix sandwiches. Anything so you can get out and walk around. Remember bottles of water to drink along the way.

Have fun, it's a great way to travel.

Wendy, two things stick out in my mind about your trip. One, it is such a pain in the ass to camp at the beach especially in the summer. Sand gets in everything you own and unless you have AC, you will be miserable.

Secondly, Manteo is a long way out of your way and will add hundreds of miles to your trip. Have you considered a closer beach? Possibly one of the Delaware or Maryland Beaches?

Chicago is such a great town! I would spend at least four days there. Get a room off priceline and stay on the Mag Mile.

If you are keeping your itinerary the way it is, I would not take less than 14 days. My estimate is that you will be driving around 2500 miles.

hi all,

thanks for the wonderful advice. sart29, i got a chuckle out of your tip: agree not to argue. my husband and i work for the same company, not 50 feet away from each other all day long. we've certainly gotten in our fair share of fights because of this, and i can only imagine what bein 2 feet apart in a car will be like! luckily, we have a sense of humor and can usually manage to laugh at ourselves when we see how ridiculous our fighting is.

GoTravel, good advice on the camping and sand. I really would like to see the Outer Banks..and so we're considering a change in plans to make our trip a bit less hectic.

We're thinking of driving straight to Saint Louis from Montclair, stopping overnight somewhere in the middle (don't know where that is yet). Then, we'll spend 3 days in St Louis. From there, we'll take our time on the way back...hopefull¥ going through Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina.

We decided to skip Chicago because flights betwee NYC and Chicago are not very expensive and we think the town would make a great extended weekend get away another time. I think the KY, TN, NC route is something neither of us have any idea about and we look forward to experiencing it. (i am a native CA who moved to NYC then NJ, he was raised in Hawaii and CA then moved to NYC & then NJ).

we're reading up on randmcnally.com. lots of maps and info there. but i'd love to hear about places to stay along our planned route, especially Band Bs in the Outer Banks and experiences in the Smoky Mountains.

Thanks everyone!

Hey, wendy!
I grew up in NC and have driven down to visit family. It is about 12 hours to Charlotte..just giving you an idea of time/miles to drive.
Tennessee is so beautiful as are the mountains of NC.
If I were taking a road trip, I would drive on the Blue Ridge as far south as possible, then go east to the beaches.Coming home (north) from there.
B&B for sure, nothing worse than a humid summer night camping! Don't forget the size of country mosquitos! they are much larger than city mosquitos
There are some small cabin kind of places to stay in the NC mountains, I would recommend that sort of stay rather than camping, but then again, I am not a fan of camping.
BTW-I love Montclair ! (do you know the hair salon , The Subway?)

hi scarlett,

montclair's beautiful. we've only lived there for about 5 months. we moved from Park Slope, Brooklyn when we decided we really needed to buy something rather than waste our money on rent. I don't know The Subway, but if it's a good salon, I'd love to check it out. I need a good haircut!

Thanks for the tips on camping. I definitely think we'll forgo that idea. We would like to stay at the beach in a bed and breakfast...any recommendations there?

We'll be hitting up the Smoky Mountain area before we get to the beach. We love to hike, so I think we'll find plenty to do. Any particular trails to recommend?

thanks everyone!