vicky5

Hi,
We are taking a road trip with 3 kids (11 yrs old and 1.5 yr old) thanksgiving week. We are planning at making a stop at Atlanta Aquarium (saturday) and was thinking of going to see Ruby Falls in TN and stopping at Hershey World, We will be leaving FL on Friday night and planning on getting to NYC on tuesday. Any recommendations what to see in between? Thank you

nytraveler

Colonial Willimsburg is absolutely brilliant and the 11 year olds will love it. Not about a 1.5 year old - but they are easily amused almost anywhere. There is also a Busch garden nearby. Not sure of opening days/hours when you will be there.

Gretchen

Have you considered going through Smokey Mtn National Park (maybe instead of Ruby Falls). There is also Old Salem in Winston Salem for a smaller and more manageable colonial style village and then on up I 74/81 to get to Hershey.
Starrs should be able to route you from Atlanta through some interesting places.
I can't compare, but Chatanooga and the Tennessee Aquarium might rival Atlanta?

Sassafrass

Where in Florida are you departing from?
What time do you hope to arrive in NYC on Tuesday?
Have you calculated total driving time for this trip?
Roughly, departing from say, Orlando area, going through Atlanta, is about 21 hours of driving, not including bathroom or food stops.
That does not allow much sightseeing time.

Williamsburg is great, especially at Thanksgiving when it is beautifully decorated. If you do not make it to Atlanta, National Aquarium in Baltimore is very nice.

NewbE

<departing from say, Orlando area, going through Atlanta, is about 21 hours of driving,>
Say what? In a car?

We made it from near Orlando to DC in 14 hours and we aren't lead footed. We stopped for short breaks.

NewbE

Sorry, hit Submit too soon.

Google gives a six hour drive time from Orlando to Atlanta.

Gretchen

And as another "gauge", Atlanta is 4 hours from Charlotte and we drove to NYC directly in 12 hours which makes the 21 hours.
I'd suspect Newbe drove up the coast, not through Atlanta.

Sassafrass

Google gave
Orlando to Atlanta - minimum of 6+ hours
Atlanta to NYC - 13+ to 15 hours.

So, total, going through Atlanta, 19-21 hours of solid driving.

Still nebulous because we do not know their departure point in Florida.

They also have kids, a very little one, to consider.

Going straight from Orlando to NYC, Google gives 13 hours, 37 minutes solid drive time.
However, other sites give times of 15-18 hours with most saying around 17. With little ones, it is always safer to calculate the maximum and hope for the minimum.

IME, it is rare on long trips to make it in the shortest time. You certainly can't count on it when planning, there will likely be a glitch somewhere.

For weeks we drove Newport News to Baltimore every week. Out of probably 20 trips, we did one in just under four hours, most at around six hours, one at twelve hours. When it is slow, you also have to stop more and that eats up time.

For nearly a year we drove back and forth from LI to Baltimore. Same thing. Once, it seemed like we had just about flown home. Once, traffic bogged down so much, we gave up and stopped at a hotel for the night.

Gretchen

Well, sure they can do some sightseeing.
Saturday and Saturday night in Atlanta.
If they wanted to do the route I suggested, drive to Winston Salem Sunday and look around there.
Drive to Hershey Monday and on to NYC arriving maybe late Tuesday.
Maybe not the best allocation or places, but it certainly is enough time from Friday to Tuesday to see "something" on the way.