"The Brutalist" takes place principally in Doylestown, echoing the legacy of Mercer and his interest in concrete as a building material. Doylestown is of the best small towns in America, and vising the museum and home is a highlight on the East Coast.

It is very much possible to visit both Washigngton, DC and Philadelphia and enjoy the city, the architecture, and even plenty of history without hewing to tourist attractions.

I'm not being rude; I'm being realistic.

You've offered no time frame. Are you here for 1 week, or 1 month? It's the latter, there's enough to do between Philly and D.C. for you to find the "untouristy" places and quirkiness (whatever that means to you).

If you don't like streets full of shops and restaurants, and tourists jamming the narrow sidewalks, maybe avoid Annapolis (West Point graduation is sometime in May, I believe.) Charleston might not be your cup of tea for the same reason.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living history museum of Colonial America. Just as in the 1600s, the stores will carry tri-corners, petticoats, pottery, candles, soaps and so forth; and of course, the other traditional colonial items like baseball hats, sweatshirts, golf polos, snacks and bottled water. May is a popular school field trip month, as well.

A simple Google search would tell you that Lancaster County PA is not "ridiculously touristy." There's no Amish Adventure Zone where you can race buggies through cornfields; and no vintage steam train excursions through the rolling hills with a piped in history and folklore. You can take a guided buggy tour, visit some of the farms (and I think, even tour an Amish house).

As you love architecture,you've probably already scoured information like the following:
https://savingplaces.org/stories/the...tury-modernism
https://www.anothermag.com/design-li...ad-trip-around
https://www.worldnomads.com/explore/...l-masterpieces

As I wrote earlier, do some research and then return to ask directed questions.

Your first response to the OP showed incredulity about their ideas. You are wrong about Philly and DC, and I can easily see someone avoiding the coast (ocean) as being perfectly interested in the architecture of Savannah and Charleston. Makes sense to me. The OP can take a self-guided walking tour of both those places without succumbing to mass tourism. I have seen the touristy side of Philly, and I happily return there to see the rest of the city. I have no problem with the OP seeking otu experiences like that.

I *think* the OP is not interested in visiting towns that are little more than 'Ye Olde Gift Shoppe'. Or to see attractions where one must buy tickets,stand on line, etc. One after the other. I understand that as well.

To the OP, I can find places that avoid mass tourism just about everywhere. I appreciate your quest, as I always try to see the other side.

May is a good time for this as kids are still in school and colleges open, so fewer tourists than a month or two later. Temperatures good, a bit rainy/cloudy.ls

Near Fallingwater is another FLW site called Kentucky Knob. Also nearby is a French & Indian War site (Seven Years War) called Fort Necessity which is worth swinging by for a bit of history of the colonial period (the war was British colonies vs the French and their Indian allies and young George Washington was in it). At that time, the French held Fort Duquesne which became the site of British Fort Pitt. The spot is now the scenic Point State Park adjacent to downtown Pittsburgh. Of course, there is more to enjoy in Pittsburgh.

Gettysburg Battlefield is near Lancaster and Amish country, if interested in American history. Amazing site and beautiful country. Can see why President Eisenhower had a home there which you can now visit.

More Amish (Mennonite) in Harrisonburg VA in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and near an end of the Skyline Drive. More Amish/Mennonite in Ohio.

If you decide to go to Williamsburg, there are some beautiful plantations along the northern shore of the James River between Williamsburg and Richmond. On the south shore of the James Bacon's Castle, Smith Fort and Chippokes plantation are all interesting and not heavily touristed.

I think you're making my point. Only when pressed did the OP offer up a timeframe: "as long as necessary but probably two weeks." We are into April and this road trip is next month. The OP wants to see "DC, Maryland, Virginia, and maybe more" in "probably two weeks?" Or, "as long as necessary?" Someone who loves history and architecture; and wants quirkiness, and rural, and ethnic communities needs to do some research.

For goodness' sake, our 20-something DD, in The Netherlands for three weeks for work/school and leisure, asked for my travel notes from our family trip several years ago. Afterwards, she asked a few pointed questions. Travel research isn't hard.

So here is my take on what the OP is looking for, and it has little to do with "travel research."

My favorite memory of Philadelphia is going on an excursion with a work colleague who had never been to Philly before. We first went from the Hilton Garden Inn near Reading Terminal Market to Nick's Roast Beef on 20th St and S. Jackson, for their roast pork with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone. The kind of tavern where you are under-dressed if you are not wearing a puffy Eagles jacket. From there we walked back to the hotel going first east to Passayunk then heading north. We talked to people on stoops, ducked into favorite bakeries, got water ice from folks selling it out of a garage. We walked past a group of seniors playing checkers and listening to Italian opera on a boom box. Without stopping, the walk is 75 minutes, but we took at least 2 hours.

You can visit Philly, Washington, Savannah, and Charleston or anywhere else without participating in mass tourism. Just like my favorite things in Paris have little to do with advance tickets or standing on line.

hi everybody,

I'm going to do a road trip, starting in Washington DC, south to Charlottesville, Richmond, New Bern NC, go West to New River Gorge NP (especially to visit Thurmond ghost town), North to Falling Water (Frank Lloyd Wright's), back East through Somerset and Bedford counties PA, Kishacoquillas valley, Lancaster, final stop Philadelphia.

I already know what the major attractions in these regions are but I'm now interested to see very rural counties, dying little towns, sparsely populated areas, raw countryside with no malls, stretches of road without much sign of human presence...

I already roadtripped Mississipi, Tennessee, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska (the Sandhills are amazing !) and I randomly crossed a lot of counties with this kind of vibe. I tried to find the same in Vermont but no (maybe I wasn't lucky), everything was very polished.
I'm dreaming about Kansas or Saskatchewan (I guess they're the most perfect places for what I'm asking for). and I'm looking for comparable experiences in VA, WV, NC and PA.
maybe less raw, less empty, but with more historical buildings.

I know these regions are far more populated than the West and the landscapes are different... and I'm not American so accept my apologies if my question makes no sense (guy, the states you're mentioning are rich and/or urban) but I hope it does.

if ever what I'm looking can't be found in these states (because they're either too rich or far too populated), can you tell whether I can find something a little further out (in either direction) ?

it's basically impossible to find what I'm looking for in guidebooks.

thank you very much !

hi everybody,

I'm going to do a road trip, starting in Washington DC, south to Charlottesville, Richmond, New Bern NC, go West to New River Gorge NP (especially to visit Thurmond ghost town), North to Falling Water (Frank Lloyd Wright's), back East through Somerset and Bedford counties PA, Kishacoquillas valley, Lancaster, final stop Philadelphia.

I already know what the major attractions in these regions are but I'm now interested to see very rural counties, dying little towns, sparsely populated areas, raw countryside with no malls, stretches of road without much sign of human presence...

I already roadtripped Mississipi, Tennessee, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska (the Sandhills are amazing !) and I randomly crossed a lot of counties with this kind of vibe. I tried to find the same in Vermont but no (maybe I wasn't lucky), everything was very polished.
I'm dreaming about Kansas or Saskatchewan (I guess they're the most perfect places for what I'm asking for). and I'm looking for comparable experiences in VA, WV, NC and PA.
maybe less raw, less empty, but with more historical buildings.

I know these regions are far more populated than the West and the landscapes are different... and I'm not American so accept my apologies if my question makes no sense (guy, the states you're mentioning are rich and/or urban) but I hope it does.

if ever what I'm looking can't be found in these states (because they're either too rich or far too populated), can you tell whether I can find something a little further out (in either direction) ?

it's basically impossible to find what I'm looking for in guidebooks.

thank you very much !

Thee are several ghost towns in and around New River Gorge. You will want to see Nuttalburg.

shelemm yes, thanks again (that goes also for your recommendations on my previous thread). Nuttalburg is on my list but what I'm looking for here is quasi-ghost towns or towns that really suffered, and still suffer from the economic changes in the past 20 to 40 years. a few years ago, I went to Cairo Illinois by pure accident (it happened to be on the road between St Louis and Nashville) and that was a shock.

Here are some dying industrial towns:

Scranton, PA

Reading, PA

Huntington, WV

Parkersburg, WV

Welch, WV

Harland, KY

There are some dying mining towns in Southeast Kansas and Northeast Oklahoma. Some are superfund sites and have large tailings piles.

Galena, KS

Baxter Springs, KS

Picher, OK

In the Oklahoma Panhandle there are dying High Plains towns such as Boise City and not too far away in Northeast New Mexico is Clayton. Desolation.

It's kinda creepy seeing all of the abandoned buildings and houses.

Appalachia in general is not polished. You might even be able to find places where people are chasing their dinner in the yard. The anti-Vermont.

This is slightly repugnant, dying towns as a tourist attraction. The idea that all of Vermont is polished is laughable, given they have an aging population, decline of lumber industry and a high drug problem. You must have only gone to tourist towns like Stowe or Woodstock. You don't see the people without jobs in their rundown homes, drug-addicted, lack of infrastructure or broadband, or 75 yr olds who have to work at the local minimart or McDonalds due to no money. I spend a lot of time there and have relatives there, and there are people in rural areas without much.

WV is one of the poorest states in the country, same for it, there are plenty of dying towns there and drug addiction problems. These states aren't as big as Kansas, so no, you aren't going to see stretches of land as it isn't flat. WV has a declining coal industry, obviously.

SW Va in particular has lots of dying areas, no jobs, poor people, not northern VA. PA is a big state, there is a town there with a burning fire under it that has to be evacuated (Centralia), maybe that's dying enough for you. It's near Frackville, enough said. Erie PA is pretty declining.

Here's one in VA, this looks like a website for you

https://www.abandonedcountry.com/201...oo-well-known/

I'm not sure exactly why you want to visit "dying little towns."
I do have a suggestion about an interesting museum to visit about an hour 15 minutes south west of Richmond: the Robert Russa Moton Museum in Farmville, VA
https://motonmuseum.org/
It's a National Historical Landmark that shows the history of the "student-led Civil Rights Revolution."

Christina thank you for your insight.
I had this conversation many times before and no, it's not repugnant. being poor is not repugnant, being poor is not a shame. I'm not going to a zoo and the same goes with any community that I visit anywhere in the world. why do I want to see that ? because it's different from what I experience everyday and I want to have a better understanding of what life in poor neighborhoods in the US is. and it's pretty much the same with rich neighborhoods. or quirky neighborhoods or anything that is just different. and it's much better if the area is historically significant because I'm a History buff. and it's much better if I can admire old buildings because I'm an architecture buff.
to be perfectly honest, and that is a totally different point, I also like eeriness.

I know very little of Vermont. I drove there because it's a state people keep talking about for how beautiful it is. so I decided to add it to a trip to East Canada and although I liked the capital city of Montpelier for its small town-big capitol house feel, everything else was boring because I didn't prepare my trip enough. trees, trees and more trees on a very neat road (I should have left the Interstate). not much different from Canada, just less orange. and my point is that even though road trips (and travel in general) is all about unexpected surprises, driving randomly is not always a good idea. I wouldn't have visited the Sandhills of Nebraska (amazing landscape and nice little towns -Mullen I think) without the advice of travelers in the now gone LP Thorntree. same with Pine Ridge reservation (which I also loved but yes, it's poor there and Wounded Knee was indeed an eerie place - the clouds were low in the sky).
I still understand what you're saying, but I wholly disagree.

You're not from the U.S., and your goal is to see "dying little towns?"

Your travel plans are all over the place. From an earlier post you wanted to see "rural, quirkiness, different ethnic groups, etc." Rural America is not a Zoo. It's filled with people living their lives, many of whom will not ever go "Poor People Hunting" in another place, much less want to.

Being a History/Architecture buff, as you write, is no excuse for your lack of research. As I stated previously on another of your posts of a similar nature, you really do come across as a blogger/influencer who is looking for some unusual content.

you're repeating exactly what you said already and I'm still not a blogger/influencer (I never posted a video anywhere on the internet in my whole life) and yes, I'm using these guys to prepare my trip, which is not unusual.