Hi,

Thanks for everyone's wisdom/suggestions! We have decided to skip the RV and do car/hotels/cabins. It's cheaper. Here is what we have booked or held:

Day 1- Drive to NYC
Day 2- NYC
Day 3- NYC
Day 4- Mystic, CT
Day 5- Cape Cod
Day 6- Cape Cod
Day 7- Cape Cod/Plymouth
Day 8- White Mountain Nat Forest
Day 9- White Mountain
Day 10- Acadia
Day 11- Acadia
Day 12- Acadia
Day 13- Portland/drive part of the way home
Day 14- drive part of the way home
Day 15- home

I had two other questions. Can anyone recommend which toll transponders we should buy? Also, can anyone estimate how long it would take to get from Upper East Side to Statue of Liberty by subway? I would like to purchase Statue of Liberty tickets but I'm unsure of what time to get. Any other comments/criticism would be appreciated. Thanks.

How to see or visit the Statue of Liberty: http://gonyc.about.com/od/attraction...tors-Guide.htm
You can't get there by subway.
On the return from Portland consider going to Binghamton NY and south on I-81 through Harrisburg and then south through Fredricksburg MD (no tolls). Why can't you just pay the tolls in cash? The transponders work better for people who commute and need them for more than a month.

Hi Tom_Smith,
In your OP you mention either July or August. Have you confirmed what dates your trip will be? I ask because if your travel days will be Friday/Sunday/1st/15th/last of month, the traffic will be a lot worse - and you'll want the toll transponder. (Of course compounded if you travel at the end of the day on any of those.) Otherwise, as tomfuller says you save time and a little cash but not a ton.

FWIW, the transponder in the NY metro area is the EZ Pass; in MA it's Fast Lane, but the two systems work together. (You can use the EZ Pass in a Fast Lane.)

From the UES to the Statue of Liberty, you would take the 4/5 subway line to Bowling Green: the last stop in Manhattan and the one closest to the ferry departure point. For the subway ride, I'd leave yourself 45 minutes. (Not knowing how far uptown you'd be, or how far a walk from your lodgings to the subway.) However, depending on a number of factors including day of the week and time of day, you might be in line to go through security and get on the ferry for up to two hours... I don't remember how long the ferry ride takes, but I don't think it's more than 30 min or so.

// I'm curious why you have a full day at Mystic. Or does that include leaving NYC and traveling there? It's a nice place for a stop, but IMO it's better to spend your time on the Cape! In what town on the Cape will you be staying?

I also agree that you might want to look at a different route back than you take out. Another suggested route would be from Portland, ME, head inland in MA along the I-495 loop to the Mass Pike west (toll) to I-91 south. That way you could stop at the colonial recreation at Old Sturbridge Village, if you're not filled to the brim with that stuff by then(!). Or take the Mass Pike all the way west to Albany, NY before heading south...

In fact, IMO your itinerary has you zigging-and-zagging more than I personally would do. (Out to the Cape in the east, back west when you head north to the White Mountains, then east again to Acadia...) Also, your current route would have you passing right through Boston and near many historic towns nearby like Lexington and Concord. If you can, some time in any of these would be great for history, museum loving kids. :)

Sorry - but the Statue of Libertyis closed for renovations. Yuo can get the ferry to Liberty Island and look at the outside - but that hardly seems worth the wait for the ferry unless you are going on to EllisIslad Immigration Museums which is brilliant. For the ferry the security line in about 45 minutes and the ticket buyers line (if you don't have advance tickets) ranges from 30 minutes to eternity - based on time of day and day of week.

If you google Massachusetts DOT you will be able to get to a site where you can have them send you a transponder that will work on the whole eastern seaboard, except for some places in southern Florida. You give them a credit card to put the tolls on.

In Mystic CT there is a very good Aquarium and also Mystic Seaport, each of which could take a good part of a day in fact to see/do it all in the Seaport would take more than a day.