Vermont /Maine itinerary
 

We will be taking a 7-8 day road trip to see quintessential Vermont and Maine. We will begin in Yorktown VA and spend the night in Pennsylvania or New Jersey--any suggestions? From there, I need suggestions for towns in which to stay. We would like to stay at at least one lodge style place, perhaps on a river. We like to find good roadfood, visit literary and historical landmarks and do a bit of shopping. Because we have never been to this area we'd really like to get a feel for the area.
Returning to Virginia, we'd like to stay somewhere different than we did on the way up. Any suggestions?

Oh, we are going the second week of August.

Since NH is in between Maine and Vermont, do you want to see that too?

With only 7-8 days, I wouldn't waste time in PA or NJ. I'd start in western Mass, which will be about 9 hours away. Spend a day on the Mohawk Trail. Visit the Bridge of Flowers. Go hiking. Visit Yankee Candle if that interests you. There is also Crane Paper Company where all the paper for US money is made. Visit Emily Dickinson's House and Museum in Amherst Mass. There is the Robert Frost Museum in southwestern VT. And the Herman Melville's Arrowhead in the Berkshires of Mass.

More later....

Here is a good resource for literary landmarks in New England since I'm sure I'm missed some in western Mass.

http://atlasofnewengland.wordpress.c...ary-landmarks/

That's a lot of ground to cover in only 7-8 days. I also would say as rizzo suggests, get directly up into New England somewhere your first day's drive.