Where to stop from Litchfield Beach to Sharpsburg, Maryland
 

Will leave Litchfield Beach, SC on Thursday and need to be in Sharpsburg, Maryland on Saturday. Which two cities would be the most interesting stopovers? Meeting up with a Road Scholar tour in Sharpsburg. Thanks for your suggestions

If you drive up the eastern route on horrible I-95, I would suggest a day in Richmond, Virginia, with its wonderful FREE museums, historic sites, and incredible restaurants of all kinds.

I would spend the second day in and near Charlottesville: Monticello, Ash Lawn, the University of Virginia.

Looking at google maps/directions, 6 of the 8-hour trip would get you to Charlottesville on Thursday. Friday would be free for some of Ackislander's suggestions for that area. That would leave about 2 hours to get to Sharpsburg on Saturday (or Friday night? What time is your tour?).

If you can avoid rush hour, Route 95 would be fastest. I actually disliked Route 81 more than 95 as there seemed to be so many big trucks speeding The Route 1 alternative would be about an hour more but possibly less hectic because of traffic lights. A fair statement, Ackislander?

I can only speak for Richmond's wonderful Museum of Art--first class. I don't remember it being free though.

I would first suggest you drive up Route 17 to Wilmington and go over to I95 on I40 from there. You could take a quick driveby of the historic district along the river. It is about an hour and a half to Wilmington. I don't think going this way adds any time to your trip or at least not much.

Two cities? Richmond, DC and/or Alexandria. If you end up in either of the latter two Friday overnight you'll be under 2 hours to your destination on Saturday.

Depends in part on your interests. Not knocking other places mentioned -- all are worthwhile to see. C'ville is a bit of an outlier in that it's technically a city but not on the urban scale of the others. Very pretty place tho with lots to see in the area.

IMO Rte 1 is a temporary alternative only useful when I95 is at a crawl or a standstill. Definitely not less hectic from DC to Fredericksburg. 95 can be awful but it's not always a nightmare. Depends on time of day and day

Thanks for your suggestions. I appreciate the time you took to give me advice.

Admission to VMFA's permanent collection is free. Special exhibitions almost always have paid admission. Usually in the $10-15 range unless it's an artistic blockbuster.

Agree it is a gem of an art museum.