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.