where to stop on drive from SW FL to northern NH
 

My wife and I will be driving in late May from SW FL to northern NH, where we spend the summer months. We've done this trip many times and usually take just 3 days (2 nites in hotels). We are looking for ideas on where to stop along the way (where we haven't been) and add a third night - to avoid the 8 -12 hour days of driving. We've stopped at St. Simon Island, Charleston, Savannah, Annapolis, Washington DC, Charlottesville (we prefer to drive on 95 as little as possible, instead driving on 81, which is farther west. What suggestions do you have for us?

Do want to play tourist along the way or you just want to drive less that 8 to 12 hours a day?

If you found Charlottesville a convenient stopping point and have time to do tourist sites, Madison's home, Montpelier, is nearby and the area around it is very beautiful.
I agree with you that avoiding the I-95 corridor is a good idea.

The area around Hagerstown is interesting if Appomattox, Antietam and Falling Waters ring a bell.

well, cdnyul, we want to do both, primarily fewer hours each day, but stops to play tourist for a late afternoon/overnight.
We are interested in Civil War sites, and have visited some. Also stopped at the WWII D-Day museum in Bedford, VA one year.

Macon, Wiston-Salem, Hagerstown, Cooperstown.

We do the same trip a lot:

Jekyll Island, Gettysburg, Blue Ridge Parkway, Washington, DC (a lot of new stuff if you haven't been there for years), Gettysburg, Finger Lakes Wine Region, Burlington, VT.

Possible tip for the last part of your drive: head to Hartford CT and then north on I91 to VT. Get off in Brattleboro VT, head to Keene. Choose Rt 101 to Nashua or head to Concord NH. Or head to Albany NY and then over to Bennington then Brattleboro.

I am not sure how you continue on to NH after I-81. If you go up I-87 there are lots of interesting things to do near that route-- The Storm King Art center, the FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt historic sites, Olana

Thank you for all of these suggestions. - Thinking of Jekyll and St Simons for first night. We'll research those areas in middle of our drive that you all mentioned.
We have been using I91 and then using back roads across to 93 and then the Kancamagus Highway to reach Jackson, NH - scenic roads.

Happy travels to all!

Jekyll Island is quite different from St. Simons, which is more developed. Although Jekyll has seen a modest amount of new development in recent years, all of its land is owned by the State of Georgia. One hundred plus years or so ago it was a private hunting club for the rich of the day (Rockefeller, Morgan, Vanderbilt, Pulitzer). Most stayed in the clubhouse and several had mansions (without kitchens because meals were all in the clubhouse). After WWII, the state took over the island, built a bridge and leased land for 1950's style homes and lodging. It has taken an act of the state legislature to allow new stuff since then (a few hotels, no high rises; a new convention center; a few restaurants and a water park). The island has 8 miles of beach, and anymore miles of hiking and bike trails. There is a toll to visit the island ($6-7), but it one of the more unspoiled areas on the east coast. The Jekyll Club Hotel is the old clubhouse and isa great spot on the intracoastal side, but they also own a new oceanfront property. The island has the prettiest oak trees anywhere and has been a family favorite for 40 years.

In 1960 I worked for 6 months for Rand-McNally which provided Triptiks (sp?) for various gas companies: Sinclair, Esso, Mobil. We sat in a room in a light industrial building on 14th St., and had a quota of providing about 100 trips per day on marked maps. The Interstate did not exist, so the fast route from the north to Florida was US 301, and the scenic route, the point of this reply, was the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive; but not in the winter.

If you are traveling I-81 near Grantville Pennsylvania, there is a good hotel next to Penn National (horse track) also a casino next door.

On I-84 and I-91, I'd recommend Grey Towers NHS in Milford, PA , Mark Twain House in West Hartford, Historic Deerfield in western MA., the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP in Woodstock VT and the St Gaudens NHS in Cornish, NH

Thank you all for more suggestions.
We had stopped at Jekyll Is years ago and stayed on ST. Simons. But didn't know the history, whitehall, - appreciate that.
Sounds like an interesting job you had, Michael. Yes, Blue Ridge Parkway is great - we did that as a motorcyle trip years ago.
We'll look into your suggestions, tomfuller and vttraveler. You mentioned places I'd never heard.

My husband and I took a road trip in April and stopped to see Jefferson's Poplar Forest estate. It's just east of Bedford, VA where you mentioned you'd stopped on earlier trips.