Roadtrip Tx to Ma -- What Route .. What to See ?

[pc100porsche]

I have a "meeting relatives' excuse to do a roadtrip from San Antonio to Boston and return in my 88 Carrera.
I can probably take 3-4 weeks to do so.
Any suggestions on most interesting route to take there and back ?
All ideas are greatly appreciated along with recommendation of good pcar shops along the way ...

[on2wheels52]

I assume you're looking for crooked roads. I'm no help with Texas/southern Arkansas, but after that........
Hwy 27 from wherever you come across it to its end (north of Marshall). Then Hwy 14 to 125 (free ferry ride at Peel). Then US 160 east to Hwy 19 north.
I'd need to know where you want to cross the Mississippi to give any further suggestions.
Jim

[pc100porsche]

Really appreciate your suggestions on2wheels52,
I'm taking a note of the roads you suggest and googling them, so, thank you.
Crooked roads are nice .. I'm also interested in any towns , sights I should take in, if anyone has a comment ..
Probably only do this trip once.

[Seahawk]

I'd do the coast up and the mountain route back.

Cool towns?

Stay in Aiken, SC for the night at the Willcox downtown. Great, very cosmopolitan place with excellent restaurants.

Eat at the track kitchen for breakfast. It is on a dirt road in the center of the race horse stables and track.

Charleston for lunch. Stay the night in Pawley's Island.

Head north to Atlantic City or New Bern, NC. Neat places.

I'd drive the Chesapeake Bay Bridge then explore Easton or Cambridge, MD. Head over to Annapolis for the night. Stay downtown.

From there I run out of recommendations...

On the way back, Lexington, VA is a great town. Tour VMI. Asheville, Brevard and other small towns are great in NC.

Helen, GA is neat but there are any number of cool town throughout the Smokies.

Huntsville, Ala is a a great place. Check out the space center there. Can't miss it, there is a Saturn 5 parked out front

Enjoy!

[Jim Richards]

I like Paul's (Seahawk's) suggestions about heading up the East Coast. My wife and I once made a road trip from the DC metro area up through New England and Quebec Province. That was back in '03, when we had the 95 993. We started out by going through Annapolis to Lewes, DE. Rehobeth Beach is nearby. We took the Lewes-Cape May ferry to New Jersey and went up to Long Island. We went east for a ways on Long Island, finding some twisty roads and a few small car ferries to ride on. We then took another car ferry to Connecticut and went to the Mystic Seaport. While in CT, we found a number of covered bridges that my wife wanted to see, and went to the track at Lime Rock to see some vintage racing. We looked for twisty roads to take through CT, eastern NY, and MA. I'll skip the Quebec part for now, since your plan is to go to Boston. For this trip, we spent little time on the interstates and hit a lot of small towns to get a better flavor of the area.

For the return, if you've closer to 4 weeks, I'd recommend that you leave Boston heading west, and by that I'm talking about head out to SD, WY, CO, NM, and back to TX. That's kind of what we did back in '07, when we took our 73 911E on a big road trip. Anyway, leave Boston, head west to NY and stop in at Pelican onlycafe's restaurant in Vernon, NY (on my bucket list). He should be able to give you local knowledge on twisty roads. Watkins Glen would be great to see. You could go over to Niagra Falls, maybe cutting across Canada and coming back through SE Michigan. Or, swing back down through PA and OH, stopping in Cleveland to see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. On to Chicago where there's great great ethic food (I'm thinking of Polish, mmmm) and a lot of great Pelicans, too. Wisconsin has the famous Road America race track, hilly twisty country roads, tons of lakes, etc. SE Minnesota has some nice twisty roads, too. SD has the world famous Corn Palace in Mitchell. Western SD's Badlands are very cool, and Mt. Rushmore is very nice. The Pelicans in CO should have some great recommendations on twisty roads along the front range of the Rockies.

If I get a chance, I'll try to find more specifics if desired. Road trips should be epic!

[pc100porsche]

This is all sounding really good ... I very much appreciate the insights Seahawk & Jim.

[ckelly78z]

Are you saying that the journey will take 3-4 weeks to meet your relatives for 1 afternoon ?

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by pc100porsche

This is all sounding really good ... I very much appreciate the insights Seahawk & Jim.

Jim has seen the USA from his Chevro...Porsche He now owns my favorite Porsche, a 964.

For the southern part of your trip, Maryland and below, do yourself a huge favor and look at the Southern Living website, travel section. Southern Living | The Best of the South

A little contrived, but the info is great. If your wife/SO is coming long, more the better.

Just for the record, the two places you don't want to miss are Aiken, SC and Lexington, VA. Get to Lexington on the 18th of October and you can tailgate with RickV, me and the rest of our herd at VMI versus another small school. It is fun.

[matt f]

The 80/81 intersection in NE PA is near me.
I'm 7 minutes from 81 near Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Have a couple of 2 post lifts, tools etc. if need be. Lots of cold beer too!

If in Asheville NC, The Biltmore is outstanding.

Matt

[pc100porsche]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

Are you saying that the journey will take 3-4 weeks to meet your relatives for 1 afternoon ?

Might spend a couple of days with the relatives .. the rest is a roadtrip.
Did San Antonio to Key West & return last year .. had a hoot ..

[Jim Richards]

Here's my road trip thread from 2007...
Early 911 Road Trip 2007

[Noah930]

Having lived in Boston, other than Boston itself, there's not much of interest to see in eastern MA. (Rte 6 on Cape Cod is pretty, but you'll trundle along at 35-45 mph the whole time.) However, the western portion (the Berkshires) of MA is beautiful. Lots of great roads there, as well as in western CT such as around Lime Rock. Most of the pretty towns of New England, IMO, are north of Massachusetts (such as in VT and NH). You can take Hwy 100 up north through VT to towns like Stowe and Killington area. That's a very pretty drive.

[pete3799]

I don't see when your leaving for this trip? The fall foliage season is in full swing right now up here in northern VT.
If you've never been to northern New England might be worth a detour through VT., N.H. then down to Boston.

[onlycafe]

i have a love affair with route 20. as long as there was daylight and business hours i would use 20 and reserve the interstate for night-time or making a swift mile. there is a terrific bit of road between ilion, ny and route 20, referred to as the ilion gorge road. almost like a mini-dragon. (route 51.)

i would be glad to see you if you do get to this neck of the woods..... my number is:
315 829 3030.

i can also steer you to the non-ethanol fuel spots.

jim richards, thanks for the plug.

[Scuba Steve]

Savannah is a nice spot to hit up. I'd recommend staying in a hotel downtown near the river.

In the Charleston area you'll find ethanol free fuel at a station in James Island and another spot in Mt Pleasant. There are a number of great spots to grab lunch/dinner downtown or along Shem Creek. Much like anywhere else, the outlying areas are pretty much the same as anywhere else so I'd recommend visiting the city center.