Chicago-Boston roadtrip

[Kimmumum]

We are driving from Chicago to Boston in July. We plan on driving straight through but didn't know if there were places of interest to stop along the way. Thought?

 

[3boymthr]

I'm guessing you're taking I-90. If yes...

Cleveland has the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.

I-90 passes within minutes of Lake Erie, but the lake can't be seen from the highway, when we drove to Chicago we took a side trip to go view the lake and dip our toes in.

If you are willing to drive a little out of your way then you could head up Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky Ohio or go to Niagara Falls in NY (it's about a half hour drive according to Mapquest, but I think it took a little longer). You could spend all day doing all the activities at Niagara but you can also just do a brief walk about and see the falls.

Another little bit away from the highway but beautiful to see is Letchworth State Park in NY. There are some gorgeous water falls in the park. Not as big as Niagara but there are three. There is also a decent museum.

Stockbridge MA has the Norman Rockwell Museum.

The Yankee Candle Factory is in Deerfield, MA (about half an hour up I-91)

Springfield MA has the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Springfield Armory National Historical Site (the US' first armory - created by Geo. Washington and the world's largest collection of historic US guns).

HTH

 

[ellochka]

I am seconding the Cedar points idea. Cleveland downtown is nice if you have a short stop over for food and rest.

 

[Maddie2]

Last summer we drove from South Dakota to Boston, passing through Chicago, taking different routes out and back.

Going out, we followed I-90 pretty closely, driving straight through most of the time, but we did spend 3-4 hours at Niagara Falls. It was beautiful and it was nice to get out and stretch our legs.

DH is from MA, so we get out there every few years. I LOVE the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge and someday hope to make it to Tanglewood, which is in/near Lenox, MA (western MA). The Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops and lots of other musicians play in this outdoor venue. They do sell out, so if you are interested, be sure to get tickets ahead of time. We've been to the BB Hall of Fame and some family members enjoyed it, however, this is something I would have felt bad missing. Also, Springfield is home to the Smith & Wesson (firearm makers) museum and factory tour. Not something I would enjoy, but some do.

Coming home, we took different roads. Stops included:
* The PEZ Museum in Orange CT.
* A few days in NYC (leaving our car at a CT train station). Of course, there are TONS of things to do here, but we were also there in July and really, 3 days was enough.
* Knoebel's Amusement Park in central PA (I-80). Loved it. Wished we would have had more time there. VERY economical too.
* Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. DH really wanted to go and though I wasn't too jazzed (pun intended) about spending an entire day, I ended up liking it a lot more than I expected to. Last year I found reduced admission coupons on their website.

In addition to the above, our boys' favorite memories include:
* Roadside rest stops, picnics and tossing a football around.
* The reintroduction of the Hostess Twinkie. We aren't usually a "twinkie" family, so the fact that Mom bought a box was memorable too.

I guess it really is the little things, huh?

Have a great trip!

 

[Kimmumum]

Thanks everyone. It's still up in the air as to what we're gonna do. I hadn't heard of the Pez museum.

I agree with the small things making the memories. I brought kites for my boys to fly on the national mall when we went to DC a few years ago. Fun!

Thanks for the ideas. Anyone else??

 

[3boymthr]

I'm guessing from your mention of boys that you will have children with you. Is this correct? and if yes, what are their ages? There are some add'l activities I could suggest but it depends upon the age of the participants whether they are appropriate.

 

[Kimmumum]

Our DC trip was years ago when my boys were young. My boys are now young men, 20 and 16. Only the 16 yo us going on our boston road trip.