Contents
PLAN YOUR TRIP
Country Map
Welcome to Eastern USA
Eastern USA’s Top 25
Need to Know
If You Like…
Month by Month
Itineraries
Road Trips & Scenic Drives
Outdoors
Travel with Children
Regions at a Glance
ON THE ROAD
NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY & PENNSYLVANIA
Transportation
Top Five Scenic Drives
Fast Facts
Did You Know?
Resources
New York, New Jersey & Pennsylvania Highlights
New York City
NEW YORK STATE
Long Island
Hudson Valley
Catskills
Finger Lakes Region
The Adirondacks
Western New York
NEW JERSEY
Northern New Jersey
Princeton & Around
Jersey Shore
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
Around Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Pennsylvania Wilds
Pittsburgh
NEW ENGLAND
Getting There & Around
Seafood Specialties
Fast Facts
Faux Pas
Resources
New England Highlights
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston
Around Boston
Cape Cod
Nantucket
Martha’s Vineyard
Central Massachusetts
The Berkshires
RHODE ISLAND
Providence
Newport
Rhode Island Beaches
CONNECTICUT
Connecticut Coast
Lower Connecticut River Valley
Hartford
Litchfield Hills
VERMONT
Southern Vermont
Central Vermont
Northern Vermont
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Portsmouth
Monadnock State Park
Lake Winnipesaukee
White Mountains
Hanover
MAINE
Southern Maine Coast
Portland
Central Maine Coast
Acadia National Park
Bar Harbor
Downeast Maine
Interior Maine
WASHINGTON, DC & THE CAPITAL REGION
Transportation
Best National Parks
Fast Facts
Did You Know?
Resources
Washington, DC & the Capital Region Highlights
WASHINGTON, DC
MARYLAND
Baltimore
Annapolis
Eastern Shore
Ocean City
Western Maryland
DELAWARE
Delaware Beaches
Northern & Central Delaware
VIRGINIA
Northern Virginia
Fredericksburg
Richmond
Petersburg
Historic Triangle
Hampton Roads
Virginia Beach
The Piedmont
Shenandoah Valley
Blue Ridge Highlands & Southwest Virginia
WEST VIRGINIA
Eastern Panhandle
Monongahela National Forest
Southern West Virginia
THE SOUTH
Understanding Southern Culture
Must-Eat Southern Foods
Fast Facts
Scenic Drives
Resources
The South Highlights
NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina Coast
The Triangle
Charlotte
North Carolina Mountains
SOUTH CAROLINA
Charleston
Mt Pleasant
Ashley River Plantations
Lowcountry
North Coast
Greenville & The Upcountry
TENNESSEE
Memphis
Shiloh National Military Park
Nashville
Eastern Tennessee
KENTUCKY
Louisville
Bluegrass Country
Central Kentucky
GEORGIA
Atlanta
North Georgia
Central Georgia
Savannah
Brunswick & the Golden Isles
ALABAMA
Birmingham
Around Birmingham
Montgomery
Selma
Mobile
MISSISSIPPI
Tupelo
Oxford
Mississippi Delta
Jackson
Natchez
Gulf Coast
ARKANSAS
Little Rock
Hot Springs
Around Hot Springs
Arkansas River Valley
Ozark Mountains
LOUISIANA
New Orleans
Around New Orleans
Cajun Country
Northern Louisiana
FLORIDA
Spring Training
Green Florida
Fast Facts
Best Beaches
Resources
Florida Highlights
SOUTH FLORIDA
Miami
Fort Lauderdale
Palm Beach & Around
The Everglades
Around the Everglades
Florida Keys
ATLANTIC COAST
Space Coast
Daytona Beach
St Augustine
Jacksonville
Amelia Island & Around
WEST COAST
Tampa
St Petersburg
Sarasota
Fort Myers
Fort Myers Beach
Sanibel & Captiva Islands
Naples
CENTRAL FLORIDA
Orlando
Walt Disney World Resort
Around Orlando
FLORIDA PANHANDLE
Tallahassee
Apalachicola & Around
Panama City Beach
Pensacola & Pensacola Beach
GREAT LAKES
Getting There & Around
Top Five Activity Hot Spots
Fast Facts
Did You Know?
Resources
Great Lakes Highlights
ILLINOIS
Chicago
Around Chicago
Galena & Northern Illinois
Springfield & Central Illinois
Southern Illinois
INDIANA
Indianapolis
Bloomington & Central Indiana
Southern Indiana
Northern Indiana
OHIO
Cleveland
Around Cleveland
Erie Lakeshore & Islands
Amish Country
Columbus
Athens & Southeastern Ohio
Dayton & Yellow Springs
Cincinnati
MICHIGAN
Detroit
Around Detroit
Lansing & Central Michigan
Lake Michigan Shore
Straits of Mackinac
Upper Peninsula
WISCONSIN
Milwaukee
Madison
Taliesin & Southern Wisconsin
Along the Mississippi River
Door County & Eastern Wisconsin
Apostle Islands & Northern Wisconsin
MINNESOTA
Minneapolis
St Paul
Around Minneapolis– St Paul
Southern Minnesota
Duluth & Northern Minnesota
UNDERSTAND EASTERN USA
Eastern USA Today
History
The Way of Life
Regional Cuisine
Arts & Architecture
Landscapes & Wildlife
SURVIVAL GUIDE
Directory A–Z
Transportation
Map Legend
SPECIAL FEATURES
City Walk Village Radicals
City Walk Freedom Trail
City Walk Genteel Georgetown
City Walk French Quarter
City Walk Art-Deco Magic
City Walk The Loop
Central Park
National Mall
Eastern & Southern USA Cuisine
Welcome to
Eastern USA
Flanked by mega-cities New York City and Chicago; landscaped with
dune-backed beaches, smoky mountains and gator swamps; and steeped in
musical roots, the East rolls out a sweet trip.
Mighty Metropolises
New York, New York is ‘top of the heap,’ as Frank Sinatra famously crooned. Brimming with 8.3
million people, the megalopolis looms like an alien mothership over the East, offering a mindblowing array of culture, cuisine and entertainment. Cloud-poking Chicago, power-brokering
Washington, DC, and fiery, Latin-fused Miami rise up close on its heels as other one-of-a-kind
cityscapes. Look deeper to find the captivating old quarters of New Orleans, still ascending from
waterlogged ashes, and raw-edged Detroit, where young DIY devotees are flocking to transform the
abandoned city.
Beaches & Back Roads
The East Coast is where America gets its beach on, from the wild dunes and whale-rich waters of Cape
Cod to the taffy-shop-lined boardwalks of Ocean City or the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. Inland,
nature puts on a show in the swampy Florida Everglades, wolf-howling Boundary Waters, mist-tipped
Appalachian Mountains and New England’s forests, which blaze red, orange and yellow each autumn.
Slowpoke byways unfurl throughout so you can soak up the landscapes, from historic Civil War
battlefields to kitschy roadside attractions.
Chowhounds’ Smorgasbord
Good eatin’ reaches epic proportions here: hulking steamed lobsters with melted butter in Maine’s
seafood shacks, bagels and lox in Manhattan’s delis, saucy barbecue ribs in Memphis’ roadhouses,
butter-smothered biscuits in North Carolina’s diners, hot-spiced gumbo in New Orleans’ cafes...and
for dessert, thick slices of berry pie in the Midwest’s supper clubs. You’ll certainly work up a thirst –
which you can slake with the region’s sweet white wines, microbrewed beers and home-grown
bourbon.
Cultural Cradle
The museums here are the nation’s greatest hits – the Smithsonian, housing everything but the kitchen
sink; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a city-state of treasures; and the Art Institute of Chicago,
hanging Impressionists by the roomful. Explore the roots of the blues, jazz and rock and roll at
musical meccas such as Memphis’ Sun Studio, where Elvis got his groove on; Cleveland’s Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame, for artifacts like Jimi Hendrix’ Stratocaster; and the juke joints of Clarksdale,
where blues slide guitar first pierced the air. For sky-high designs, Chicago and New York are drawing
boards for the modern era’s great architects.
Times Square (Click here), Manhattan, NYC
RICHARD I’ANSON / GETTY IMAGES ©
Why I Love Eastern USA
By Karla Zimmerman, Author
I love the big city/rural mash-up in the eastern part of the country. You can be surrounded by skyscrapers in Chicago for
breakfast, then two hours later be driving beside clip-clopping horses and buggies in Indiana’s Amish country. You can be
in the corridors of power in Washington, DC’s Capitol for lunch, then hiking mountains in Virginia’s dreamy Shenandoah
National Park 90 minutes later. Throughout the region the music rocks, exquisite beers flow, and back-road diners, rib
joints and lobster shacks tempt you into yet another slice of pie. Mmm, pie...
See authors for much more.
Eastern USA’s Top 25
New York City
Lower Manhattan skyline with One World Trade Center (Click here)
SYLVAIN SONNET / GETTY IMAGES ©
Home to striving artists, hedge-fund moguls and immigrants from every corner of the
1globe,
New York City (Click here) is constantly reinventing itself. It remains one of the world
centers of fashion, theater, food, music, publishing, advertising and finance. A staggering
number of museums, parks and ethnic neighborhoods are scattered through the five
boroughs. Do as every New Yorker does: hit the streets. Every block reflects the character
and history of this dizzying kaleidoscope, and on even a short walk you can cross continents.
Eastern USA’s Top 25
National Mall
Washington Monument (Click here)
ALTRENDO IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES ©
Nearly two miles long and lined with iconic monuments and hallowed marble buildings, the
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National Mall is the epicenter of political and cultural life in Washington, DC (Click here). In the
summer, massive music and food festivals are staged here, while year-round visitors wander
the halls of America’s finest museums lining the green. For exploring American history, there’s
no better place to ruminate, whether tracing your hand along the Vietnam War Memorial or
ascending the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous ‘I
Have a Dream’ speech.
Eastern USA’s Top 25
Chicago
Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa, Millennium Park
RICK GERHARTER / GETTY IMAGES ©
The Windy City will blow you away with its architecture, lakefront beaches and world-class
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museums. But its true mojo is its blend of high culture and earthy pleasures. Is there another
metropolis that dresses its Picasso sculpture in local sports-team gear? Where residents
queue for hot dogs as equally as for North America’s top restaurant? Winters are long, but
come summer, Chicago (Click here) fetes the warm days with a huge array of food and music
festivals along its waterfront.
Eastern USA’s Top 25
New England in Fall
MARK NEWMAN / GETTY IMAGES ©
It’s an event that approaches epic proportions in New England (Click here): watching the
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leaves change color. You can do it anywhere – all you need is one brilliant tree. But if you’re
most people, you want lots of trees. From the Litchfield Hills in Connecticut and the Berkshires
in Massachusetts to the Green Mountains in Vermont, entire hillsides blaze in brilliant
crimsons, oranges and yellows. Covered bridges and white-steeple churches with abundant
maple trees put Vermont and New Hampshire at the forefront of leaf-peeping heaven.
Eastern USA’s Top 25
Walt Disney World
TESTA IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES ©
Want to set the bar high? Call yourself ‘The Happiest Place on Earth.’ Walt Disney World
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(Click here) does, and then pulls out all the stops to deliver the exhilarating sensation that you
are the most important character in the show. Despite all the frantic rides, entertainment and
nostalgia, the magic is watching your own child swell with belief after they have made Goofy
laugh, been curtsied to by Cinderella, guarded the galaxy with Buzz Lightyear, and battled
Darth Maul like your very own Jedi knight.
Eastern USA’s Top 25
Florida Keys
Key West (Click here)
LAURI PATTERSON / GETTY IMAGES ©
This island chain drifts as far south as you can get in continental USA. Except for drinking
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and partying, people come to the Keys (Click here) to fish, snorkel, dive, kayak, hike, cycle,
fish some more, snorkel again and swim with dolphins. North America’s best coral reefs
percolate under the jade-green water and provide brag-worthy expeditions. Then there’s Key
West, the gloriously unkempt, bawdy, freak-loving exclamation point at the end of the line.
Hippies, fire-jugglers, artists and other free spirits converge on its carnival atmosphere after
dark.