Hit the road, Jack!
July 18, 2014 3:27 PM   Subscribe

Driving from New Jersey to Cleveland in one day. Are there any sites worth seeing?

We're joining the last few days of Mini Takes The States and will be driving from New Jersey to Cleveland with our 9 and 11 year old kids.

It seems the most direct way is Route 80. Is it worth the hour or so detour onto Route 75 to see Pittsburgh?* I need to be in Cleveland probably no later than 4pm so that we can settle in and get to the evening's event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that night.

Any other suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks!



*I have a partially torn Achilles tendon with a boot, so I'm limited to the amount of walking I am able to do.
posted by dancinglamb to Travel & Transportation around West Windsor Township, NJ (2 answers total)
 
Would you take I-80 or the Pennsylvania Turnpike?

Detouring to Pittsburgh from I-80 will add a lot more than an hour to your trip. It's an hour down to Pittsburgh, then, assuming you're not just driving through the city, a couple of hours seeing some sights, and an extra hour returning northwestward to get to Cleveland. Your 6-7 hour drive becomes an 10-11 hour drive, which means you'd be leaving at 5 a.m. at the latest to get to Cleveland by 4 p.m. Since the Turnpike passes near Pittsburgh anyway that route isn't as much of a time sink to visit the city.

But, why not take in more of Cleveland? Without the side trip you turn a long slog into a more leisurely drive and you'll get there in time to rest/freshen up before the evening event.

Cleveland has lots to see and do. You can tour the house from A Christmas Story, the Cleveland Museum of Art is world class, the Museum of Contemporary Art has a brand-new home, the botanical garden is great, the natural history museum is really good, etc.
posted by plastic_animals at 5:10 PM on July 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks for the link! I was thinking Rt. 80 since it's all of maybe 10 minutes from here. I'll have to see how much we can realistically fit in. As I mentioned, I can't walk around that much (so that kind of limits museums, unfortunately). I'll definitely convene with my co-pilot, Mr. dancinglamb, and see what is doable.

Once we get there, Mini does give out 'suggested routes' for the rest of the Rally.
posted by dancinglamb at 10:54 PM on July 18, 2014


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