Help me break up a long car trip with kids
March 20, 2019 8:37 AM Subscribe
It's looking likely that I will have a ~9+ hour car trip w/my 6 and 8 year olds ahead of me this summer, driving from DC to Cape Cod. Looking for suggestions for unusual, not-to-miss things along the way, and a good place to stop overnight near the halfway point.
The timing is unclear right now, but this is the likely route. I'd like to avoid NYC if possible.
I have deep family history in CT, but have spent very little time there, or in anywhere in Rhode Island outside of Providence. Bonus points for smaller cities that have a Marriott for the overnight.
The timing is unclear right now, but this is the likely route. I'd like to avoid NYC if possible.
I have deep family history in CT, but have spent very little time there, or in anywhere in Rhode Island outside of Providence. Bonus points for smaller cities that have a Marriott for the overnight.
In my experience on drives from southern New Jersey to Boston and back, taking the George Washington Bridge (which is what your "likely route" is showing for me) is not really avoiding New York, in terms of traffic. Take the Tappan Zee (which carries I-287), or even the I-84 bridge if someone has a suggestion of a not-to-miss thing that makes that routing make sense.
posted by madcaptenor at 9:02 AM on March 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by madcaptenor at 9:02 AM on March 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
When we drove from NYC to Cape Cod with a child, we stopped at the Mashantucket Pequot museum and also their casino. My child loved seeing a real casino and playing in the arcade, and the museum is amazing. Summer lodging along the CT shore is going to be expensive, but there are lots of choices in New London (which also has ships and an aquarium to visit).
posted by xo at 9:16 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by xo at 9:16 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you're taking I-95*:
The Essex train is fun! They'd be able to stand up and move around, always important when there is pent-up car energy. It looks like they now have some kind of partnership with nearby Gillette Castle, which is a neat place if the kids are the type to appreciate weird old houses with mysteries inside, less so if they are the types who want to touch everything in weird old houses. (I was the former and spent a lot of time looking for secret passageways, my kid is the latter.)
The Mystic Aquarium is lovely.
The Peabody is great for the dino-obsessed, although if they are DC kids they might be all museumed up.
If you take 91:
The CT Science Center has a lot of fun and interactive stuff including a giant indoor water sensory play area. We have efficiently extracted excess car energy there.
I have a soft spot for Northwest Park, which has a nature center with animals, a playground, and nature trails, and is just off the highway. Might be nice for a non-beachy detour.
They might be a smidge young for Old Sturbridge Village but when I was a kid that was our traditional pre or post-Cape stop.
*this is probably the way I'd go with kids. I have family on the Cape and grew up in central CT so we'd always take 91 and the Mass Pike there, and we have many family stories about people with desperate bathroom needs along some stretches of road with nary a Dunkin to stop in for like 45 minutes. The other way has more options for more of the way. I'll let folks with more knowledge of 95 vs 84 comment on relative speeds on that front (as mentioned upthread), but 84 can be a mess.
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:21 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Essex train is fun! They'd be able to stand up and move around, always important when there is pent-up car energy. It looks like they now have some kind of partnership with nearby Gillette Castle, which is a neat place if the kids are the type to appreciate weird old houses with mysteries inside, less so if they are the types who want to touch everything in weird old houses. (I was the former and spent a lot of time looking for secret passageways, my kid is the latter.)
The Mystic Aquarium is lovely.
The Peabody is great for the dino-obsessed, although if they are DC kids they might be all museumed up.
If you take 91:
The CT Science Center has a lot of fun and interactive stuff including a giant indoor water sensory play area. We have efficiently extracted excess car energy there.
I have a soft spot for Northwest Park, which has a nature center with animals, a playground, and nature trails, and is just off the highway. Might be nice for a non-beachy detour.
They might be a smidge young for Old Sturbridge Village but when I was a kid that was our traditional pre or post-Cape stop.
*this is probably the way I'd go with kids. I have family on the Cape and grew up in central CT so we'd always take 91 and the Mass Pike there, and we have many family stories about people with desperate bathroom needs along some stretches of road with nary a Dunkin to stop in for like 45 minutes. The other way has more options for more of the way. I'll let folks with more knowledge of 95 vs 84 comment on relative speeds on that front (as mentioned upthread), but 84 can be a mess.
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:21 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
An alternate route is I-270 from the Beltway to Frederick, west on I-70 to Hagerstown, north on I-81 to Scranton, I-380 then I-84 to Hartford. From Hartford you can take CT-2 to Norwich, then either get on I-95 there, or take I-395 north to US-6 then east to Providence. From Providence it will be I-95 and I-195 to the Cape.
This may be a bit longer but you will avoid all the tolls except for $1.50 to cross the Hudson. Traffic will be fairly heavy but not I-95 heavy most of the way. Newburgh is about half way, you could overnight there and maybe pop down to West Point for a quick look.
posted by leaper at 9:26 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
This may be a bit longer but you will avoid all the tolls except for $1.50 to cross the Hudson. Traffic will be fairly heavy but not I-95 heavy most of the way. Newburgh is about half way, you could overnight there and maybe pop down to West Point for a quick look.
posted by leaper at 9:26 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Depending on the days of the week you're traveling, it might be worthwhile to split the days unevenly rather than right down the middle. For example, if your two days of travel will be Friday & Saturday, consider stopping short of NYC on Friday night. If they'll be Sunday & Monday, get past NYC on Sunday evening rather than dealing with the traffic on Monday morning. Most of the Connecticut attractions mentioned above are good choices for kids, but they're all 5+ hours from DC, so they'd be better choices for the second case.
... or even the I-84 bridge if someone has a suggestion of a not-to-miss thing that makes that routing make sense.
Probably not appropriate for every kid, particularly ones so young, but perhaps you could go to Storm King Art Center. If the weather is nice, there will at least be plenty of room to run around.
posted by Johnny Assay at 10:16 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
... or even the I-84 bridge if someone has a suggestion of a not-to-miss thing that makes that routing make sense.
Probably not appropriate for every kid, particularly ones so young, but perhaps you could go to Storm King Art Center. If the weather is nice, there will at least be plenty of room to run around.
posted by Johnny Assay at 10:16 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
perhaps you could go to Storm King Art Center.
Yes! I forgot about Storm King because every time I'm in the area it's winter and they're closed.
posted by madcaptenor at 10:18 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes! I forgot about Storm King because every time I'm in the area it's winter and they're closed.
posted by madcaptenor at 10:18 AM on March 20, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you go the I-95 route, you will go by the PEZ Visitor Center in Orange, CT. Would that be something they'd enjoy?
posted by mccxxiii at 3:32 PM on March 20, 2019
posted by mccxxiii at 3:32 PM on March 20, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 8:56 AM on March 20, 2019