East Coast Road Trip
Vacation Ideas

• East Coast Road Trip Stop #1: Atlanta, Georgia. We headed out from Bradenton, Florida towards Georgia. We stayed for a while with family in Cumming and checked out the area attractions. We went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, as well as The World of Coca-Cola, Underground Atlanta, and Little Five Points.

  The Georgia Aquarium was huge, and had lots of really cool exhibits. One of my favorites was the penguin exhibit, where there is a little window in the middle of the enclosure that you can look through, and get a view of the entire exhibit.

  The World of Coca-Cola was one of the most memorable parts of the entire east coast road trip vacation.

  You walk through, and it shows the history of Coca-Cola. There are stations where you can taste all sorts of Coca-Cola products from all over the world. There are so many things to see and explore there. I had a great time.

  Underground Atlanta and Little Five Points are in the heart of Downtown Atlanta. Underground Atlanta is a shopping center located underground. It was really interesting knowing you were underneath downtown.

  Little Five Points is also a shopping district located downtown, and it has lots of cool, alternative shopping spots: record stores, awesome restaurants, clothing shops. It is a really interesting shopping experience.

• East Coast Road Trip Stop #2: Gatlinburg, Tennessee. On the drive there, we passed lots of beautiful mountains, and lovely brooks and streams, which to two native Floridians, were really wonderful sights to see. While in Gatlinburg, we camped at the Camping in the Smokies RV Park. We went white water rafting, and checked out lots of the attractions in the heart of Gatlinburg.

  Camping in the Smokies RV Park was geared specifically toward RV camping, and we were tent camping, so the front of the campground was really busy with RVs. But the rear camping area was nice and quiet. It seemed as if we were the only tent campers, and it made for quite a spooky camping experience at night, but in the daytime it was beautiful. We had a little creek running behind our campsite, and we saw lots of wildlife.

  White water rafting was one of the most amazing things I've ever done! The tickets were for the advanced rafters, and neither of us had ever rafted before, so I was terrified that I was going to fall out of the boat.

  But we ended up in a raft with a really nice family who had also never rafted, and our guide was awesome and assured us that nothing would happen.

  That was an experience that I almost missed, lucked into getting an opportunity to have, almost chickened out of, and that I will never forget. Gatlinburg has lots of really neat attractions. It's like the Las Vegas Strip of Tennessee.

  We went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, The Guinness Book of World Records Museum, Ripley's Haunted Adventure, as well as a few smaller attractions. We had a great time. Tennessee is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited, and I'd love to go back again soon.

• East Coast Road Trip Stop #3: Kentucky. Our first impression on stopping at the tourist center was how good Kentucky smelled. It smelled like fresh air and pine trees. We visited Bowling Green and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

  While in Bowling Green, we went to the National Corvette Museum. It was interesting, but it wasn't very big. It took less than forty-five minutes to see the entire museum. I can understand, though, how Corvette fans could be able to spend longer there. All of the cars on display had plaques telling all the specifics of the cars and engines, etc., and I wasn't really interested in those things. I just wanted to see the cool cars, and move on.

  Mammoth Cave National Park was amazing! We tent camped there, and the park was beautiful, full of wild animals lots of interesting things to do. We ate in the Troglobites restaurant in the park and they had delicious onion rings and the best sweet tea I've ever had.

  We took two of the tours of the caves, and they were both completely different, interesting experiences. If we'd had more time and money, we probably would have taken all the different tours. While in Cave City, we visited the Kentucky Action Park. From the road, all you could see was a ski lift type thing so we thought we'd check it out. Still not having a clear view of the ride, we paid, got on the ride, and instantly realized that it was the rustiest, most dilapidated ski lift in history.

  The lap bar didn't properly close, the seat had holes where it had rusted thorough. There were cars that we passed on the return trip that were barely hanging onto the wire, and we were several hundred feet in the air. We were terrified that we wouldn't make it back to the beginning of the ride, but we did, and now we have a cool near-death story to tell.

• East Coast Road Trip Stop #4: New Jersey and New York. We stayed with some family in Linden, NJ, visited some other family in Roselle and Elizabeth, and took the train to NYC. While in New York City the first day, we did all the Manhattan things; Empire State Building, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, did some shopping. It was a really great day. The second day, we went to the Statue of Liberty, but we arrived too late to go inside, so we just viewed it from the outside, then we went to Ellis Island. Later in the day, we went to the South Street Seaport and did some shopping.

• East Coast Road Trip Stop #5: Ontario, Canada. We visited some family in Brampton, and did some sightseeing in Toronto. We also went to Canada's Wonderland Amusement Park, and Niagara Falls. Canada's Wonderland is half amusement park, half water park. We only did the amusement park portion, though. Niagara Falls was super fun! It has all sorts of museums, attractions, restaurants, etc. along the strip.

  We took the Maiden of the Mist ferry through the falls, and it was amazing being so up close to one of the most beautiful places in the world. When we left Canada, our intention was to head straight to Virginia, but on a whim, we decided to go to the United States side of Niagara Falls in New York.

  I am so glad we made the spur-of-the-moment decision to go to the falls. The difference between the Canada side of the falls and the U.S. side is like night and day. Where the Canada side was really touristy, attraction-filled, the U.S. side is just a big park that doesn't have much besides the falls and a few visitors centers. We decided to take the Behind the Falls Tour, and it was so cool. A big group goes and literally walks along the back of the falls along wooden paths, while a tour guide tells you all about the falls and their history. You get soaking wet, which was refreshing on that long, hot, August day.

• East Coast Road Trip Stop #6: Virginia & Washington D.C. We stayed with some family in Kilmarnock, VA, which was a really small, cute town with a few really nice little stores and restaurants. We spent two of our days in Virginia then headed to Washington, D.C. We saw the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, and a few other places.

  The second day we found the area that had all the museums, most of which were free. We spent the day visiting them all. D.C. is a really cool place to visit, but I think it would be best if you planned ahead before going there so you don't waste time trying to find all the landmarks.

  The last day in Virginia, we went to Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg. I am a huge fan of Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, and a big part of the fun is the animals, but the Virginia Busch Gardens only had very few animals, and was much more ride-oriented. They have some of the coolest rides I've ever ridden. I will definitely make a trip back to Virginia just to go to Busch Gardens again. It was awesome!

• East Coast Road Trip Stop #7: Home – Florida. After Virginia, we headed back home to Florida. I didn't miss home the entire trip, but as soon as we crossed the Florida border, I was ready to be home in my bed to take a vacation from my fun-filled east coast road trip vacation.

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