How do I plan a trip to New England, Cape Cod, Provincetown, MA?

Hey everyone!

  Need advice.  I've got an 09 Victory Vision Tour and I'm going to visit Provincetown in July. I plan to take 3 days to get to P-Town, stay a week in Cape Cod, then 3 days back. My starting point is northern VA.  

  I know I can just hop on the bike and go where the winds blow me, but I'm the kind of guy who likes to map out my day.  In previous excursions by car, my trips were only based on the final destination with no thought to what lay in between point A and point B.  I simply went to AAA, got a Trip Tik and simply plotted my journey based on a 400 mile, 8 hour travel day.

  Not this time.  I want to slow down, maybe only go 200 miles a day and tour.  But how? I don't know what I want to see and I know there's so much of America in between VA and MA.

  I don't want strictly freeway nor do I want to travel on those obscure back country roads that my GPS might not be able to plot.

  I'm also not a camper.  I like my creature comforts.  

  So, are there websites that'll help me figure out what see along the way and to help me plot me a path?

  Thanks, Vincce.  

BTW, I've hopped on the bike, from Boston area, and made it to Chincoteague in 1 day. Long day though.
You didn't say where in Va you were starting from, but on the way up, there's Snow Hill (old grain capital). There's an old mansion in Md just off rt 13, name escapes me at the moment, but any local is going to know it.

When you get to this end, leave some time. Newport RI has the mansions of the gods of their era. Another spare day gets you Salem Ma.  Witch trials, etc...

Oh, BTW, somewhere in Ct. is the Super Duper Wienie. Phantom Gourmet(boston thing) pick for hot dogs. A challenge.  

Take a look here...

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

regards,
Joe  

frbock, thanks for the suggestions!

I'm starting in Leesburg, VA.  So far, decided to head over to Lewes, DE, catch the ferry over to Cape May, NJ, then go north to PA to see the Valley Forge National Park.  I want to bypass the NYC metro area, so have to map away around that. I'm leaving 11 July, so still time to figure this out.

6/3/09: Slowpoke, Ooops, must be getting senile....didn't see your post until today!  Thanks, very interesting site!

Vince.  

Yeah, I can understand skipping NYC... especially on a weekday (sucks). I've had family members use the Ferry. They tell me it doesn't save time... just driving.

I generally just catch the Jersey turnpike until I hit the Garden State. take that to the NY Thruway, cut south over the Tapan Zee Bridge, catch the Cross Westchester Pkwy, then catch the Merit Parkway. That gets you past 95% of the crud I95 in Ct. Merit is actually a nice ride. Divided road, 50 mph limit, very wooded, lots of hills and turns. It's a positive jewel. Only down side is that it dumps you out about 15mi N of the Super Duper Wienie. Not all bad.. Up here we have several Spikes Junkyard dogs (the world's best hotdog.. maybe better). If you go looking for them, make sure your map is good, several of them have shut down... and at least 1 has opened.  

Thanks for the suggestions! I've never been to New York nor New Jersey, so I had to access Google Maps and see how your suggested routes through NJ and NY looked. Talk about a confusing mish-mash of interconnected freeways, Wow!  I'm a bit concerned that I'd easily get lost following that maze.  I've got a Garmin 2820 mounted, so I'll use a combo of google maps to scope out the directions you've indicated, then translate that into mapquest and download to GPS.

Vince.  

Believe it or not, it's not that tough. I have gotten lost due to stupidity on my part. In Wilmington DE, I once followed the signs for I95 (instead of the Jersey turnpike). The Jersey turnpike DOES become I95 at about exit 7. But for my folly, I got to see the low rent districts of Philly (skip on bike). Eventually, it cut back to the Jersey Pike. Garden State is clearly marked. Follow it to the end, go south, and like right after the Tapan Zee is the Cross Westchester (I..something or other). Merit Parkway is about 5-10 miles at most, and it literally dumps you on I95.
Plan B would be to catch the Garden State to I87 (also at the end), head north to exit 17, then catch I84 East. I've done that one too, not a bad ride, but, in '06 the roads were getting a little rough. (still need the pass for the Newburgh Beacon Bridge).

The only other advice I can give is get a fast lane/ez-pass transponder, and register your bike as authorized. With motorcycles, a lot of time they can't pick up the signal since they tell you to keep it in your jacket.  On 1 trip, I forgot the transponder. I just bopped thru the lanes, and sure enough, based on license plate they properly charged me. It's toll plus $50 if it isn't registered.

Last thing you want is to be fumbling for ticket and toll at a booth, especially if it's raining, and all the oil/antifreeze is getting slick.

Let me know when you're going to be in the area. I can almost always be persuaded to hop on the bike for a visit.  

FRBOCK,

I do have EZ Pass for the bike.  It's compatible up and down the Eastern states, VA, PA, MD, DE, etc.  I have a transponder holder from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, with suction cups, so I can easily move it back and forth between the bike and the car.

Vince.  

When you get to Mass, the call it Fast-Pass. Your transponder will work just fine.
Unlike NY  (and a couple other states, like NJ, Mass at least tells you before hand  whether you should go left, right, or center. They're not consistent, but, at least they label.