Looking for points of interest on new trip.

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Conquistador

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Just bought a 2023 Winnebago ROAM handicapped accessible van. Maiden voyage to begin in S Florida, Georgia, Carolinas, Penn., Maryland, W New York, Mass., New Hampshire, Vermont and on to Main. Will be using good Sam campgrounds primarily.

Looking for must see places along the way. My wife is handicapped, and wheelchair bound mostly.

This is my first post.
 
From St. Augustine, Florida, on up, explore the coastal area at least to the NC line.

My favorite part of the country, full of history, culture and wonderful food.

Tho it is going to be hot this time of year.

Safe travels.
 
In western NY, Letchworth State Park is lovely, and the Corning Museum of Glass is well worth a visit; I especially liked the Tiffany glass and the Innovation room. Many of the wineries along the Finger Lakes have wheelchair accessible picnic areas with spectacular views. The views along Seneca and Cayuga Lakes are the most dramatic.

In Vermont, the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail is wheelchair accessible, though iirc it has some gentle slopes and, when I was there, a bark/dirt path that might demand some “push.” Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream does tours. Lake Champlain Chocolates no longer does tours, alas, but they do have a store. With chocolate. Need I say more? Any north-south road in the Champlain Valley will offer gorgeous views of the Adirondacks, Green Mountains, and Lake Champlain—just avoid the interstate, and you pretty much can’t go wrong. (There’s nothing wrong with the interstate, but it’s not as immersive an experience. Iirc, you see perfectly lovely trees and steeples, and nothing else.) My parents, especially my dad, LOVED the Rock of Ages Marble Quarry tour and the Hope Cemetery near Barre. (I was working and didn’t go, so can’t say more from personal experience.)

My knowledge may be out of date, so please don’t take my word for any of that.

These sites might offer some tips for NY and VT:
https://www.iloveny.com/blog/post/wheelchair-accessible-new-york/https://curbfreewithcorylee.com/2022/10/24/how-to-enjoy-fall-in-vermont-as-a-wheelchair-user/
Welcome, and enjoy the RV!
 
In the signature link at the very bottom of this post there's a site:

edjautoservices.homestead.com

In the Links section at the top left of it, there is a list of Trip Panning websites under the heading...."Trip Planning at Home or on the Road".

Some of these sites have a function where you're ask how many miles off your given route that you're willing to travel for a side trip to go and see the many interesting places they offer as suggestions.

If you'd like, take some time and check out the site.
 
IIRC, Old Orchard Beach (Maine) has a great boardwalk. It's been a little over 10 years but my memory of it is of a slightly tacky but fun, retro beach town with a strong French-Canadian seasoning. The farther you get from the center of town the more peaceful and beautiful it is, and there is a long, broad sand beach.

Thinking of that made me wonder if there is such a thing as beach/sand wheelchairs and apparently (at least, per a quick-and-dirty Google) there is and they're not super expensive. Worth looking into if you haven't already?

OOB is probably the best easy-access sand beach in Maine. Alltrails.com has a page "best wheelchair-friendly trails in Maine"; most of the trails they mention are in gorgeous locations along the southern half of the coast. Mainebyfoot.com has a similar list but I think it's longer.

(Warning: in Maine, gorgeous locations that are easy to drive to can get very crowded in the summer, and the scenic coastal Route 1 can be jammed.)

Ferry rides from Portland to islands in Casco Bay can be fun just for the ride; day-tripper amenities once you get to your destination vary a lot from island to island. Portland has some great wheelchair-accessible trails. Becky's Diner on Commercial Street is a super-cool (IMO) local+tourist hangout. Somewhere near there is a fishermen's memorial that's worth seeing. Portland has buckets o' visitor attractions of course.

Ferry rides to islands farther north -- Vinalhaven, Swan's Island, Frenchboro, Monhegan, and Matinicus are the ones I remember -- are a bit longer and more expensive and IMO even more more worth it, but definitely check for accessibility. IIRC for Frenchboro the boat trip is the point -- it's narrated and scenic and you actually only spend a couple hours on the island itself, which is not really geared to day trippers.

Lubec and Eastport -- at opposite points of Cobscook Bay -- are I think the farthest NE you can get in the USA, have plenty of amenities + at least one iconic lighthouse, and are lovely places to spend some time. Campobello, FDR's summer home, is right across the bridge from Lubec in Canada.

Mount Desert Island/Acadia State Park = stunning but can be super crowded in summer.

^^ These are all coastal locations. Inland Maine is vast and gorgeous but I don't know what might be wheelchair accessible there. It'd definitely be worth looking up what's available in and around Moosehead Lake/Greenville and Baxter State Park/Millinocket. If you're in Maine in peak tourist season these might be a little less crowded???

Read Sarah Graves's "Home Repair is Homicide" series for fun murder mysteries set in Eastport and anything by Paul Doiron (he has both full-length novels and short stories on Amazon) for mysteries set all around Maine told through the eyes of a game warden. Kate Braestrup's Here if You Need Me is a memoir written by a warden service chaplain.

^^Anything RVNaut says about Maine trumps anything I say about it.

Closer to home (I assume you're FL natives?), you probably already know whether you like Titusville and the Canaveral National Seashore, but just in case you want another opinion: A big thumbs-up to that area for the stunning natural beauty and the fun-retro-tacky downtown (preserved b/c the town hit on hard times after the government space program shrank -- so see it quick before the private-industry space program gobbles it up). Fish tacos at Dixie Crossroads restaurant are a must, in my opinion. Great food, a moat with alligators in it, and they serve you corn fritters (like donut holes drenched in powdered sugar) as an appetizer. Eat dessert first!

PS for the historically minded --

On Merritt Island on Courtenay Parkway near the Biolab Road there is a historical marker for the Douglas Dummett plantation. What the marker does not tell you is that this plantation was one of the few in the area to survive the Indian attacks/slave uprising that launched the Second Seminole War. It survived because an enslaved person loyal to Dummett hid in the house during the attack and put out the fire as soon as the attackers left. (Pretty sure that, contrary to what the plaque says, Dummett was not there at the time.) I swear, some people don't get any credit no matter what they do!

It burned down anyway a couple years later IIRC. I went down the road once and it seems to be mostly a fishing spot now.
 
Following this thread as a newbie in touring with Rv
 
^^ oops, make that Acadia National Park
 
Here are some of the best camping spots and parks on the East Coast that are handicapped accessible:

1. Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland and Virginia: This beautiful park has a range of accessible facilities, including campsites, restrooms, and boardwalks.

2. Acadia National Park, Maine: Acadia National Park has several campsites with wheelchair accessibility, as well as several accessible trails and bathrooms.

3. Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts: This beautiful park has several wheelchair-accessible campsites, as well as accessible bathrooms and showers.

4. Myrtle Beach State Park, South Carolina: Myrtle Beach State Park has several campsites that are wheelchair accessible, as well as accessible bathrooms and showers.

5. Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina: Huntington Beach State Park has several wheelchair-accessible campsites, as well as accessible bathrooms and showers.

6. Jekyll Island Campground, Georgia: This spacious campground has several wheelchair-accessible campsites and bathrooms, as well as paved trails for easy access around the campsite.

7. Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia: This beautiful park has several accessible campsites, as well as accessible bathrooms and showers.

8. St. George Island State Park, Florida: St. George Island State Park has several wheelchair-accessible campsites, as well as accessible bathrooms and showers.

9. Anastasia State Park, Florida: This park has several wheelchair-accessible campsites, as well as accessible bathrooms and showers.

10. Bahia Honda State Park, Florida: Bahia Honda State Park has several wheelchair-accessible campsites, as well as accessible bathrooms and showers.
 
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