Pittsburgh is quite nice actually with a lovely baseball stadium and a great dinosaur museum. Don't slam what you don't know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cape Cod and Maine coast

+10000

NOTHING like NE beaches! Nothing compares here, frankly. OBX is a dump. Since you asked.

OP said 3-4 hours DRIVING, not flying.

1 hr by plane, genius.

Not PP, but I make the trip to the Cape frequently and it takes me 5 hours. 30 mins to the airport, 1 hour at the airport, 1.5 hour flight, 30 mins to get the rental car (sometimes I can get it in 15-20 - I like the new central car reservations place), and 1.5-2.0 hours to drive to my house. Even if you fly to Hyannis you have to change planes in Boston or ACK, which doesn't actually save much time relative to driving from Boston. If you live closer to the airport here, or you are going to a town closer in on the Cape, you might save a few minutes on my trip.

Wow, I have done it 1.5 hours door to door. You might want to reassess! I would much rather do that, than 6 hours to OBX. Heck, I would even drive to the Cape in 8 hours, no problem. At least it is a nicer ride!

I'm all ears. I fly up pretty frequently and would love to get there more quickly. I went up twice in May - once on the US Airways shuttle that left at 8:30 am and arrived at 9:56 so that was 1 hour 26 minutes just for the flight, and once on JetBlue that left at 10:20 and arrived at 11:39, so 1 hour and 19 mins - but it was from BWI so it took me longer to get to the airport. Plus I think that flight was a few minutes late. Luckily in May there was no traffic but it's still 90 miles to my house from Logan so hard to do in less than 1.5 hours. Please share your tips because I am heading in to the summer season with lots of back and forth.

Anonymous wrote:not my favorite place by any means, but we went to Pittsburgh for vacation last year. Watched a lot of baseball, Heinz History Center, kayaked on the rivers, that damn Incline railroad, visited the Aviary, dinner a Church Brew. There's stuff to do.

The OP wants to explore new destinations for a weekend getaway. I agree with this PP - there is plenty to do in Pittsburgh. It may not be everyone's idea of a weekend vacation destination but it is a great city to explore after you've done the major touristy cities around here.

Op here- where do you all stay at deep creek lake? Any nice lodges or hotels near the lake?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cape Cod and Maine coast

+10000

NOTHING like NE beaches! Nothing compares here, frankly. OBX is a dump. Since you asked.

OP said 3-4 hours DRIVING, not flying.

1 hr by plane, genius.

Not PP, but I make the trip to the Cape frequently and it takes me 5 hours. 30 mins to the airport, 1 hour at the airport, 1.5 hour flight, 30 mins to get the rental car (sometimes I can get it in 15-20 - I like the new central car reservations place), and 1.5-2.0 hours to drive to my house. Even if you fly to Hyannis you have to change planes in Boston or ACK, which doesn't actually save much time relative to driving from Boston. If you live closer to the airport here, or you are going to a town closer in on the Cape, you might save a few minutes on my trip.

Wow, I have done it 1.5 hours door to door. You might want to reassess! I would much rather do that, than 6 hours to OBX. Heck, I would even drive to the Cape in 8 hours, no problem. At least it is a nicer ride!

NP here. This is physically impossible if the flight itself is 1.5 hours. Come on.

Anonymous wrote:OC ,assateague , Delaware beaches , deep creek lake, smith mtn lake , MD eastern shore :Easton , st michaels, oxford.

+1

Cute and quaint, but still something to do there. Not bad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cape Cod and Maine coast

+10000

NOTHING like NE beaches! Nothing compares here, frankly. OBX is a dump. Since you asked.

OP said 3-4 hours DRIVING, not flying.

1 hr by plane, genius.

Not PP, but I make the trip to the Cape frequently and it takes me 5 hours. 30 mins to the airport, 1 hour at the airport, 1.5 hour flight, 30 mins to get the rental car (sometimes I can get it in 15-20 - I like the new central car reservations place), and 1.5-2.0 hours to drive to my house. Even if you fly to Hyannis you have to change planes in Boston or ACK, which doesn't actually save much time relative to driving from Boston. If you live closer to the airport here, or you are going to a town closer in on the Cape, you might save a few minutes on my trip.

Wow, I have done it 1.5 hours door to door. You might want to reassess! I would much rather do that, than 6 hours to OBX. Heck, I would even drive to the Cape in 8 hours, no problem. At least it is a nicer ride!

OC ,assateague , Delaware beaches , deep creek lake, smith mtn lake , MD eastern shore :Easton , st michaels, oxford.

not my favorite place by any means, but we went to Pittsburgh for vacation last year. Watched a lot of baseball, Heinz History Center, kayaked on the rivers, that damn Incline railroad, visited the Aviary, dinner a Church Brew. There's stuff to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several options.

With kids that age: Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster County, PA. Amish country is fun, too.

Also: Williamsburg/Virginia Beach

Also: Shananendoah National Park

Also: Harper's Ferry and environs.

Pittsburgh is a 4-hour drive.

Chincoteague

LOL. OP, Please don't think people actually identify pittsburgh as a vacation destination. Philadelphia, maybe?????

LOL -- I'm heading to Pittsburgh for a vacation next weekend!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cape Cod and Maine coast

+10000

NOTHING like NE beaches! Nothing compares here, frankly. OBX is a dump. Since you asked.

OP said 3-4 hours DRIVING, not flying.

1 hr by plane, genius.

Not PP, but I make the trip to the Cape frequently and it takes me 5 hours. 30 mins to the airport, 1 hour at the airport, 1.5 hour flight, 30 mins to get the rental car (sometimes I can get it in 15-20 - I like the new central car reservations place), and 1.5-2.0 hours to drive to my house. Even if you fly to Hyannis you have to change planes in Boston or ACK, which doesn't actually save much time relative to driving from Boston. If you live closer to the airport here, or you are going to a town closer in on the Cape, you might save a few minutes on my trip.

Philly,
Staunton, VA / Charlottesville
Canaan Valley, WV

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cape Cod and Maine coast

+10000

NOTHING like NE beaches! Nothing compares here, frankly. OBX is a dump. Since you asked.

OP said 3-4 hours DRIVING, not flying.

1 hr by plane, genius.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several options.

With kids that age: Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster County, PA. Amish country is fun, too.

Also: Williamsburg/Virginia Beach

Also: Shananendoah National Park

Also: Harper's Ferry and environs.

Pittsburgh is a 4-hour drive.

Chincoteague

LOL. OP, Please don't think people actually identify pittsburgh as a vacation destination. Philadelphia, maybe?????

The OP said they'd been to Baltimore and Philadelphia for long weekends already - not sure Pittsburgh is much different than those garden spots. You can go to Fallingwater on the way, although I am not sure kids are allowed.

We've flown to visit relatives out West, rented a beach house (Florida in spring, Chincoteague in summer) done long weekends in Lancaster, Williamsburg, Rehoboth Beach, Shenandoah National Park, NYC, Baltimore, Philly, Boston. We have a friend with a river house off the Chesapeake so we go down and go boating, fish off the dock, eat crabs, have bonfires etc. We discovered some cute towns on the bay in our sailboat so we like to revisit them with the kids - St. Michaels, Annapolis etc.
When we moved here 25 years ago it seemed like a good idea to go out to the mountains (SNP) and go on waterfall hikes, and then we built a cedar strip canoe, which made us want a sailboat when our arms got tired...we like historic stuff, quaint towns, science museums, nature hikes, waterslide pools. I am from out West so I enjoy exploring the East Coast with the sense of "I may not be here forever so I will enjoy what is here while I can." Wish we had sea otters and that the mountains were bigger!