<p>From Elon, you’re a couple of hours from the Appalachian mountains…and Appalachian State University. The beaches of southeastern NC…home of UNC Wilmington… are about four hours from Elon</p>
<p>The National Whitewater Center is near Charlotte. Very cool.</p>
<p>Speaking of ball games and your colleges, The Blue Rocks are a minor league team that play in Wilmington. They have a great stadium within sight of I-95, less then 30 minutes from Newark. I think it’s important to get a feel for the area that the colleges are in - not the places that hours away. I’ve visited all of the colleges on your list, and I can’t say we did any fun stuff besides the colleges themselves. We tried to make the visits themselves fun by taking our time on campus, making sure we ate on-site and usually staying overnight the day before. PSU has awesome ice cream! We would wander around the campus or the town itself. Newark has a great downtown with good places to hang out and eat, as does Penn State.</p>
<p>Instead of looking for big ticket items like amusement parks or going into cities that your college student wouldn’t likely go to, why not look for things that your student would actually DO while on campus so they can picture if it would work or not? Traffic is an excellent point. Traffic between Philadelphia and Newark is horrific Friday - Sunday. Stay to the west of Philadelphia during those times if at all possible.</p>
<p>What do you enjoy doing? If I were driving this itinerary in July I’d be hiking in the Shenandoahs. Kayaking or tubing in the rivers would also be high on my list and a good way to get wet and beat the heat.</p>
<p>Elon is probably 3-4 hours to ocean and around 5+ to Charleston. Elon is basically in Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham area so research those for things to do. If you are headed down from JMU to Elon you can do lots of outside stuff. Is your son into war history (I know some boys who love to do the tour of war sites) then come down through Lexington VA (home to W&L and WMI) where lots of civil war history and then down through Lynchburg…also can do part of blue ridge parkway…slow but pretty with places to stop for short hikes. If you do get down to Charleston SC, checkout College of Charleston and they have great minor league baseball there.</p>
<p>You can hit Hershey Park on the way from Delaware to Penn State - it added a water park area recently.</p>
<p>We would love to do this. Can you suggest places that rent kayaks or tubing near by?</p>
<p>You’ve made a very good point about checking out activities that my son may be interested in doing while he would be attending that particular college. The problem is that we are combining college searches with our summer vacation and we are trying to arrange fun activities for my younger son. My younger son loves history and we all love the outdoors and would like to do some kayaking, hiking or tubing. We also love baseball so the suggestions about seeing a baseball game while on route is a good idea as well. Also, a beach is a great activity, since we are traveling in the summertime. Thank you for all the suggestions.</p>
<p>When you’re in Harrisonburg, there will be tubing,kayaking nearby…
[River</a> Expeditions](<a href=“http://www.massadventures.com/v.php?pg=6]River”>http://www.massadventures.com/v.php?pg=6)
<a href=“http://www.shenandoahriver.com/entrance.html[/url]”>http://www.shenandoahriver.com/entrance.html</a></p>
<p>If you are visiting U of D during the week, then going through the state and hitting the beach would be do-able. It’s absolutely the place to avoid on weekends due to just horrible traffic and you’ll have a very difficult time finding a place that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and allows just one night’s stay. I’m from lower Delaware and have lived in Rehoboth. If however, you are visiting Delaware during the week, I would highly suggest Cape Henlopen State park. Huge beach area with showers and snack bars and good parking. [Cape</a> Henlopen State Park, Lewes, Delaware](<a href=“http://www.destateparks.com/park/cape-henlopen/]Cape”>404 PAGE NOT FOUND - Delaware State Parks) Rehoboth is also fun, but frustrating because of limited parking and crowds - it’s a typical resort shore town with t-shirt shops, a boardwalk, ice cream, fudge, etc. And did I mention the traffic? ;)</p>
<p>JMU, Take a trip off of I-81 and take Skyline Drive down [Driving</a> Skyline Drive - Shenandoah National Park](<a href=“http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/driving-skyline-drive.htm]Driving”>Driving Skyline Drive - Shenandoah National Park (U.S. National Park Service)) Stop at the overlooks and have a picnic. You can also visit one of the caverns [Page</a> Not Found - Virginia Is For Lovers](<a href=“http://www.virginia.org/Caverns/-]Page”>http://www.virginia.org/Caverns/-) or stay in a cabin - [Lewis</a> Mountain Cabin Rentals - Shenandoah National Park - Visitshenandoah.com](<a href=“Sports and Leisure Destinations - Aramark”>Sports and Leisure Destinations - Aramark)</p>
<p>The Penn State Creamery has some of the best ice cream in the world. Make sure you stop there while in town…I can still taste the “Paterno Peach” cone I had several years ago…yum…</p>
<p>Last year we did a tour starting in NC, went to the University of Richmond in Virginia, and then to Philadelphia. The traffic going through the DC area was horrible. We decided to skip 95 for the ride home and instead went west in PA towards 81. We then added a stop at Gettysburg. I had been there before, my son and his friend had not. I had two 17 year old boys who were thrilled with the stop at Gettysburg Battlefield. They had a battle reenactment when we were there and they talked about that for quite a while afterwards. If your sons like Battlefields, it a must see. We had stopped at another battlefield in Virginia on the way to Philly. There are tons of battlefields and museums in Virginia. You could visit Penn State, Gettysburg, James Madison, and then head further south to Elon in NC. The drive down 81 is beautiful through the mountains.</p>
<p>We enjoyed Gettysburg long ago… and also the visit to nearby Eisenhower home.</p>
<p>I would suggest I84 from Mass. to I81 in Scranton, scenic route, no tolls. Susquehanna outfitters has canoes, kayaks, tours of Susquehanna river in Harrisburg. I would also suggest staying in the Harrisburg area, about 1/2 hour from Hershey. The hotel rates are a little less expensive. During the summer, it is very important to secure hotel reservations ahead of time. We like to stay in the Eisenhower Rd? area.</p>
<p>I second the I84 to 81 route if it works with your college visits. I teach at JMU, but most of my family lives in CT, MA, and NH. I take this route always, unless I am making a stop visiting family and friends in NY and NJ. A lot less traffic. Much more pleasant than the alternatives. </p>
<p>In Harrisonburg, VA there are also summer activities at Massanutten. Lots of hiking, biking, and other outdoor activities in the area as well. :)</p>
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