On our quest to visit all 50 states, we embarked on a road trip that would take us to 5 states and Washington, DC. Over 6 days we visited West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Washington, DC while hugging the Mason-Dixon Line.
Fun Fact: The Mason-Dixon Line separates 4 states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia. It later became known as the border between the Southern slave states and the Northern free states.
All five states would be new destinations for the kids, and New Jersey and Delaware were new for me. We tacked on a day in DC since it’s the kids favorite city (so far!).
Our itinerary has all of the elements of an epic family road trip:
- Adventure
- Rollercoasters
- Waterslides
- History
- Culture
Seriously, what more could you want?
How We Ended Up Visiting These States
Each year we gift the kids a trip as part of their Christmas gift. On January 1st, we randomly select the name of a state the kids haven’t visited and plan a trip to that destination. For this trip, the kids pulled West Virginia.
Our family of 5 took a road trip from Florida up to West Virginia. Since we were already in the area, it only made sense for us to visit a few other neighboring states so we could add them to the list of states we’ve visited.
Related Post: How to Plan a Road Trip the Whole Family Will Love!
Using the strategy outlined in the post above, our itinerary quickly began to take shape, and Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Washington, DC were added to our trip.
Day One- Davis, West Virginia
After a long drive from Florida to West Virginia, it was time for a bunch of Florida kids to experience some snow! The first stop on our road trip was Blackwater Falls State Park, home to the longest sled run on the East Coast.
The park has a conveyor belt, called the Magic Carpet, that carries passengers to the top of a hill. From there, it’s a quick 1/4-mile descent to the bottom. What an adventure! Smiley, Stinky, and I had so much fun! Scoop and Ashley didn’t love it, but they took advantage of the hot cocoa bar and fire while we went sledding.
West Virginia is known for having wooden “Almost Heaven” swings (pictured left) that are sprinkled throughout the state. We hiked the short, but icy, trail that led to the swing and the gorgeous Blackwater Falls.
Next, we went back to the Canaan Valley Resort. There was plenty of snow on the ground and the kids were dying to go sledding again. Lucky for them, we brought along a set of roll-up sleds. They spent hours zooming down the hills surrounding the resort.
Even Scoop had fun this go around! What a great way to kick off our epic winter road trip!
Dining: Canaan Valley Resort, Mama Mia Pie & Pasta
Lodging: Canaan Valley Resort
Day Two- Gettysburg & Hershey, Pennsylvania
We got up early and made the 3-hour trek to Gettysburg. Not only are we trying to visit all 50 states, but we’re also trying to hit up as many National Park Sites as possible.
Gettysburg was the site of the bloodiest battle in US History. The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day battle in the American Civil War between July 1 and July 3, 1863, where an estimated 50,000 people lost their lives. The battle is considered the turning point of the Civil War- where the odds turned from being in favor of the Confederacy to favoring the Union forces.
While we were at the Gettysburg National Military Park we:
- Visited the Museum and Visitor Center
- Paid our respects at the National Cemetery
- Saw where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address
- Saw the battlefield
About a mile away from the famous battlefield is another National Park Site- the Eisenhower National Historic Site. This was the home of the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his wife, Mamie. The home was closed for tours during our visit (tours are seasonal), but we were able to explore the grounds. It was nice having the whole place to ourselves.
While we could have spent longer exploring Gettysburg, we had more fun on the agenda for the day so drove an hour to Hershey.
Our final stop of the day was Hersheypark. Our daughter is a total theme park junkie, so I knew we had to visit Hersheypark, a place I visited when I was about her age. When you purchase a regular ticket to the park, you can preview the park the evening before your visit.
After checking in to our hotel, we told the kids we were going out to dinner and surprised them with a nighttime visit to Hersheypark. They thought we were sneaking in (lol) so it made it EXTRA exciting for them.
Check out the video below for their adorable reactions!
Dining: The Chocolate Avenue Grill
Lodging: Holiday Inn Express, Harrisburg
Day Three- Hershey, Pennsylavania
Day three of our trip was all about Hersheypark! Since we visited during the winter months, and on a holiday, the park had limited hours. However, since we previewed the park the night before, we didn’t feel like we missed out on anything.
The park opened a little later that day, so we started our day at Chocolate World which is a large shop that had a few add-on experiences for visitors to enjoy. There’s also an eatery and a free ride that tells how chocolate was made, which we rode multiple times until the park opened.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the theme park. The kids had a blast on the rides! Unfortunately, the rollercoasters were all closed due to the cold temperatures, but we made the best of it!
Later in the day, we purchased tickets for the drive-thru light show. We slowly crept through the 2-mile trail of holiday lights.
Dining: Applebee’s
Lodging: Holiday Inn Express, Harrisburg
Day Four- Perryville, Maryland
The next morning was Christmas Day! We got up bright and early and drove about 90 minutes southeast to Perryville, Maryland.
Originally, I considered visiting Philadelphia after our time in Hershey, but with it being a holiday (and many places would be closed), I opted to add a day at the Great Wolf Lodge in Perryville, Maryland to our itinerary, instead. The Great Wolf Lodge is a massive, indoor waterpark and kid’s entertainment complex. They have an arcade, bowling alley, mini golf, ropes course, and much more. What better place to celebrate Christmas?
Sure, it was un-traditional, but the kids had an absolute blast, and in the end, that’s all that matters!
Day Five- Pennsville, New Jersey; New Castle, Delaware; and Baltimore, Maryland
With New Jersey and Delaware so close, we couldn’t NOT visit. I went back and forth between visiting Camden, New Jersey, and Pennsville, New Jersey before ultimately deciding on the latter. Although Camden had way more things to do, it was a little further away. Since we would be backtracking to Baltimore, timewise, it made more sense for us to go to Pennsville.
Pennsville is the home of Fort Mott, which is one of the very few things to do in this part of the state. Fortunately for us, we love a good fort so our kids were thrilled to check it out! Fort Mott is a post-Civil War outpost located on the Delaware River. There was plenty of signage for us to learn about the fort…mostly our kids just enjoyed running around with the muskets they bought in Gettysburg.
Afterward, we drove to New Castle, Delaware. Oh my gosh, ya’ll, it was the CUTEST colonial town! Our first stop was the New Castle Court House, which is part of the First State National Historical Park.
At the courthouse, we learned how Delaware declared independence from Pennsylvania and Great Britain and became the first state. We also learned about the famous Americans who once called New Castle their home.
Afterward, we strolled around the town making stops at the Historical Society, a colonial cemetery (Immanuel on the Green), the old pillory, and other key sites around the courthouse. I seriously could have spent an entire weekend checking out this charming town. It reminded me so much of Williamsburg, Virginia. I guess that just gives us a reason to return!
Related Post: How to Spend a Day in New Castle, Delaware
After a couple of hours in New Castle, we backtracked to Maryland. We took the Fort McHenry Tunnel (our kids’ first tunnel experience) and made a pitstop at Fort McHenry. Fort McHenry was the scene of one of the most influential battles in American History. The Battle of Baltimore was a conflict between the British and the Americans during the War of 1812. The battle was a turning point in the war. After the British invaded DC (and torched it!), they headed north to Baltimore.
The Brits pounded Fort McHenry for 25 hours, but the Americans were able to defend their brick fortress successfully. From this point on, the Americans had the upper hand during the war.
During the battle, Maryland native Francis Scott Key witnessed the chaos at the fort from afar. At dawn, he looked out and saw a large American Flag waving over the fort, which inspired him to write a poem that would later become our national anthem.
We really enjoyed the National Park’s Junior Ranger Program. It was a great way for the kids to learn what happened at Fort McHenry. They completed several different activities in an activity book and earned a Junior Ranger badge for their efforts.
By the time we finished with the fort, it was about 4 PM. We planned to check in to our hotel and walk around the Baltimore Harbor. However, after driving around, we realized that might not be the safest idea. We noticed an increase in police presence, including 2 armed guards at Chick-fil-A. It turns out, the harbor becomes a totally different place at night. We took our dinner to go and walked back to the hotel to hunker down for the evening.
Dining: Chick-fil-A
Lodging: Staybridge Suites- Baltimore Inner Harbor
Day Six- Washington, DC
On the final day of our Mason-Dixon Road Trip, we drove south to Washington, DC. DC is our kiddos’ favorite city to explore, so since we were in the area, we just HAD to make a pitstop.
On our last visit, we spent 4 days exploring the capital. This time, I wanted to hit some of the
sites we didn’t get to see last time.
We started our morning off at the National Museum of African American History and
Culture, one of the newest museums in DC. The museum’s collection focuses heavily on the
slave trade, the lives of slaves, the Reconstruction Era, and the Civil Rights Movement.
Learning about this part of our nation’s history was an extremely somber (but necessary)
experience.
From there, we headed to the National Mall, also known as America’s Front Yard. The National Mall has more than 100 monuments, memorials, and museums. We started at the far end of the Mall and worked our way back toward the National Museum of African American History and
Culture.
Our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial. It was a cool spot to tie in our visit to this morning’s
museum and our time in Gettysburg (the monument has the Gettysburg address engraved in it).
Related Post: 5 Inspiring National Monuments Every American Should See
From there, we made our way along the north side of the National Mall. We stopped by the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Constitution Gardens, Signers’ Memorial, and the
Lockkeeper’s House. Next, we cut across to the World War II Memorial before seeing the
Washington Monument.
Our last stop of the day was National Archives where we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. Although we could
have easily popped next door to the National Museum of Natural History or the National
Museum of American History, we chose to get on the road instead. We knew traffic would be
heavy and our hotel was two hours south.
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I Spy game
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Snack list
Activity ideas
Planning an Epic Road Trip
Now that you’ve seen how we spent 6 days traveling through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and DC, we hope that we’ve inspired you to take your own road trip.
Here are some handy posts to help you start planning your own road trip!
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