One-tank getaways - Six top picks
Our 200-mile circle stretches south into Northern Virginia and the Eastern Shore of Maryland; north and northeast to Binghamton and New York, and as far west as Central Pennsylvania.124 miles, 2 1/2 hours, home of Steamtown National Historic Site, devoted to the railroad, and the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour, where you descend 528 feet into a real shaft. On the way
mine shaft.
Going up one side of the Hudson River and down the other is like leaping from gem to gem on an intriguing necklace.
Hudson, N.Y. , 213 miles, 3 1/2 hours, is reinventing itself with restaurants and antique shops, while downstream are
Saugerties, Rhinebeck, Beacon and Hyde Park with its Vanderbilt and Roosevelt mansions.
210 miles, about 3 1/2 hours, with a swimming lake on the edge of town, hot springs in the center, an artists’ warren called
the Ice House, and a homeopathic medicine company. (Other engaging towns nearby: Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown,
W.Va.)
60 miles to Atlantic City, 92 miles to Cape May , and a famous string of beach-town choices in between, the ultimate
short-drive escape to the water. Take the parkways in one direction, then meander through South Jersey in the other for
farm stands, antique shops, pubs and pit stops.
141 miles, 2 1/2 hours, where the National Mall museums and other world-class attractions are free, including the National
WWII Memorial. Nationals Park is big league baseball’s newest stadium.Check the tourism office’s list of 100 free and
almost-free things to do.
188 miles, 3 1/2 hours, where the children’s classic “Misty of Chincoteague” unfolded, site of the annual pony swim in July,
and just minutes from Assateague Island National Seashore. Loop to Ocean City, Md. , whose hefty beach and boardwalk
bustle in the heat.
