# Topics > Planning Summer RoadTrips >  summertime12

## summertime12

My husband and I are Driving from Washington DC to Green Bay,Wi. July 12th through July 22nd. Interested in Amish places, craft places, old shoppes, any place w/history and beauty. Any advice on hotels, car rental, construction,or places to eat would be helpful
Have time to sight see along the way.

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## AZBuck

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

Taking the road less traveled has both its plusses and minuses. On the plus side, you get to travel at a more relaxed pace, see places you want to see, avoid tolls, and generally experience more of the country you're driving through. On the minus side, the journey will take more time, you will be required to do a bit more navigation than "follow I-50 for 500 miles", and services might be a bit more 'backwoodsy' than on the superslabs. Still, given your stated goals for this trip, I think you should plan on basically skipping the normal route of PA/OH/IN/IL turnpikes and toll roads and strike out on an alternate route. 

From DC by all means use the 'standard' I-270/I-70 route to Hancock MD with possible stops at a couple of historic sites: Fort Frederick and the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historic Park along the Potomac near Big Pool west of Hagerstown. At Hancock MD switch over to I-68 and alternate between it and Historic (and scenic) US-40 up the river valley to a few miles west of Grantsville MD and then stick with US-40 as it strikes northwestward past Fort Necessity National Battlefield to Washington PA and there get on I-70 to Wheeling WV. Leave Wheeling on US-250 up through the Amish country of Ohio by taking OH-39 from New Philadelphia through Millersburg to Mansfield. From there US-30 will take you to Chicago where toll and other Interstate roads are in order. In Wisconsin, I-43 provides the direct route from Milwaukee to Green Bay, but US-41 offers another alternative going around the west side of Lake Winnebago through Oshkosh (the home of the Experimental Aircraft Association Museum) and Appleton (Harry Houdini's boyhood home).

Taking all those little side trips and making the stops at the historic sites I've mentioned (and others) will add considerably to the time required for the drive, and I'd leave three days for the journey.

AZBuck

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## summertime12

Thanks much, will take your advice as fortunately we have the time.

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