Washington, DC/Baltimore area auto activities

[39BuickEight]

Hello all, I am planning a trip next year to visit DC/Baltimore (and Philadelphia) and am looking for tips on automotive must-sees in the area, as well as hints on accomodations.

Museums, shows (I know Hershey is not far), etc. Is is better to stay in one city over the other and take the train back and forth? Any travel or antique automotive information is welcome!

[Restorer32]

Will you be driving an antique or modern car?

[joe_padavano]

You'll find up-to-date information on shows and cruise-ins at Capital Cruisin'.

[Jon37]

Depends upon what time of the year (and the dates of your trip), as to what's "playing" in the old car scene. We have fairly good public transportation in and around both cities, so you can get around even if you don't have a car. You might want to contact one of the area Buick clubs (since you seem to have a Buick) to learn the dates of their local activities. A couple of big mixed make car shows in the area, are the Sully Plantation show out near Dulles Airport (in Virignia) which happens around June 15, and the Rockville antique car show (about 500 cars) in Rockville, Md., outside of Washington DC, on or about October 18.

[39BuickEight]

I'll be in my minivan with the family.

[Terry Bond]

You didn't indicate the time of year you're going. That has a lot to do with the activities that might be available to you. Check with the Chesapeake Region AACA for info on their activities. They are very busy and there is always something going on. There are a lot of other things going on in that area as well and there are many car clubs in the DC area, so pic your favorite marque and search the web. If you don't visit the Smithsonian Air and Space museum at Dulles you're missing a great thing - not antique car related but a major attracting. You'll spend a week in the Smithsonian, but their car display isn't the main thing there. If you are including Philly as you suggested in your initial post put the Simeone Museum on your list. Amazing!

Chesapeake Region AACA:

http://www.chesapeakeaaca.org/

Simeone Museum, Philly:

http://simeonemuseum.org/

You're only a few hours south of the AACA Museum at Hershey also.

Don't hesitate to ask AACA members to join their activities, even if you are driving modern. I'm sure you'd find everyone quite welcoming, even if you wanted to tag along on an old car tour. We often have folks driving modern join the tail end of some of our club tours.

Terry

[Kimo]

It depends on what you mean by "far". Downtown Washington to Hershey is about two and a half hours if you go at a time other than rush hour. If you will be driving from downtown Washington at rush hour, you would likely want to add another forty-five minutes to one hour to that since you would not be out of the rush hour traffic until you are well beyond Rockville, Maryland which is a ways out. Or if you are going to a Hershey car show you should add another half an hour to hour to get through the traffic jams around Hershey because of the show. Hershey is not a big city and the roads are not built for the kind of traffic the big shows generate.

[39BuickEight]

I have been to the AACA MUseum in Hershey. We are relatively open as far as timing, just depends on a lot of things really.

[Guest Gary Hearn]

If you are into antique tractors, a buddy of mine has a nice museum just south of Richmond. He does have a few of his antique cars and trucks on display.