 2024 will be our longest run ever and has us going to areas that we have never visited before with NERR. People are going to want to make sure their rides are up to the task this time, because there is a leg with some serious highway time....  compared to normal  NERR standards and for the majority of participants, this will be about 10 or 12 hours away from home

Kickoff location: Mt Wachusett, Princeton, MA

We are returning to our most often used kickoff location, for 2024's event and we will be cruising though the Berkshires of Massachusetts and the northwest corner of  Connecticut before we reach our destination

This day's route is all about the drive with just one planned stop for gas/restroom about 2 hours in. We will pick a second spot later in the day, to stop just to stretch our legs 

We will have a little more than  five hours of seat time this day, as we cover  just over 200 miles

At #7 directions say, turn left toward South St. The street  sign actually says Hubbardston Rd

At #8 directions say "slight left".  You will actually just be continuing on, while merging with other street. WE WILL BE MERGING ONTO MAIN ROAD. THERE  IS NO MERGE OR STOP SIGN, AS OTHER TRAFFIC HAS RIGHT OF WAY. BE CAREFUL!!!!

Between #15 and #16 there is a "confusing " point in road (you'll know it when you see it). Our route will stay to the right   

Immediately  after #76 (left onto Sharon) we will be making an added rest/gas stop

This  route will be traveling through Pennsylvania as we end the day at our hotel and the one museum stop ( 

Hershey Antique Auto Museum | AACA Museum | Hershey, PA

 ) of the day. Lots of time  driving today, so road snacks will be important

We are breaking it down into two legs (for ease of mapping), with the first leg being  about 96 miles   and just under 2 1/2 hours behind the wheel,  with one gas/restroom stop  in there

The second leg is a longer one, clocking in at almost 150 miles and over 3 1/2 hours behind the wheel, with one gas/restroom stop, before arriving at the day's  final destination

 This one is pretty straight forward. Only thing is that our final mapped destination of this leg, is NOT a destination. We basically just set it as a way point, so..... When we get to that point, WE WILL NOT BE STOPPING. We will just be getting in the lefthand lane and taking a left at the lights (onto Milford Rd), before continuing onto leg 2

#1 will be ignored, because we will have already turned onto Milford Rd at the end of the last leg.

#12 after this step, need to get in the left-hand lane IMMEDIATELY, as there are 3 lanes, but only one allows traffic to go left.

Once we reach our  final destination for the day, our hotel and the museum  parking lots are basically beside each other, so people can tour the museum at their own pace & not worry about being left behind.

This will be  a big highway day for us, which is not normally a NERR thing, but we knew we'd need one of these days, to accomplish a trip like this.  The payoff is that  it enables us to have a couple/few real cool stops along the way and it sets us up for arguably some of the best driving NERR has ever had, the following day.  This is the leg that is going to test your ride, like it's never been tested before during a NERR cruise, as it takes us through PA, MD, WV and VA.   It is also the leg that is going to take most participants the furthest away from home, then they've ever been  during a NERR event.  We should be having two point of interest stops this day Our first point of interest stop (and end of our first leg) will be Cooter's Place, from the Dukes of Hazzard ( 

 ) and that will end our first leg, but this will need to be a short one, so we can get to our bigger stops of the day.

Our second leg has our second (and third) point of interest stops will be Luray Caverns ( 

 ) along with their Car & Caravan museum, located on the same property. This stop is just a short distance from the hotels that people have booked at, so everyone can take their time and leave on their own and not worry about being left behind

If there is enough time and people are still interested in doing more, just a couple miles after the hotels are the 

Bear Mountain Ziplines – Find Adventure in the Shenandoah Valley (bearmountainadventure.com)

#22 says "sharp left" and it is SHARP! It's basically a reverse direction across traffic

#26 is our gas stop. After fueling, we can  drive right between the station and restaurant next door and then take a right directly onto Route 30. That would replace steps  27 &28

#38 turns left onto Gaston Rd. This is turning across traffic on a large curve . BE CAREFUL 

Nothing special here for a very short drive

This  day's driving  is the entire reason why 2024's event headed in this direction. The route will take us through VA, MD and PA. We will spend a lot of this day driving through  Shenandoh National Park ($30 entrance fee), along Skyline  Drive. This is a B-E-A-utiful road. This day's route could possibly end up being  one the  best routes NERR has ever had. Our resort for this night has one or two firepits on-site and we know that goes over big with this crowd.  

#26 (route 643) might actually say Howellsville Rd on whatever you are using for a GPS service 

#35, #36 & #37 will be ignored because  we are just using Harpers Ferry as a way point. It's not an actual destination stop  for us. 

NERR 2024 Routes & Itineraries 

For the last 16 years we have been telling people, DO NOT WAIT TO LONG TO BOOK YOUR ROOMS. Without fail, every year people think it's not a big deal if they wait and every year people learn, AFTER THE FACT, that they should have taken our advice & I think that hit a new level in 2023

 We research our properties and the surrounding area more than most other road trip planners do & we believe the effort shows. While we can't guarantee everything will be perfect, we can say that we minimize the chances of bad things happening.

While this isn't "officially" part of NERR's event, many people usually come in early for this night.  This year, like 2022, we’ll be at the lovely (and schwanky!) Groton Inn!  This place is awesome with a great restaurant on-site and an awesome center courtyard where we sat around a fire and hung out late night.  Given the cost of hotels lately, and the quality of this Inn, I think I got us a decent deal at $275.  It’s just over $300 after taxes.  

https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Hotel=79286&Chain=19106&arrive=10/4/2024&depart=10/5/2024&adult=1&child=0&group=NERODR

 in the Group Code field, and select the event dates on the calendar to view available rooms.

 and ask for the "Northeast Rod Run Room Block"

I was only able to reserve 15 rooms, but if they sell out fast we should be able to get more, if they’re available. 

This is a brand new property for NERR and our first time staying in the Fishkill area. We chose this location based on our route's needs and input from NERR veterans that used to live in the area. The fact that there are other choices in the area was important too, because we know some people aren't going to be able to get in here.

We were only able to secure 23 rooms for this block. Yes there are plenty of other hotels in the area, but we have gotten a good chuck knocked off each room, so I'm assuming most hotels are going to be around the same rates as ours And you're probably not going to get any rates as low as we have here. 

Just click on link below to book your room.

This property sold out within 4 hours of announcing rooms were available.

We just got great news that a couple/few more rooms have become available (need to call the hotel directly). the following is from an email we just received: 

The block will expire on September 5 so, if you know of anyone that is not on this list and still needs a reservation, please send them a reminder to call the reservation line at 1-888-315-1527 and use the discount code 

. It looks like your block has grown a bit and there are 2 rooms still available for that night. If you think that you may need to add a few more, please let us know and as long as we have them to pull, we are happy to add to the block.

115 Museum Drive Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033

For the second night in a row, we are staying at a Marriott owned property. This one has a perfect location for us, as we will be ending our day with a visit to the AACA auto museum right next door, so everyone can stay as long as the museum as they want and not have to worry about getting left behind from the group, because our host property is walking distance from the museum.

 Once again, getting a decent sized block was tough, so we were only able to secure 25 rooms at this time, but we feel that we got people a decent rate and once this block fills (which I'm sure will be quick), we can hopefully try to get more rooms added.

Just click on link below to secure your room

https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1700065065389&key=GRP&app=resvlink

We don't have a room block for this night, so there are a few options, at different price points. All hotels are within about a mile of our "host" property, so everyone can still be close together for  the usual nightly hangout.

While there are plenty of options in the area, these are the few that we gave a look at:

Mimslyn Inn | Hotel in Luray, VA | Historic Hotel In Virginia

401 W Main St, Luray, VA 22835     Phone: (  540)743-5105

This is a higher end hotel   and I don't know how many will stay here, but this is where we booked, so we're going to consider it the "host property" for  location purposes. It has a restaurant, speakeasy, spa, year round hot tub, seasonal pool.  Rooms start at about $265 +tx, with suites at $275 +tx. There are also cottages, that can sleep multiple people, so maybe that is also an option for  multiple couples and maybe that makes the cost a lot cheaper, although I didn't look into that option.  Remember, if you call, we don't have a block so  mentioning  NERR is not going to  do anything for you. If we were to set a block, we had to  set up certain packages at thousands of dollars in extra costs.

Hotel in Luray VA, Hotels in Luray Virginia. (cardinalinn.com)

1005 East Main Street, Luray, VA 22835
Phone : (540)­743-5010

This hotel is a little over a mile past our host property at about $100/night +tx

831 W Main Street, P O Box 748
Luray, VA
22835 Phone: ( 540) 743 6551

These are two separate properties. right near our last destination stop of the day.  Motel East is approx 1 mile before our "host" property and Motel west is about another .5 mile  away. I believe these are also about $100/night  +tx

 across the street from the "host" property, but we didn't look at that one at all

78 Country Club Trail, Fairfield, PA 17320



This year, for the most part, we really haven't been able to secure properties that NERR
participants have become accustomed to during our events, but I think we are finishing our last
night off strong.


People will actually have 3 buidings to choose from. All of these buildings are right next to each
other.


1) The first one being Highland Lodge. This is their newest and main property. Highland is where
everyone will check-in, no matter which building they choose to stay in. This building also has
the restaurant & tavern, along with where breakfast will be served. they also have a firepit out
back.


2) Next up is the Alpine Lodge which is located at the base of the mountain, on the other side of
the "street". This property also has multiple firepits, but not sure if they would have them going
mid-week, during that time of year.


3) Finally is their Fairway Lodge, which overlooks the golf course (anyone doing an early tee time
before they head home?). This one is right behind Highland Lodge


BOOKING INFO:
If you've followed our updates, you know we had to get creative to make this one work for us,
so....
We are calling this an "open block", which means the rooms aren't in a normal guaranteed block.
Because of this, we also couldn't get as good a discount as we usually get, but we still secured
20% off regular room rates.

 After September 8, 2024 that discount no longer applies.
Here is where things really get interesting. The sooner you book, the cheaper your rate will be,
so for the normal procrastinators, not only do you have a chance at not getting a room (as
happened to many people last year), you also have the chance at paying over $100 more per room
than those that book early.


As of February 1, the normal going rates were $153, $163 and $173 per room (plus taxes), so once
people mention the group, they will get 20% off those rates, or whatever the current rates are
when they book. Those prices also include breakfast for two people per room.

Guests can call 855-953-0195 Monday - Friday from 9am-7pm EST and Saturday/Sunday 10am-7pm EST.
Please have the guests reference the group code (SLIROD24) or the group name (Northeast Rod Run).

WHEN BOOKING THEY WILL ASK WHICH PROPERTY YOU ARE BOOKING FOR.  IT IS LIBERTY MOUNTAIN RESORT

NERR October 2024 Hotel Info

For 2024, the dates are changing once again, this time taking place over the second weekend in June. The event will take place over Saturday & Sunday, June 8 & 9 and we'll return home on Monday the 10th. We are making the trip later this year, so more businesses will be open during our time there. We've noticed that since covid, more businesses are opening later in the season than they used to.

 Some people that have a long drive to kickoff, like to come in early and while we don't have any host properties set-up, there are two hotels less than five minutes away from kickoff, if people want to check them out. People will have to take care of this night on their own, but participants have used them both for past events with us.

First hotel option is Best Western Hampshire Inn & Suites

Second hotel option is Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hampton-South Seabrook

 As has become tradition both Saturday & Sunday night, we will be staying at the Boothbay Harbor Inn, with it's waterfront property and great views of the harbor, along with their lounge, the large indoor gathering space (that saved us with all the rain in 2023) and a nice gas firepit. This hotel is also right next to the footbridge (was closed in 2023 for repairs), that takes you to the other side of the harbor, so you don't have to worry about finding parking on the "busy side" when you want to do something.

We have a "group" of rooms set aside, because they don't do room blocks anymore (which means we get no guaranteed availability).

You still need to mention the Northeast Rod Run group when booking though & that will get you 10% off their regular rates. If you book online, I don't know if you'll receive the discount.

If you are new to NERR, it's always worth mentioning that you should book ASAP, because most years this property sells out months in advance.

Right now they are closed for the season (until the end of May), so when you book, you'll be calling a different one of their properties, so make sure you tell them that you are booking for the BOOTHBAY HARBOR INN!!

2024 Bay Invasion Tour Hotel Info

Comments:

Eric Harmer (November 7, 2023)