what's your starting point and how far are you willing to travel? unfortunately as you go more south and more towards middle america things can be risky.
Not only does Toronto (ON) not have bathroom laws, I've been noticing more and more places with gender-neutral/unisex washrooms (Plus we've got a cooperatively owned, explicitly trans-friendly sex shop)
If you're hugging the coast, basically any of those states can be mostly okay. Pennsylvania can be a little iffy, especially as you head more west, but passing through the eastern part of the state should be all right. Upstate NY can also be a little backward, but if you head up through Massachusetts, Vermont, etc, those states tend to be a lot more liberal. One thing to keep in mind that many states don't have explicit anti-trans bathroom laws, but also don't have laws keeping you from being booted from a bathroom. Most of the states you'll pass through have pretty clear laws against discrimination towards LGBTQ people in public accommodations, but public accommodations does NOT include bathrooms. Obviously that's just actual -laws- though. How the people you run into might be will depend. As stated above, western PA and north NY can be kind of backwards and may not be super safe. My general advice is that a lot of smaller gas stations tend to have single toilet bathrooms, and thus less room for harassment. However some of those can be outside entrance bathrooms which feel unsafe in comparison to a clean and well lit Sheetz which often has multiple-stall bathrooms or something. I do think that in areas like NJ, southern/eastern NY, and a lot of the coastal states, people tend to be very 'live and let live' and don't really say anything to other people in restrooms. However with all this trans bathroom laws stuff on peoples minds, it's kind of a toss up how things will currently be.
Also anything in cities that you want to see will likely be fairly safe.. cities in general tend to be more liberal. There's plenty of stuff to do in cities like Philadelphia and NYC, though if you live near DC already, I'm not sure how many typical city sights will be super interesting or new to you. I'm not 100% up on what's in Philly other than general historical things, like the bell, and there's the mint, and betsy ross house and shit. NYC I know a bit better, but it's definitely a darker, more crowded, more pushy-shovy city than DC is by far. But there are museums, and on-Broadway and off-Broadway shows to see if you care to see those. If you like smaller more touristy trap sort of places, those will likely be a bit of a ways out of metro areas. NJ doesn't have much of anything to see like that or in general tbh. If you pass through PA, you might get more lucky catching more nice parks, cavern tours, things like that. I haven't actually traveled much out of the NJ/NY/PA/OH/MD/DE/NoVA/WV area. Honestly the state I probably know the best is NJ but I can't really think of anything super interesting in that state.
Hey, there is the shore and some strange locations to check out if you like paranormal/creepy travel locations. Off the top of my head, I can think of Old Clinton Road up in North Jersey and the Pine Barrens down south. There also used to be the ruins of a 'castle' (really, an old mansion built to look like a castle because the owner was an eccentric anglophilic millionaire back in the early 20th century?), but I don't remember where that is anymore. Plus there's Wawayanda Park up by West Milford if you're going really up north, close to NY. What kind of things do you guys like about road trips? There's not much in dedicated tourist traps in this state but there are some decent spots?
You want good food, and you end up going through NJ? And Philly cheesesteaks are part of that list? Head to New Brunswick, get to the food trucks on the Rutgers campus and find R U Hungry. Their Fat sandwiches (basically massive hoagie sandwiches half-made with normal toppings like lettuce, cheese, tomato, and Philly-style steak meat, and half filled with things like cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, french fries, mozzarella sticks and fried eggs) are among the best, if not the best, in the area. They are huge and delicious, and you can probably get through one between the two of you. Or, if either of you are either insane or very fond of big-eats-type challenges, they have a contest where if you eat three full Fat sandwiches within an hour, you can win some money and the rights to make and name a new recipe for them. Also, since you'll be in New Brunswick, you'll be in a college town with some really good eats in general (it's not infamous, but if you like Euro-Asian fusion bakeries, there is Caffebene. They do fancy little cakes and shaved ice and fancy coffees. Also, depending on the time of year there's a lot of Revolutionary War re-enactment events. Typically during the mid-summer into late fall is the best time for them. Morristown National Historical Park is also good for this, with the recreations of soldier huts at Jockey Hollow. I don't know as many locations, but I know my mom's boyfriend takes her to locations for this kind of thing during the summer a lot and I can ask him more locations when I next see him. If you two are good for hiking as well as parks, then the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park is a good choice. You can walk along the canal a good long distance and it's really pretty and a nice view of nature in central Jersey. Alas, I was mistaken with Wawayanda (it's actually in NY, but to be fair it's about 20 minutes to a half hour away from North Jersey so I thought it was still in state the times I was there), but I do highly recommend that for natural walks. There's a botanical garden and it's gorgeous and filled with tons of bees.
If you're going to NB anyway, the Hopewell Rocks are neato, and there are a whole lot of forts along the Canada/US border that you can do tours of. Near Peterborough (between Ottawa and Toronto) there's the Serpent Mounds Park which has some super cool burial mounds; Hamilton (southwest of of Toronto) has the Royal Botanical Gardens as well as some waterfalls, and that's close enough to Niagara Falls.
@budgie the New Brunswick missyashirou was referring to is a town in New Jersey, actually, not the province.
If you are interested in historical stuff, you should swing through PA a bit as well. Doesn't have to be Philly proper, but there is a lot of historical stuff in that general area, it'd be worth looking it up and making a loose plan before you head out there though. If you want to go a bit more out, there's also the Lancaster area in PA where the Amish live. There is a lot of touristy stuff to do in that area, and also wholesome country food to try, but that's abou the area where things might start getting a little iffy for trans people. It's up to you if you want to try it. NJ does have some historic stuff, but most of what I've been to has been tied into local parks, and they seem to be on a schedule that you'd have to check to see if anything is really going on. There's Allaire State Park, which also has Allaire Village that does historical reenactments of day to day life, but also some civil war reenactments. They also have some not super historic events too though, like old car shows. https://allairevillage.org/ If you come up through south NJ, there's some historic stuff in the Cape May area, quite a few lighthouses and also another village reenactment sort of thing (http://www.hcsv.org/), along with just general boardwalks and beachy stuff if that's up your alley. There's also a small zoo, and a lot of seafood places to eat. If you like botanical garden stuff, there's a nice park in Middletown NJ called Deep Cut Park, that is entirely a botanical garden. It's quite pretty. There is also of course a park for the Statue of Liberty if that's your thing. Though apparently it's highly debated what state that's actually part of. I'm not sure if they let people do the walk up all the way into the crown anymore since I haven't been there since pre-9/11, but if they do and you plan to, prepare for a world of pain. So many stairs. There's also the Liberty Science Center nearby, though admittedly I don't know how fun that'd be for an adult, I've literally only been there twice and both times I was under 12 years old, so. I wish I did have more NJ info but despite living there for 23 years, most of my experience has been with small local walking/biking parks, and really not much for food. My parents basically never took us anywhere, lol.
