With the willingness to drive around you have a ton of options at your disposal.
I'd recommend hitting any Guitar Center in between wherever you're going - there are still a ton of them and they typically have Martins and Gibsons stocked to some degree. Even if you don't find what you're looking for there, you'll get more frame of reference to make judgments on.
For the upper crust stores relatively nearby, these are what come to mind:
Bernunzio's in Rochester
Rudy's, Retrofret, and I don't even know how many in the NYC area.
The Music Emporium in Lexington, MA
Northern Lights Music in Bethlehem, NH is a tremendous store, but way the hell out there.
Don't have any PA or NJ experience to recommend. Best of luck in your hunt!
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