If you're looking for a meeting place or a good stop around ½ or halfway between Bethesda and Fords, you can try Wilmington, DE, which is about 1½ hours northeast of Bethesda, or about 1½ hours southwest of Fords.
Another possible place to stop near the midpoint is Newark.
About ¼ or a fourth of the way, you can stop at Towson, MD. This is almost an hour northeast of Bethesda.
About ⅓ or a third of the way, you can stop at Edgewood, MD. This is almost an hour northeast of Bethesda.
About ⅔ or two thirds of the way, you can stop at Camden, NJ. This is about 2 hours northeast of Bethesda, or about 1 hour southwest of Fords.
About ¾ or three fourths of the way, you can stop at Willingboro, NJ. This is about 2½ hours northeast of Bethesda, or almost an hour southwest of Fords.
If you drive straight through without stopping at all, the total distance is 200 miles. The distances shown above don't include local roads to get into each town, so if you're planning a long road trip, make sure you factor in traffic and road conditions, rest stop breaks, and interesting detours along the way. If you're in a rush, you can do the trip with zero stops, and your total travel time would be around 3 hours, 11 minutes.