For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (III)

[armsom]

Will be doing 81/77/26/95 route and want to stop overnight in Georgia. We were thinking about stopping in Brunswick, Ga. Any hotel suggestions and is Brunswick a good stopping place or is ther a better place to stop?

Make sure to stop at the Denny's in Brunswick with the bowling alley to eat. Novelty on our drives for our family.

 

[BC1836]

Will be doing 81/77/26/95 route and want to stop overnight in Georgia. We were thinking about stopping in Brunswick, Ga. Any hotel suggestions and is Brunswick a good stopping place or is ther a better place to stop?

We are planning to make our overnight April stop in Brunswick for the first time (we've done 28 drives so far since 2002 including 12 "straight-through" drives). We will probably stay at the Holiday Inn Express.

Fill us in on your Brunswick experience.

All the best.

 

[disneymarie]

I am trying to figure out how long it will take is realistically with potty stops and a lunch break. I see you're from the Lehigh Valley area...I'm in Hershey, not far at all...if I look at google maps, it has me going down route 15 to I270 in MD then I295 around DC then I95 the rest of the way. Seems that we miss the whole 95 around Baltimore and DC with where we are staring. And we plan on leaving at 2am. Google maps tells us 14 hrs 36min. So I'm thinking with stops it will before like 16 hours. Does this seem acurate? Would you still recommend 81/77/26/95 over us starting on rt15 to I270/295/95?

It's me and mg husband driving. My mom is going too but doesn't feel comfortable driving our minivan.

Hi feet 1
We are north of you an hr and half, on I 81. Our few drives have been down to. Gettysburg on 15, somewhere end up on I 95 after the 295 bypass and area.
That seems like your trip. But our timing sucked hitting about 3 pm traffic. Mostly it was moving, we entered at Lorton, I think after GPS must have rerouted us. It was a stop for dinner going down just before getting on i 95, and hit long traffic, It really creeped. But to continue the GPS detour would have added miles and time anyway.

We drive about 8 hrs each day. Stopping for the night around nth / South Carolina border. I think Florence one trip, can't remember the last one. Then drive 8 hrs he next day to arrive. The is several potty stops, dinner day one, breakfast and Togo mini mart stop on day 2. When we arrive by the I 4 if it is supper time there are places we can stop before arriving check in and fire works.

I really get exhausted doing nothing, lol. I think it is all he extra packing and thing s I fill the car with. I think I am packing only what we need, but it seems ridiculous compared to flying?
Have fun.

 

[disneymarie]

hi feet1!!!.
ill be in your area on march 9th, dw and i have resis. at the progress grill in harrisburg!!! we are driving to harrisburg for lobster!!!
have a safe trip!

Hello dvszerfs,
Have a great dinner, I thought we were crazy going from I 80 I 81 junction to Tamaqua for Italian dinners. We did Allentown several times, at Bucca Di Beppe, and grand ol trips to the old spaghetti warehouse in Phila.

No trips planned yet this year, but we are going, June or Sept. our cruise is May instead of Labor Day week this year. My son is having cervical fusion at Hershey next week so not sure about a June trip.

Maybe we'll pass in Sept.

 

[feet1]

Hi feet 1
We are north of you an hr and half, on I 81. Our few drives have been down to. Gettysburg on 15, somewhere end up on I 95 after the 295 bypass and area.
That seems like your trip. But our timing sucked hitting about 3 pm traffic. Mostly it was moving, we entered at Lorton, I think after GPS must have rerouted us. It was a stop for dinner going down just before getting on i 95, and hit long traffic, It really creeped. But to continue the GPS detour would have added miles and time anyway.

We drive about 8 hrs each day. Stopping for the night around nth / South Carolina border. I think Florence one trip, can't remember the last one. Then drive 8 hrs he next day to arrive. The is several potty stops, dinner day one, breakfast and Togo mini mart stop on day 2. When we arrive by the I 4 if it is supper time there are places we can stop before arriving check in and fire works.

I really get exhausted doing nothing, lol. I think it is all he extra packing and thing s I fill the car with. I think I am packing only what we need, but it seems ridiculous compared to flying?
Have fun.

My parents are in Clarks Summit! About 2 hours north of me! You must be near Wilkes Barre! I was talking with a friend who drives down frequently, they live up by Scranton too. They take 81/83/95. Since we plan on leaving at 2am we will definitely miss rush hour around the big cities. I'm still not sure what route to take. We have a few months to figure it out! I know I want it to be the quickest route...I need to see Mickey!!!

 

[kjpotter]

Are there any good recommendations for a hotel around Macon?

 

[DSLRuser]

Step 1, determine what time of day you want to arrive.

Step 2 determine how long it takes to drive straight through

step 3, subtract step 2 from step 1.

i refuse to rent a hotel for 6-8 hours to sleep. the kids (6 and 12) can sleep in the acr, so does the wife.

it takes us about 16 hours, or 1,008 miles.

so we leave at 5:00pm. I let the wife drive as long as she can. 3 hours maybe. Then I fill up the car, the kids get in PJ's. and i drive all night.

we stop in ocala around 8:00am for break fast. then the wife takes the last 3 hours to disney. we usually hit the world around 10:00am.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

we do the same thing when we go home.

..........

so many benifits to driving all nights.

- kids and wife sleep while dad listens to old beastie boyz songs from the 80's

- mom is sleeping so she cant get a ticket for speeding

- traffic is very very light so dad doesnt have to honk at as many people for driving 55 in the left lane.

- saving money on a hotel room

 

[dvczerfs]

Step 1, determine what time of day you want to arrive.

Step 2 determine how long it takes to drive straight through

step 3, subtract step 2 from step 1.

i refuse to rent a hotel for 6-8 hours to sleep. the kids (6 and 12) can sleep in the acr, so does the wife.

it takes us about 16 hours, or 1,008 miles.

so we leave at 5:00pm. I let the wife drive as long as she can. 3 hours maybe. Then I fill up the car, the kids get in PJ's. and i drive all night.

we stop in ocala around 8:00am for break fast. then the wife takes the last 3 hours to disney. we usually hit the world around 10:00am.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

we do the same thing when we go home.

..........

so many benifits to driving all nights.

- kids and wife sleep while dad listens to old beastie boyz songs from the 80's

- mom is sleeping so she cant get a ticket for speeding

- traffic is very very light so dad doesnt have to honk at as many people for driving 55 in the left lane.

- saving money on a hotel room

you forgot dad dont have to listen to mom. "move over, slow down, watch that truck!!!
we stopped doing the over night driving. we leave 2:30-3am and its about 15 1/2/ - 16 hours pending on which car we take.
you can tell when its 8am on the road, all the crown vics are out and in the left lane.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

you forgot dad dont have to listen to mom. "move over, slow down, watch that truck!!!
we stopped doing the over night driving. we leave 2:30-3am and its about 15 1/2/ - 16 hours pending on which car we take.
you can tell when its 8am on the road, all the crown vics are out and in the left lane.

I actually do better starting early, too. Leaving at midnight right after work used to work for me when I worked second shift but not anymore. Brother in law and I once made 1,085 miles leaving at 4 or 5 am and that worked real well

 

[cruisingkat]

Are there any good recommendations for a hotel around Macon?

We usually stop at the Holiday Inn Express in Byron - just outside of Macon on 475 (75 goes into Macon - 475 goes straight).

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

Are there any good recommendations for a hotel around Macon?

We usually stop at the Holiday Inn Express in Byron - just outside of Macon on 475 (75 goes into Macon - 475 goes straight).

We usually stop in Byron as well. Our stop is the Comfort Suites off of exit 149.
(http://www.comfortsuites.com/hotel-byron-georgia-GA659?source=gglocalai).

Our last trip down, we discovered Georgia Bobs BBQ just up the road from the Comfort Suites. Really enjoyed their food for dinner.
(http://www.georgiabobs.com/)

 

[cruisingkat]

We usually stop in Byron as well. Our stop is the Comfort Suites off of exit 149.
(http://www.comfortsuites.com/hotel-byron-georgia-GA659?source=gglocalai).

Our last trip down, we discovered Georgia Bobs BBQ just up the road from the Comfort Suites. Really enjoyed their food for dinner.
(http://www.georgiabobs.com/)

We don't have to worry about dinner - as we leave our house in the morning, we stop at Subway and get a breakfast sandwich and regular foot long for each of us - that gives us breakfast, lunch (half the footlong) and dinner (the other half of the footlong - we pick out different footlongs so we can switch for dinner) and we don't have to worry about finding someplace to eat. I bring chips and other munchees for the road and stay ( I use old Disney popcorn buckets for the munchees - the different colored lids and handles make it easy to select the right munchee plus the buckets help keep the chips fresh in FL humidity) as well as a cooler with drinks and water.
We usually leave our house around 9am and arrive in Byron around 9pm so finding someplace for dinner that late is a pain. It's great to just get to the hotel, settle in and eat our half sandwich and get a good nights rest.

 

[MIChessGuy]

Are there any good recommendations for a hotel around Macon?

On my trip down last month, I priceline'd the LaQuinta Inn (I-75 Exit 169) for a total of $46.25, including "taxes and fees." I had won this hotel for my January 2012 trip for about a dollar more and knew it was likely I'd get them again. In-room wireless internet and breakfast are included. I especially appreciated the waffle maker at breakfast.

Of course there is never any guarantee of winning any particular Priceline hotel. I have succeeded twice with bids in the mid-30s for the Macon (North) zone.

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

It's finally almost time!! We're leaving this Friday on our drive from southern NH. Can't wait! Just hoping the weather remains cooperative.

Planning on diverting from our regular straight-down 95 route and instead taking 84 to 81 in PA with an overnight stay in Gettysburg ($52 deal at the Days Inn). From there over to the DC beltway and back on 95 (with 295 around Richmond).
Seems like the travel time will be about the same, but $$ in tolls will be avoided as well as some heavy traffic in and around NYC, Jersey, and Baltimore.

 

[MaestroTK]

it takes us about 16 hours, or 1,008 miles.

so we leave at 5:00pm. I let the wife drive as long as she can. 3 hours maybe. Then I fill up the car, the kids get in PJ's. and i drive all night.

we stop in ocala around 8:00am for break fast. then the wife takes the last 3 hours to disney. we usually hit the world around 10:00am.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

we do the same thing when we go home.

..........

so many benifits to driving all nights.

- kids and wife sleep while dad listens to old beastie boyz songs from the 80's

- mom is sleeping so she cant get a ticket for speeding

- traffic is very very light so dad doesnt have to honk at as many people for driving 55 in the left lane.

- saving money on a hotel room

This is our same plan/strategy. Let the kids sleep! We do it in about the same 16 hours/1000 miles.

 

[emmsmama]

What places should I avoid at what times? Last time we drove to WDW, the only place we hit some traffic was in Nashville, but I can't remember for sure what time we went through there and it wasn't all that bad. I remember it was dark so it must have been after 6pm or so. I'm trying to figure out what time to leave Windsor, ON to make the best time on the roads and drive about 12 hrs. the first day.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We sailed through Nashville at 3:00 and Atlanta at 8:00 pm. But we hit Chattanooga at 5:00 pm and lost an hour. Heading East, there is that nasty hill on the far side of town, and it slowed all the trucks. The backup accordianed all through the city.

 

[pwdebbie]

It's finally almost time!! We're leaving this Friday on our drive from southern NH. Can't wait! Just hoping the weather remains cooperative.

Planning on diverting from our regular straight-down 95 route and instead taking 84 to 81 in PA with an overnight stay in Gettysburg ($52 deal at the Days Inn). From there over to the DC beltway and back on 95 (with 295 around Richmond).
Seems like the travel time will be about the same, but $$ in tolls will be avoided as well as some heavy traffic in and around NYC, Jersey, and Baltimore.

Hate to mention this, but do keep your eye on the weather. Snow was mentioned for this coming weekend. I'm just west of Gettysburg.

 

[Calle&Jakesmom]

Hate to mention this, but do keep your eye on the weather. Snow was mentioned for this coming weekend. I'm just west of Gettysburg.

Thank you. Yes, I see snow/wintery mix for Gettysburg and snow for Scranton for Friday. Worried that it's going to slow us down. I'll keep an eye on it and hope it changes!

 

[Colleen27]

Okay I-75 travelers, I'm finding tons of info from East Coasters on their route but not so much in the way of tips and hints for heading down 75. Any notorious speed traps I should be aware of? Rest stops to steer clear of, or ones that tend to be safer/cleaner than others? Weird traffic quirks aside from the usual rush hours around bigger cities?