Chicago burbs to Orlando

[smidgy]

The I-57 speed limit is now 70 mph from a bit south of Chicago and on throughout the rest of Illinois.

Dick Taylor

sure.. NOW they change it!

 

[Minniedap]

Ponza79, we stopped in Stockbridge, GA for the night. It took us 14 hours to get to Stockbridge because we stopped for breakfast and for a sit down lunch. The next day it took 6 hours to get to Orlando. That was not bad timing for a group the size of ours.

 

[smidgy]

we stayed at a very clean Motel 6 in Stockbridge with the boys, back when they were 10 and 13. (now 31 and 34)

after the boys left us nebo wanted to see how far he could make it.. we didnt' have to worry about ansy boys wanting pizza and swim time. we always made it to at least macon,

 

[neto0312]

We will be driving down the beginning of August. I am going to take the first leg since DH will be coming home from work. Does anyone have any suggestions where to stop for gas/food? I am a big planner so I am starting to collect my data now We are driving straight through and plan to rest on the outskirts of Disney to get ready for the next day.

Thanks for all of your good advice so far!

 

[SixLetterMan]

We will be driving down the beginning of August. I am going to take the first leg since DH will be coming home from work. Does anyone have any suggestions where to stop for gas/food? I am a big planner so I am starting to collect my data now We are driving straight through and plan to rest on the outskirts of Disney to get ready for the next day.

Thanks for all of your good advice so far!

That past two times we drove down, we hit Chattanooga around dinner time so we stopped at Sugar's Ribs right off of I-24. They have goats that you can feed so that can be fun if you have little ones.

 

[bjschil]

We will be driving down the beginning of August. I am going to take the first leg since DH will be coming home from work. Does anyone have any suggestions where to stop for gas/food? I am a big planner so I am starting to collect my data now We are driving straight through and plan to rest on the outskirts of Disney to get ready for the next day. Thanks for all of your good advice so far!

Neto0312, we are leaving in 20 days from SW Wisconsin. Our plans are to leave at 1:00 am, driving through Illinois, 57 to 24, and stopping for a picnic lunch, stretching your legs at the Monteagle rest stop. (May rethink that in light of recent events in Rockford area). Our goal is to be in Atlanta by 3:30, and drive as far south as we can stand. Valdosta is our goal. I know we will hit some of the dreaded traffic in Atlanta. We fuel up in large lit up areas. We pull a large rv, so we always have to be on the lookout for Diesel. We stop for diesel north of Atlanta, and then are good for five hours. Of course, if the little grandsons are sleeping, we will whiz by the rest stop and get ahead of the traffic. Safe travels. Staying in Valdosta make the next day a quick trip. Then the Magic begins!!

 

[Ponza79]

We just got back from our trip. Our route was Elgin/ohare to 290, to 65 to 24 to 75 on in to disney. We left Elgin at 12:00 noon on a Tues and got to orlando at 8:15am on Wed. On the way back we left orlando at 10am and got back to Elgin at 5am. That was hitting a hour and a half or Atlanta traffic, and stopping to help a lady who go in a accident in KY. Currently a few times it dropped down to one lane in TN and in KY. Both there and back but no back ups. It just slowed down. All in all it was a great drive. I would do straight through every time! Thank you for everyone's help.

 

[grimley1968]

We just got back from our trip. Our route was Elgin/ohare to 290, to 65 to 24 to 75 on in to disney. We left Elgin at 12:00 noon on a Tues and got to orlando at 8:15am on Wed. On the way back we left orlando at 10am and got back to Elgin at 5am. That was hitting a hour and a half or Atlanta traffic, and stopping to help a lady who go in a accident in KY. Currently a few times it dropped down to one lane in TN and in KY. Both there and back but no back ups. It just slowed down. All in all it was a great drive. I would do straight through every time! Thank you for everyone's help.

<rant begins>
Sorry about the bolded part. I drove to Cincy and back from southern Ky. last Sunday and ran into the same 1-lane deal just south of Lexington. Normally that is a nice 3-lane stretch, but for some reason a simple road resurfacing project there has turned into a several month ordeal. This is something that should not have taken more than a couple of weeks. I realize maintenance must be done, but it should NEVER take this long. They think that traffic is lightest on Sunday evenings (which is the case throughout the city but not on the interstate), so they shut it down from the normal 2 lanes to 1 lane, causing an unnecessary 1 hour (or longer) backup just to go about 5 miles for people of multiple states and Canada trying to get home or go on vacation. Fortunately it looks like it's about finished, but I was beyond frustrated coming back from a Reds game and looking at all the freshly poured (and painted) asphalt for 2 lanes that no one was allowed to use. What should have been a 2.5 hour trip took us over 4 hours.

Even though I said "almost done", I think I saw on the local news the other day that they're saying it could be the end of August before it's completed. Ridiculous. It's a very nice road, otherwise, I promise! I guess they're making some kind of magical pixie dust-infused asphalt to put down on the lanes.

In the future if anyone is traveling that stretch of I-75 and runs into construction jam ups, most of the exits there put you on Highway 25, which runs parallel to I-75 through Kentucky. You can ride on 25 for a few miles and then get back on I-75 an exit or two later. 25 is the "Main Street" for many towns in that area, so it can be slow going in parts, but it's better than being parked on I-75.

<rant over>