Driving down on Thanksgiving Day - gas stations/restaurants open?

[arizonacolbys]

We drive straight thru from NE Ohio & have the opportunity to possibly leave a day early this year & drive down on Thanksgiving Day. I'm all for it, but a little concerned about gas stations and fast food restaurants (bathrooms) being open when we need them. Has anyone travelled on a large national holiday like this & had any major problems? I am happy to pack meals to eat in the car, but with 2 preschoolers, we sometimes make a lot of potty stops.

 

[tobikaye]

I may be traveling on Thanksgiving as well this year and I never even thought about not being able to find places opened. Most gas stations and chain fast food restaurants here in SW Ohio are open normal hours. I think some may close around 5-7 pm, but for the most part they are open.

I figure if we were to drive straight through, we would just check the places along the way down to make sure most of them are staying open. If not, then I would just make sure to top up on gas and have plenty of snacks around 5-6 pm.

 

[arizonacolbys]

Most of the biggest gas stations do seem to be open here on Thanksgiving, too. My parents traveled last year on Christmas Day & had a lot of trouble finding an open McDonald's along the way, so I wondered if we'd have the same problems on Thanksgiving Day.

 

[richmo]

For the most part, I would expect gas and fast food along Interstate highways to be open. Once you go get on lesser volume roads, that's when you're more likely to see closures.

 

[Skywise]

My grandmother used to make the trip on the thanksgiving day. Most major fast food restaurants (like McDonalds)and gas stations will be open, especially the ones off the interstates

 

[ALostBoy]

Hi,
We traveled to WDW on Christmas 2 years ago and the only
food we found open was Waffle House. We were traveling
from Atlanta. Good Luck.

 

[Traveliz]

We have driven twice on Christmas day...gas stations are no problem but restaurants are a bit more difficult. We did find a McDs next to one of the gas stations we stopped at open though. The trade off though is NO TRAFFIC on the interstate...awesome day to travel and I would guess Thanksgiving to be similar traffic wise.

Liz

 

[LadyBeBop]

Most gas stations and many restaurants along the interstate are open on Thanksgiving. My husband's aunt and uncle used to travel to their Florida winter home every Thanksgiving weekend. A turkey dinner with all the trimmings at a truck stop was their Thanksgiving tradition.