Driving from Connecticut

[CynJ]

We are thinking about driving down from CT next February - its about 1200 miles or so - anyone done a similar trip and know of a good place (ie clean & cheap) about 1/2 way to spend the night?

 

[Mickeydad]

CynJ,

We're from Burlington, CT!!

We are driving down in 13 days. Don't know about places to stay or eat. We got a TON of trip books from AAA. We figure we'll find places as we drive.

We are NOT driving I-95. Instead, a slew of folks have said to take the alternate route. It is a bit longer (in miles, about 53), but not longer in time. In fact, it is quicker!!

I-84 to I-81 (in Scranton, PA) to I-77 (in Roanoke, VA) to I-26 (in Charlotte, SC) to I-95 to I-4 right in to Orlando.

I'll do a trip report for everyone when we return.

 

[RobinMarie]

We are from the New Haven area and considered driving once this year to save the airfare costs. The grandparents will be joining us on our next trip so the driving option is out. I'm curious about how your driving path will work on time Mickeydad. I'd also love to read how many drivers, how much time, etc. I read some great suggestions on this board on how people manage long drives.

Sorry I can't help Cyn, but I would think you'd want to pick a state you'd like to stop in and work from there.

 

[Mickeydad]

Well, this is what I'm told from many people that have driven this route. From what I've found, I think it will be faster and much less stressful.

But, I won't be sure until I actually drive it.

 

[ckj]

We haven't driven down in a while, but when we did we did 95. Leaving here late at night to get past the NY to DC area before rush hour. We would usually stop in NC somewhere. If we do it again I'd go the route Mickeydad is. You're prolly looking at staying somewhere off of I-26 Roanoke to Charlotte if you take that route. From what I remember Fayettville NC was about halfway going 95 straight.
It shouldn't be a problem to find a nice, clean hotel along the way. The only one I remember was a holiday inn Fayettville was right off the highway and was a nice place to stay.

 

[AspiringCindy]

From Northern NJ, the ride is 18 hours. We stopped past Fayetteville in Santee, S.C. so that way it would not be a long drive the next day. You should book a room ahead of time if you are driving on a Fri. or Sat. On the way back to Jersey, we did not book ahead and found that all hotels along I 95 were sold out From South of the Border to Richmond, Va. Also, do arrange to Bypass D.C. traffic during rush hour. We hit D.C. at 1:30pm and were able to breeze through.

 

[maepartner]

Ive done the 81-84 route and it is much more scenic....but have you considered doing the autotrain? When I travel to and from Mass, and Im by myself,,,,its really nice to get on the train in Lorton Virginia (right outside DC) at 2pm, it leaves at 4 and you are in Sanford FL by 8:30 the next morning....well rested I think the address is amtrak.com Mary

 

[Mickeydad]

My parents use the autotrain out of VA all the time. However, we have a Windstar with a TV. We are leaving at 6pm on a Thursday. We're driving most of the night (to about 2am). So, that will leave about a 10 hour drive on Friday.

If all goes REAL well, I might drive longer on Thursday. We'll see how it goes.

 

[CynJ]

We took the train out of Meriden our last trip and loved it - but we are trying to pinch pennies this trip and if we drive down it will be much less expensive then the train or flying.

 

[Mickeydad]

we figure we'll fillup 3 times driving down. 40 dollars each fillup. We've got a big tank. $240 roundtrip. That's pretty cheap.

 

[CynJ]

I was planning on 2400 miles round trip at a low low ball number of 17mpg - so about 142gallons times $2 per gallon = $284 - I budgeted $350 for gas/diesel additive etc.

 

[PixieTink]

We go non stop though. We leave from home - about 15 mi. north of Boston-at about 8PM. We just get the kids into their jammies and GO GO GO!

We have found that, regardless of what day of the week we depart on, this strategy works best. We are thru Boston, NYC, Baltimore, DC and Richmond without hitting a single ounce of rush hour traffic.

We usually make the drive in about 24 hours, including picnics, bathroom & diaper change breaks, and plenty of time for the kids to run off steam!

DH is a former truck driver-e doesn't mind being on the road @ night w/ the trucks & his CB. I work 11p-7a shift, so the driving hours don't bother me either.

We always make sure to do our AAA trip-tik as close to our departure day as possible, so they can check any construction sites/detours for us. And the AAA guide books are pretty reliable for hotel info too. Good luck!
Oh, and including tolls for the tunnels, bridges, NJTP, etc, plus gas, an oil change before & after, we spent about $290.

 

[CamColt]

We do something similar to Pixie Tink. We drive from north of Boston, straight through in just under 24 hours(provided we dont get lost ). We stop for quick breaks(bathroom, coffee, gas) and 1 full meal(seems to always be Mcdonalds)
We usually leave (both ways) around 10:00am. It works well for us. It seems like once we make it through the day, and the kids are asleep, DH & I take turns sleeping & driving. Then in the morning once the kids wake up and the suns up, we only have a few more hours until we are there. By then you are so pumped, you dont care that youve only had a few hours sleep(and trust me, I usually do need my sleep). It really doesnt seem like a full 24 hours.
We do take the first day at WDW to rest, relax, swim, and usually go to the BW for dinner. We dont hit the parks until the following day once we have had a good nights sleep.

 

[lizfromfl]

I have driven from South Florida to Northern NJ many times.
It usually takes me anywhere from 20-24 driving hours (including bathroom/gas & rest stops). For you, it should be a few hours less since Orlando is about 3 hours north of where I live.

I don't mind talking I-95. For most of the trip the rest stops are numerous and are located right off the highway. I usually stop around Santee which is about the halfway point for me. Now I always make reservations in advance after being caught one too many times with all the hotels booked for miles when I was tired and ready to stop for the night.

This sight shows all of the exits and the hotels that are available. It has really helped us with planning where to stay.
http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm

Hope you have a great trip!

Liz