Driving from Detroit and Back

[DianeV]

NOt sure if this is the spot for this..but we are driving for Easter from Detroit. We are not taking I-75 way since its so busy so are taking the I95 / and the other highway which escapes me right now! through Daytona and over.

On the way down we are staying a night in Brunswick GA which we have done before but we havent drive that way back up before.

We want to only drive about 8-10 hours that day so does anyone have any idea about where that would put us? I cannot tell from any maps/map quest things I have checked unfortunately..

Thanks for any help

 

[MidgeD79]

Hi Diane! we are driving to WDW this summer, but we always take I-75. We haven't (yet) encountered contruction that slowed us down and we take 2-3 days for the drive down. I never make reservations for a hotel on the way down, but set a "goal" for an area that I would like to get to. This year we are leaving around 9pm and will drive until I can't drive anymore. There will be 7 of us on the way down - dd 26, ds12, dgs 5, dgs 4, ds 9, dgd11 and me. The first 4 will be flying back after a week, the last 3 will be staying another 5+ days. I use "Dave Hunters Along I-75" and find it full of useful and trivial information. I love driving to Disney!

 

[Debbie]

I use "Dave Hunters Along I-75" and find it full of useful and trivial information. I love driving to Disney!

This book is fabulous! We've several editions, and even the kids follow along with the 25 mile maps. We've done several of the side trips-World's Best Ice Cream, Berea shopping, first KFC, Museum of Appalachia, etc- and seeing the first palm tree in Georgia is always exciting. I haven't driven for a couple of years, but the last time that we did, we didn't find it too bad. Good luck with whatever your decision is!

 

[DianeV]

Midge thanks, my husband prefers the other way. Last time we did Easter we took I-75 back and it seemed that everyone was leaving Central Florida at the same time. We were backed up literally an hour right after we got on I-75 so decided not to go that way again...

 

[MIDisFan]

I'm not sure which route you are taking to get to I-95 but when we use to drive from the Woodhaven area (about 25 min south of Redford) Mapquest and AAA would direct us to take I-75 to Knoxville, TN and then use I-640, 40 and 26 to get over to 95. If this is the same route you were given, Knoxville is about 8-8.5 hours from us. I have driven both routes and I would have to say without a doubt I prefer taking I-75 straight down but I have never traveled to FL during Easter break.

We quit driving a couple of years ago because when we broke it down it cost us about $800 to drive which is about what it cost for 4 people to fly out of DTW.

Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[DianeV]

HI! We usually take the Ohio turnpike over towards Cleveland and then head down - I think its I77 now that I think about it and then that hooks up with I95. It works out good going down but we havent done coming back yet...

 

[disneydiz]

We usually drive down Easter week and have not had any problems taking I-75. Last Easter it took us 20-hrs down, and 19-hours returning....and we did not have any trouble. We took I-95 once, but traffic was terrible. If you ever do take I-75, go on www.i75exitguide.com. This site has every hotel, fast food, and gas station listed at every exit of I-75 from MI to FL. It also gives you links for construction info for every state.

 

[Yzerbear19]

HI! We usually take the Ohio turnpike over towards Cleveland and then head down - I think its I77 now that I think about it and then that hooks up with I95. It works out good going down but we havent done coming back yet...

That was the way we drove in 2005. I actually liked this route better than I-75 which we took on the way home. We drove for 15 hours and made it to Orange something in South Carolina. The next day we only had 5 hours left to Orlando! Though I would never try driving 15 hours ever again! I think at 12 hours we were in North Carolina. So for 10 hours I would say you would either be in Virginia or North Carolina. And we didn't really have any problems with traffic on I77 or I95. The worst traffic was on I94 in Detroit the day we left! Who goes driving around at 5:00 am on a Tuesday! It was crazy!

 

[DianeV]

Thanks we found it less busy too overall...I am actually looking for where we would be on the way home...we are doing Brunswick GA on the way there which always works well but cant drive as long on the way back..only like 8-10 hours at most..

 

[DianeV]

So does anyone have any idea where you are about 8-10 hours from LBV if you take I-95 to I-77 way home?
Please help!

 

[Yzerbear19]

So does anyone have any idea where you are about 8-10 hours from LBV if you take I-95 to I-77 way home?
Please help!

Using AAA's online triptik, it says that from Orlando (MCO) to Winston-Salem, NC is 10 hours, 9 minutes. Then from Winston-Salem, NC to Detroit it says that its 9 hours, 56 minutes. I'm sure the times would be slightly different if you plugged in exact addresses, but that should give you a rough estimate of time. Hope that helps!

EDIT: Using AAA's online triptik again, it says that from Orlando to Charlotte, NC would be 8 hours, 36 minutes. So it looks like in 8-10 hours you should be in North Carolina.

http://www.autoclubgroup.com/michigan/travel/aaa_maps_landing.asp

 

[DianeV]

Thanks I have AAA too and dont know why I didnt think of checking that!

--OK I checked and Charlotte does seem to be feasible..so now does anyone know anything about Charlotte as far as hotels that are right off the expressway?

 

[Pembo]

There are lots of hotels in Charlotte right off the expressway. I use this site http://www.freetrip.com/cgi-bin/autopilot2.pl to judge distances and then go to http://tripadvisor.com to check hotel preferences. We'll be travelling this way ourselves Easter Sunday!!