Driving from Eastern Ontario best route

[libertyschool]

We'll be driving to Orlando for the first time leaving Friday May 2nd. The current plan is to drive 14 hours straight through the night to Charlotte , NC. Spend one night and then the remaining to Orlando on Sunday. Coming home we are thinking of taking it a bit slower and stopping for one night in Myrtle Beach and one night in Washington, but reading a lot about traffic and avoiding the Washington route.

From where we live we can cross from 1000 islands, Cornwall or Montreal easily. Any tips or advice appreciated. Family of 5, kids 20, 13 and 10. Three drivers including 20 year old.

 

[minnie mum]

We live near Trenton and always cross the border near Gananoque at Thousand Islands. Never had a wait. We are not in a big rush to get there and I can't sit in the car that long anymore. So we take 3 days to make the trip.

We take the I 81, I 77, I 26, I 95 route. The I81 is great because you bypass the heavily congested areas on the I95. But you do have to watch the weather in the winter because of the mountains. Its a very pretty drive as well.

We try to save time by planning our stops in advance. Try to gas up during meal breaks, for instance. And a bathroom stop is mandatory for everyone any time you stop for any reason. Nothing more maddening than someone who needs to pee 15 min. after you get out onto the road. The state welcome centers at each state line are great if you need a short rest and bathroom. Most freeway exits will have advance signs telling you what services are available. Your GPS will tell you the same thing.

Speaking of GPS, we reset ours to display miles and mph while we are in the srates. This can really help with managing your speed when in areas known for their speed traps.

 

[Josh Hendy]

...

We take the I 81, I 77, I 26, I 95 route. The I81 is great because you bypass the heavily congested areas on the I95. But you do have to watch the weather in the winter because of the mountains. Its a very pretty drive as well.

...

Seconded. That is also my favorite route.

I-81 is fairly mountainous in Pennsylvania and the southern part of Virginia. It can be a bit bumpy in places and there are a lot of trucks at times with only 2 lanes in each direction to share with them and inadequate shoulders. But I find it far less stressful than I-95 anywhere in the Philadelphia/Baltimore/DC/Richmond corridor, which is very wide but also very, very crowded with vehicles.

I-95 once you join it in SC is very easy to drive, except I prefer taking the bypass around Jacksonville.

We've stopped at Myrtle Beach before on the way home, but found it a long detour off the main road we didn't enjoy it a lot (we stayed only one rainy night).

Washington is great place to stop but we found it actually quite a chore to get in and out of town (we stayed outside of town and drove in to the nearest metro station).

A much more relaxing "side trip" or whatever you want to call it, is to drive a portion of the Skyline Drive a.k.a. Blue Ridge Parkway which parallels I-81 in Virginia. It's easy to get off I-81 and have a very pleasant hour or two of scenic driving then hop back onto I-81.

DW and DD's undoubted favorite "side trip" however is to spend half a day shopping at Carousel Mall in Syracuse ...

 

[libertyschool]

Thanks for the tips. So much to think about!