For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only! (II)

[michael's mom]

Hi. Our plan for switching drivers is 3 hour shifts. We drive 12 hours the first day, so that means two shifts each. Then on the second day, it's one shift each. VERY easy!

For food on the go, we bring cheese sticks, peeled hard boiled eggs, premade tuna and chicken salad with crackers, Go-gurt, granola bars and juice or water to drink. Much better than McDonald's drive-through.

On our last trip, we went to a local barbecue restaurant for dinner on our first night. Good, home cooked buffet - cost $30 for four of us and we had unlimited ribs, fried chicken, pork barbecue, greens, mac & cheese, banana pudding and homemade sweet tea! Awesome - if you're willing to be adventurous, eating local is great. We feel we can get Cracker Barrel anywhere.

Thanks for the tips We are thinking of switching with every tank of gas (and in an Explorer, it'll be often). Those are pretty much the same types of food we planned on packing for the car ride down. I'm hoping to avoid McDonald's at all cost But we don't have a Cracker Barrel around here and look forward to a good breakfast there. If we weren't stopping for breakfast, we'd probably stop somewhere different. Besides, with DS's food allergies, we know the CB is a safe place to go. But that BBQ joint sounds delicious! We love BBQ! Maybe we'll look for one on our ride home

 

[blondietink]

I know I am in the minority here, but we have no Waffle House restaurants where we live, so we look forward to eating at Waffle House at least once during our trip to Florida. However, we didn't eat at Waffle House once during our August trip and we missed it! For our October trip, Waffle House is on the top of our to-do list.

 

[nbs2]

Hi. Our plan for switching drivers is 3 hour shifts. We drive 12 hours the first day, so that means two shifts each. Then on the second day, it's one shift each. VERY easy!

For food on the go, we bring cheese sticks, peeled hard boiled eggs, premade tuna and chicken salad with crackers, Go-gurt, granola bars and juice or water to drink. Much better than McDonald's drive-through.

On our last trip, we went to a local barbecue restaurant for dinner on our first night. Good, home cooked buffet - cost $30 for four of us and we had unlimited ribs, fried chicken, pork barbecue, greens, mac & cheese, banana pudding and homemade sweet tea! Awesome - if you're willing to be adventurous, eating local is great. We feel we can get Cracker Barrel anywhere.

You mind if I ask where this local BBQ place is? We probably won't make it on the way down, but might be headed through the area on the way back up.

Our current plan is to make the drive down starting Sat. afternoon/evening and go nearly non-stop until we arrive Sun morning. I figure we may stop around 8 or 9 for the kids to eat something and then keep on going until a drive through breakfast. We will be caravaning with some friends, so it shouldn't be too bad.

The return will be a bit more relaxed with us leaving Sat afternoon and driving until we are too tired to keep going, pricelining a nearby hotel, and then finishing up the next day.

Google maps has us falling about 137 miles short of the 2k, but we may take the slightly more scenic way back (which would put us at 2001 miles).

 

[disneyfan55]

We stopped at a local BBQ on 95 in NC (I'm pretty sure) and it was the best. I can't for the life of me recall the name or exit. We did this in 2008 on the way home on a Sun. There was a Cracker Barrel on the exit (what we originally were stopping for ) It was on the south bound side of 95. Very crowded and GREAT. Does anyone know of the place I'm speaking of? I hope so!!! Thanks!

 

[sharadoc]

You mind if I ask where this local BBQ place is? We probably won't make it on the way down, but might be headed through the area on the way back up.

Sure, it's Duke's Barbecue in Walterboro SC. I think the best listing about it is on Google Maps. There's a lot of reviews that are good descriptions of the food and restaurant. They don't have a website.

There's a good website called Roadfood.com that has great info on restaurants by state and style of food. We'd like to try Parker's in Wilson, NC some time, too. It sounds awesome.

 

[mum2simon]

I am joining in here! We will be driving down to the world from the Providence, RI area in 18 days!!!! Woo Hoo! Getting very excited.

This is not our first time driving to WDW from the northeast (we have done it 3 times since we have been married), it is however our first time driving down there with kids! YIKES! I am nervous about our two little ones (and myself) surviving the drive -

We leave on Sept 27th, but we are undecided about what time of the day to leave, and whether we should stay somewhere for a few hours to catch a little bit of sleep. We usually drive through, but are not sure how the kids are going to respond to being in the car for that long.... Any thoughts are appreciated (our boys are almost 4 and 18 months)

 

[BC1836]

We're getting ready for another drive next month: #20 since 2002.

All the best.

 

[dvczerfs]

We're getting ready for another drive next month: #20 since 2002.

All the best.

79 days 10hours 5 min. till ride #49 in 37 years!!

 

[sharadoc]

We're getting ready for another drive next month: #20 since 2002.

All the best.

79 days 10hours 5 min. till ride #49 in 37 years!!

And you both inspire us all!

We're counting down to drive #7. Seems insignificant compared to you two

 

[BC1836]

79 days 10hours 5 min. till ride #49 in 37 years!!

 

[dvczerfs]

thanks sharadoc and bc. its been a tough year in our house. in june dw found out she had a meningeoma on her optic nerve. she lost her eye sight in her left eye in 2005, we were in epcots parking lot when she tripped over a parking cone and discovered she couldnt see out of part of her eye. we went to wills eye in philly and they couldnt find anything. well, june the tumor grew big enough to see on an mri. june 18th, they went in and took some of the tumor to test it. (they slit her eye lid from side to side, went over her eye ball to get to it, not an easy surg. to go through) it was not cancer but something had to be done, to close to her brain and other eye etc... after many trips to wills and jefferson hosp. in philly, they decided to do stereotactic radiation, a one time heavy dose of radiation to kill the tumor. they bolted a halo on her head and after many test, 5 hours,4 doctors. and 2 physists, she had her treatment. it was very risky, to close to her other optic nerve and brain. glad to say, it seemed to work!!! she still has vision out of her other eye and no side affects to speak of. she came out of her treatment and said "now we can go to disney world"! through it all, not one tear, not one complaint. we did alot of talking lately and she said her days of driving on 95 are over. she drives the state of s.carolina on the way home and i drive the rest of the trip. so from now on, we are going to take two days to come home which is not a problem for us. after the trips that we have plained already, we have one in sept. of 2012 and than from than on, we are going for 8 nights every jan and ten nights every september. our dd is a sr. in high school this year and after the june trip she will be off to school and make a life of her own.( she will always be my little girl and is welcome to come with us at anytime)im sure she will be able jump in on one trip or another. so, we will see you on 95!!!!! (im an exit 68 guy myself, i cant wait to get to exit 67.)

 

[BC1836]

thanks sharadoc and bc. its been a tough year in our house. in june dw found out she had a meningeoma on her optic nerve. she lost her eye sight in her left eye in 2005, we were in epcots parking lot when she tripped over a parking cone and discovered she couldnt see out of part of her eye. we went to wills eye in philly and they couldnt find anything. well, june the tumor grew big enough to see on an mri. june 18th, they went in and took some of the tumor to test it. (they slit her eye lid from side to side, went over her eye ball to get to it, not an easy surg. to go through) it was not cancer but something had to be done, to close to her brain and other eye etc... after many trips to wills and jefferson hosp. in philly, they decided to do stereotactic radiation, a one time heavy dose of radiation to kill the tumor. they bolted a halo on her head and after many test, 5 hours,4 doctors. and 2 physists, she had her treatment. it was very risky, to close to her other optic nerve and brain. glad to say, it seemed to work!!! she still has vision out of her other eye and no side affects to speak of. she came out of her treatment and said "now we can go to disney world"! through it all, not one tear, not one complaint. we did alot of talking lately and she said her days of driving on 95 are over. she drives the state of s.carolina on the way home and i drive the rest of the trip. so from now on, we are going to take two days to come home which is not a problem for us. after the trips that we have plained already, we have one in sept. of 2012 and than from than on, we are going for 8 nights every jan and ten nights every september. our dd is a sr. in high school this year and after the june trip she will be off to school and make a life of her own.( she will always be my little girl and is welcome to come with us at anytime)im sure she will be able jump in on one trip or another. so, we will see you on 95!!!!! (im an exit 68 guy myself, i cant wait to get to exit 67.)

An amazing story of courage.

Sending along some W I S H E S !

All the best!

 

[michael's mom]

I am joining in here! We will be driving down to the world from the Providence, RI area in 18 days!!!! Woo Hoo! Getting very excited.

This is not our first time driving to WDW from the northeast (we have done it 3 times since we have been married), it is however our first time driving down there with kids! YIKES! I am nervous about our two little ones (and myself) surviving the drive -

We leave on Sept 27th, but we are undecided about what time of the day to leave, and whether we should stay somewhere for a few hours to catch a little bit of sleep. We usually drive through, but are not sure how the kids are going to respond to being in the car for that long.... Any thoughts are appreciated (our boys are almost 4 and 18 months)

Not speaking from personal experience, but from that of a friend of mine and her family. They have driven about 3 or 4 times in the last few years with their 4 children (8,7,4,2) and they drive straight through and said the kids are great. They do put something under the kids feet in front of their carseats/boosters and they have a rule that whenever they stop for gas, everyone tries to use the bathroom. And whenever they stop for food, they also get gas and use the bathroom and they make the trip in less than 24 hours. We are about an hour away from Providence to give you an idea of what you'd be looking at. They also leave around 7pm to avoid the traffic in NYC, and DC and said it's been smooth sailing each time they leave.

We want to get down there a little earlier in the day when we drive so we're thinking of leaving here around 4. We should still miss NYC and DC traffic so we're not expecting any problems (except for maybe Providence traffic )

Good luck! Please check back when you get home and let us know how you did!

 

[Marshay]

I know I am in the minority here, but we have no Waffle House restaurants where we live, so we look forward to eating at Waffle House at least once during our trip to Florida. However, we didn't eat at Waffle House once during our August trip and we missed it! For our October trip, Waffle House is on the top of our to-do list.

I agree with you! I love Waffle House!! Just something from my childhood trips to FL I guess.

DVCerfs -- Many wishes to you all!

 

[cruisingkat]

We're getting ready for another drive next month: #20 since 2002.

All the best.

We are getting ready for our 12th drive down since 2007. We leave at the end of the month.

 

[Therinian]

Has anyone taken Route 17 (or Rt. 301) all the way down into Florida/Kissimmee/Orlando? If so, how did that work out for you?

We took Rt. 17 once (starting with Route 13 & crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel in VA) and it was the 2nd best road trip we'd ever taken (#1 being our recent trip to the Badlands, lol); the drive to WDW was long (29 hours!), but the scenery was beautiful, there were barely any cars on the road at times, and the speed limit was usually 55.

Also... Does anyone take advantage of the Super 8 Motel free coffee deal when driving to/from Florida? My husband & I got Super 8 travel mugs ($5 each) after we'd heard about the promotion when we drove to South Dakota in August, and can't wait to try them on our next road trip, where we can get free coffee with them at ANY Super 8 location in the U.S.

 

[dvczerfs]

I agree with you! I love Waffle House!! Just something from my childhood trips to FL I guess.

DVCerfs -- Many wishes to you all!

thanks. we only ever stopped at one waffle house when i was a kid and we must of hit a bad one. my mom didnt like it to much. i remember hitting the 76 truck stop plazas, and the howard johnson rest. in the the early 70s, hojos were like crackle barrels are today. i live in the northeast and there is a waffle house about 20 min. from us. i dont know how or why, there isnt another one for a few hundred miles away that i know of.

 

[honeymo78]

Well its almost time for our first drive to Disney. A slight change of plans though. We were supposed to leave 9/24 from just north of de/pa border around 4pm and drive straight through. However, we both now have off on Friday so will leave around 10am and stay overnight in Brunswick GA.

What traffic concerns are we likely to have if we leave at that time? I know we'll be past DC/VA before afternoon rush hour but I don't know anything about farther south of that as our original plan had us driving through the night.

 

[TandLMommy28]

We are down to 13 days until we start driving! I am fiddling with our route and just can't decide what to do...

We can take 27 through Ohio to 75, which is supposed to be 50 miles shorter and 20 minutes faster but we are driving on a 2 lane road until almost Cincinnati, yuck. BUT in exchange for driving the country road and hitting Cincinnati, we would skip driving through Indy, Louisville AND Nashville. I'm not much of a city driver so this is a little appealing to me. But if the speed limit on 27 is like 45 or something, I think I'd go nuts.

And then when we get to Atlanta, do you think we should do a bypass around the city? It'll be a Saturday around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I just know how crazy Atlanta drivers are, they don't believe in leaving space between cars so if you leave 2 car lengths between you and the car in front of you, you better believe some crazy driver is going to pull into the space and drive that close to you at 70mph. I have never been in Atlanta when I haven't turned on the radio to hear about a 10 - 20 car pile up because they drive so freaking close together! (We used to have to go to Atlanta almost every weekend when we lived in Pensacola). I'm just wondering if any of the bypasses around the city are any better, traffic-wise than taking 75 straight through the middle of the city.

I just don't know what to do!

 

[Tina]

Well its almost time for our first drive to Disney. A slight change of plans though. We were supposed to leave 9/24 from just north of de/pa border around 4pm and drive straight through. However, we both now have off on Friday so will leave around 10am and stay overnight in Brunswick GA.

What traffic concerns are we likely to have if we leave at that time? I know we'll be past DC/VA before afternoon rush hour but I don't know anything about farther south of that as our original plan had us driving through the night.

We just may see you on the road! We're also leaving on the 24th, although we'll be a few hours ahead of you, leaving at 5am from No.Virginia. Once you are through DC, there is really not much else to worry about, aside from the off-chance you may encounter an accident to slow you down. That has only happened to us once and we were detoured off 95 in North Carolina. It put us about 2 hours behind schedule. I know some folks prefer to take alternate routes around Richmond and Jacksonville, but in my opinion, they're a piece of cake (in comparison to DC area driving). We just drive on through on 95.

Have a great trip!