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

[Salrx95]

Back home about 90 minutes ago. Snowed all thru NC last night after lots of wind and some in Georgia so we stayed over in Petersburg instead of our target of Fredericksburg. No traffic anywhere both legs. We had left about 5 hours earlier than expected to ahead of the rain/snow coming north due to Nemo.

Luckily, we did drive. Otherwise, our flights was likely to be the morning Nemo hit and we'd not have gotten out.

 

[emmsmama]

We sailed through Nashville at 3:00 and Atlanta at 8:00 pm. But we hit Chattanooga at 5:00 pm and lost an hour. Heading East, there is that nasty hill on the far side of town, and it slowed all the trucks. The backup accordianed all through the city.

Thanks, I'll try to time it so we don't hit Chattanooga at suppertime. I was looking at a map and now I'm thinking we must not have gone through Nashville because that's not along I-75. I can't remember for sure where it was we hit traffic then, hmmm, maybe it was Cleveland, or maybe it was around where we saw signs to get to Nashville. Either way, most of the time was smooth driving with no holdups, so that was nice, but it was a different time of year.

 

[Flyerfan]

Hello dvszerfs,
Have a great dinner, I thought we were crazy going from I 80 I 81 junction to Tamaqua for Italian dinners.

La Dolce Casa (Dimaggio's)? Excellent food!

 

[pigletto]

Okay I-75 travelers, I'm finding tons of info from East Coasters on their route but not so much in the way of tips and hints for heading down 75. Any notorious speed traps I should be aware of? Rest stops to steer clear of, or ones that tend to be safer/cleaner than others? Weird traffic quirks aside from the usual rush hours around bigger cities?

I'm not the best person to answer this but we have researched driving and saw the book Along I-75 is highly recommended for all this type of info. I've seen it mentioned in a dozen threads as a must have for that route.So you may want to look into getting that if you have time. Here's a link
http://www.i75online.com/I75BookInfo.html

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Thanks, I'll try to time it so we don't hit Chattanooga at suppertime. I was looking at a map and now I'm thinking we must not have gone through Nashville because that's not along I-75. I can't remember for sure where it was we hit traffic then, hmmm, maybe it was Cleveland, or maybe it was around where we saw signs to get to Nashville. Either way, most of the time was smooth driving with no holdups, so that was nice, but it was a different time of year.

Coming South on I75 you probably won't have the issue with Chattanooga we did. You'll just skirt the city and won't have that hill to deal with. We backed up on I24 where it plugs into 75, but as soon as we got on 75, it opened up again.

 

[MIChessGuy]

Coming down I-75, I cannot remember encountering any delays in Chattanooga on any trip. I think the most likely trouble spot is Atlanta. In my case, because my travel days are always on the weekend, it rarely comes up. About three trips ago, they were working a construction project in Atlanta even on the weekend. We avoided most of the delay by using the HOV lane, if I remember correctly. And about a year ago, I got to Gainesville FL a few hours after a massive smashup that was caused by sudden blinding smoke on the interstate. I had to drive around it on state highways and rejoin I-75 beyond the accident scene.

Anyway, I'd suggest taking a look at the Traffic view on Google Maps for the major urban areas that you will be passing through. If anything seems amiss, you can probably get more details from the state transportation dept's website.

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

it takes me 16 1/2 hours if i take 81/66/17/95/4. it takes me 15 1/2 hours using 81/77/26/95/4. for me it is 24 miles longer going 81/77/26/95/4 but i make it up in less traffic.

on the 81/77/26/95/4 route...where (which towns) do you pick up each route? I can easily get 81 from here.

ETA: We were scheduled to fly out last year on Halloween. Well, Sandy cancelled that. We had considered driving but got good airfare rates. So, when that whole idea went out the window, we decided to drive and still take the vacation. We were refunded our air and rented a bigger car. We picked up 95 I think when we were still in PA...maybe MD? LOL I was not driving then so didn't pay close attention. Anyway, we sat in DC...and sat...and sat. The trip took about 18 hours with stops (3 total for about 15 minutes each) from Tannersville area. Seems to me that we should be able to trim some time? We are definitely driving this year. We have recently bought a new car and it has a lot more room. So, we don't need to put out anything but the gas...cheaper than flying. I'd like to be better prepared this time and try to trim some time. Last year it was sort of running around with Sandy and we just went...no prep as far as the driving part.

 

[DSLRuser]

Coming down I-75, I cannot remember encountering any delays in Chattanooga on any trip. I think the most likely trouble spot is Atlanta. ...


We avoided most of the delay by using the HOV lane, if I remember correctly. .

We hit Nashville at 10:00pm, chatanooga at 12:00pm, and atlanta around 2:00am. So we dont see any traffic at all.

I will agree with using the HOV lanes in atlanta, but YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION to the road signs. At times, the HOV lane goes way off on it's on and can cause some folks to panic and think they have to get out of the lane. Just follow the signs, and you will soon pick up i-75 again.

our return trip has us hit Atlants around 7:00pm, so we do tend to see a little traffic. just watch the signs and take one of the bypasses as needed.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Thanks, I'll try to time it so we don't hit Chattanooga at suppertime. I was looking at a map and now I'm thinking we must not have gone through Nashville because that's not along I-75. I can't remember for sure where it was we hit traffic then, hmmm, maybe it was Cleveland, or maybe it was around where we saw signs to get to Nashville. Either way, most of the time was smooth driving with no holdups, so that was nice, but it was a different time of year.

Yeah, I was wondering about your track when you said you're from Windsor, and had trouble in Nashville. You shouldn't come within 150 miles from Nashville. Or Cleveland.

You might have had problems in Knoxville, TN. You do travel through the middle of town. Although I've never had any problems going through Knoxville. You might have hit it during a University of Tennessee football game. College football is huge down there.

I'm assuming you're travelling on a weekday. Your big trouble spots would be Atlanta, and possibly Cincinnati. It's about 4 1/2 to 5 hours from Windsor to Cincinnati, and another 7 1/2 hours from Cincinnati to Atlanta. So figure on about an even 12 hours from Windsor to Atlanta.

I guess leaving about 7 AM your time will get you through Cincinnati about noon and the other side of Atlanta about 7:30 or 8 PM. That's probably doable without hitting rush hour. Leave much earlier, and you'll either hit Cincinnati morning rush hour or Atlanta evening rush hour.

You wn't have problems with rush hour on weekends. Depending on what time of year you're going, you could hit Cincinnati Reds or Atlanta Braves traffic. You should be find if you stay in the far left lane in Atlanta.

Knoxville shouldn't be too much of an issue and Lexington and Chattanooga aren't issues since you bypass those towns. PM me if you have questions regarding Cincinnati, since I live in the general area. Good luck.

 

[emmsmama]

Thanks for all the info. everyone We live farther up north now, so we are driving Friday night after dh gets off work to Windsor (approx. 8-9 hrs.). Then I figured we'd leave Windsor around 9am so we are well rested and drive for about 12-14 hours until we get tired. Then Sunday we will only have about 5-6 hours left to drive to be in Florida. I haven't even planned out the drive home yet because I want to focus on getting to the fun, not leaving it.

 

[CamnWS6]

Okay I-75 travelers, I'm finding tons of info from East Coasters on their route but not so much in the way of tips and hints for heading down 75. Any notorious speed traps I should be aware of? Rest stops to steer clear of, or ones that tend to be safer/cleaner than others? Weird traffic quirks aside from the usual rush hours around bigger cities?

The only place we really saw a lot of cops on 75 was after Atlanta on the way down and before Atlanta on the way back. They liked to sit up on overpasses or on the ramps. Other then that there were just a couple here and there.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Okay I-75 travelers, I'm finding tons of info from East Coasters on their route but not so much in the way of tips and hints for heading down 75. Any notorious speed traps I should be aware of? Rest stops to steer clear of, or ones that tend to be safer/cleaner than others? Weird traffic quirks aside from the usual rush hours around bigger cities?

Regarding speed traps, there is one just south of I-275 (the Cincinnati outer belt) in Ohio. It's going toward Cincinnati, so you haven't reached the heavier traffic yet. It's where the speed limit suddenly changes from 65 MPH to 55 MPH.

There's no real rest areas to avoid. A couple that I'll suggest you go to.

1) I don't know if this is technically a rest area or not. I mention it as one, because they tore down the rest areas right by this exit. It's the Kentucky Artesian Center in Berea, right off I-75. It's a marketplace for Kentucky artists (both visual and musical) to sell their artwork and records. And there's picnic tables and rest rooms. A good place for a rest.

2) You may already know this by now, but the Florida Welcome Center and its free orange juice is a tradition among many families. Including ours.

And a weird traffic quirk...When going through Macon, exit at I-475. It bypasses Macon and takes you back to I-75. The I-75 route is actually longer.

 

[Colleen27]

Regarding speed traps, there is one just south of I-275 (the Cincinnati outer belt) in Ohio. It's going toward Cincinnati, so you haven't reached the heavier traffic yet. It's where the speed limit suddenly changes from 65 MPH to 55 MPH.

There's no real rest areas to avoid. A couple that I'll suggest you go to.

1) I don't know if this is technically a rest area or not. I mention it as one, because they tore down the rest areas right by this exit. It's the Kentucky Artesian Center in Berea, right off I-75. It's a marketplace for Kentucky artists (both visual and musical) to sell their artwork and records. And there's picnic tables and rest rooms. A good place for a rest.

2) You may already know this by now, but the Florida Welcome Center and its free orange juice is a tradition among many families. Including ours.

And a weird traffic quirk...When going through Macon, exit at I-475. It bypasses Macon and takes you back to I-75. The I-75 route is actually longer.

Thanks for the heads-up on Cinci - I'm going to be driving that stretch not only for our FL trip but again in June to pick up DS's best friend for a visit so I'll keep it in mind for sure.

I LOVE Berea! I went with my mom a few times as a kid and used to want to go to college there. We'll be passing through in the middle of the night on the way down, but will make a note of it as a place to stop on the way home.

I didn't know about the FL Welcome Center, actually. This is our first time driving to FL so it is all new to me. I'll have to watch for that one too. We should be passing through that area early Saturday morning so it'll be a good way to start our first FL day.

I noticed the 475 jog when I looked up our route on my GPS. Good to know it is actually faster - some of the ways Google Navigation tries to send us locally are a mess compared to other, easier options that it just doesn't seem to know, so I'm always a bit reluctant to put blind faith in its routes.

 

[cruisingkat]

Okay I-75 travelers, I'm finding tons of info from East Coasters on their route but not so much in the way of tips and hints for heading down 75. Any notorious speed traps I should be aware of? Rest stops to steer clear of, or ones that tend to be safer/cleaner than others? Weird traffic quirks aside from the usual rush hours around bigger cities?

The only place we really saw a lot of cops on 75 was after Atlanta on the way down and before Atlanta on the way back. They liked to sit up on overpasses or on the ramps. Other then that there were just a couple here and there.

Definitely agree with the speed traps on I75 in south GA. In fact Turner and Tift county have a lot of speed traps - Turner county is around mile marker 85-72 and there have been times where we have seen 4 sheriffs cars in that small stretch of road. Turner Cty is very small both in size and population, but it issues a huge number of tickets each year - and the tickets are very expensive. On top of that, GA has a super speeder law - anyone caught doing 15 or more mph over the limit are hit with an extra $200 fine on top of the county fine.

 

[OklahomaTourist]

Are there any good recommendations for a hotel around Macon?

Our family has stayed at the Courtyard Marriott just off I-75, just on the east side of the interstate on Sheraton Drive. Clean, nice, recently updated. Have had lots of good experience with the Courtyards, highly recommended. Check for AAA rates if you're a member. Some nights offer a bigger discount if you're willing to pay up-front on a non-refundable basis (if cancelled).

 

[OklahomaTourist]

2) You may already know this by now, but the Florida Welcome Center and its free orange juice is a tradition among many families. Including ours.

Darn! This is apparently only along the I-95 route into Florida, not I-75.

Or is there one, and I've just missed it EVERY time I've gone?

 

[twinmom319]

Darn! This is apparently only along the I-95 route into Florida, not I-75.

Or is there one, and I've just missed it EVERY time I've gone?

I was just wondering that: here is the blurb from the Flordia welcome center website:

Today, that half-century-long tradition continues at the Official Florida Welcome Centers located on I-10 west of Pensacola, U.S. 231 near Campbellton (also near Marianna), I-75 at Jennings (near Lake City) and I-95 north of Yulee (near Jacksonville). A fifth center is located at the west entrance of the State Capitol Building in Tallahassee.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Darn! This is apparently only along the I-95 route into Florida, not I-75.

Or is there one, and I've just missed it EVERY time I've gone?

It's along I -75. We've stopped there almost every time we've entered Florida. And that's dating back to the 1960s. (Yes, I'm that old.)

And the welcome center is right inside the Florida State Line....no more than a mile inside. You can't miss it.

 

[AaronInWI]

Darn! This is apparently only along the I-95 route into Florida, not I-75.

Or is there one, and I've just missed it EVERY time I've gone?

There is most definitely one on I-75. We drove (for the first time) in September and stopped for the free OJ. We almost pulled into something that I thought was the Florida welcome center - they were advertising free OJ and everything. I think it was some sort of a tourist trap where they try to sell you stuff, to go along with that free OJ. It was much smaller than I had expected, which is what tipped me off that I was in the wrong place. But I digress...

 

[dvczerfs]

on the 81/77/26/95/4 route...where (which towns) do you pick up each route? I can easily get 81 from here.

ETA: We were scheduled to fly out last year on Halloween. Well, Sandy cancelled that. We had considered driving but got good airfare rates. So, when that whole idea went out the window, we decided to drive and still take the vacation. We were refunded our air and rented a bigger car. We picked up 95 I think when we were still in PA...maybe MD? LOL I was not driving then so didn't pay close attention. Anyway, we sat in DC...and sat...and sat. The trip took about 18 hours with stops (3 total for about 15 minutes each) from Tannersville area. Seems to me that we should be able to trim some time? We are definitely driving this year. We have recently bought a new car and it has a lot more room. So, we don't need to put out anything but the gas...cheaper than flying. I'd like to be better prepared this time and try to trim some time. Last year it was sort of running around with Sandy and we just went...no prep as far as the driving part.

coming from tannersville, i would jump on rt33 to i78. here are my times. i live in nazareth so i leave around 2:30am, take rt191 to rt22 to rt78. to be safe, i would add 20 min. or so to the first numbers:
home to i81 ------- 1hr/1min
i81 to MA -----------1hr/19min
MA to WV ----------10min
WV TO VA -----------22min
VA ti i77 -------------3hr/23min
i77 to NC ------------26 min.
NC to Char nc-------- 1hr/44min
Char to SC ----------11 min
SC to i26 ------------1hr/13min
i26 to i95 ------------ 49min
i95 to GA ------------- 1HR/7MIN.
GA TO FL ------------1hr/44min
FL TO I4 ------------1HR/42MIN
I4 TO EXIT68 ---------54MIN

these times are with rest breaks etc.... so it may vary a bit pending on traffic and how often you stop. the trip i did this was a smooth sailing trip. i pretty well hit this every time.