"For 2,000+ Mile Round-Trip Drivers Only!" (Part V)

[BC1836]

It took a while for Florida to join most of the other states but starting on Monday, July 1, 2019: no texting and driving. Other rules also apply about phones, Bluetooth, etc.

All the best!

 

[doubletoast]

I am still bronze and will probably stay there. We just made our 9th trip from the Greater Philadelphia area and I think the rest of the family is done with the drive and will probably fly from here on out. I get it, the drive can be hard, but I always liked the idea of easing into and out of the vacation with a car ride.

 

[BC1836]

Latest Orlando TV news report: I-4 is 8 months behind its initial completion date, and millions of additional dollars are needed. State legislature investigation in the works. As for now, don't expect I-4 to be completed until late 2021.

All the best!

 

[dvczerfs]

Latest Orlando TV news report: I-4 is 8 months behind its initial completion date, and millions of additional dollars are needed. State legislature investigation in the works. As for now, don't expect I-4 to be completed until late 2021.

All the best!

I can only speak from the early 70's, Jacksonville has been under construction for nearly 50 years. They get done with the south end of I95 in Jax, they move to the northern part of I95. They finish 20 plus years later and move back to the southern end of I95.
It's endless.
The only way I see around it, move south of Orlando. Lol
The last five years, I time my trip that I hit Jax around 3:30,4am on a Saturday morning. Gets me through Jax and Orlando and hit the world around 6am.
Avoiding all the traffic.
Same way heading north.
Anyone remember when I4 from I95 into the world for the most part was only two lanes in each direction? I know, bread was nickel too old man. Lol

 

[Cars2006]

East Coasters will recognize this:
View attachment 377351

We will be seeing that sign in August. We still haven't stop there yet. Maybe this year

 

[dvczerfs]

We will be seeing that sign in August. We still haven't stop there yet. Maybe this year

We haven't seen it in a long time, we come down I26 and hit I95 south of sob.
I'm guessing maybe fifteen years ago, and if it's still the same, I wouldn't waste the gas getting off the highway. Lol

 

[dvczerfs]

Here is my progress chart I use when driving down. I out run this chart by almost 45 minutes anymore but it includes rest stops, gas stops and drive thrus. For reference, home would be the I78 NJ, PA boarder.
I also have one for the ride home.
I also go a few different ways, I take this way if there isn't a chance of snow or ice. This way takes you through the Shenandoah Mountains.
All depends on driving style, conditions, where you live etc... but all the map services has this way taking me about an hour from my house longer than going down I95.
This way is actually two hours shorter than I95 for me.
If you live in South Jersey or the Philly area, it won't work for you. Basically you have to be north of I78 or real close to it.

 

[BC1836]

View attachment 414682

Here is my progress chart I use when driving down. I out run this chart by almost 45 minutes anymore but it includes rest stops, gas stops and drive thrus. For reference, home would be the I78 NJ, PA boarder.
I also have one for the ride home.
I also go a few different ways, I take this way if there isn't a chance of snow or ice. This way takes you through the Shenandoah Mountains.
All depends on driving style, conditions, where you live etc... but all the map services has this way taking me about an hour from my house longer than going down I95.
This way is actually two hours shorter than I95 for me.
If you live in South Jersey or the Philly area, it won't work for you. Basically you have to be north of I78 or real close to it.

Indeed, when we lived at the Jersey Shore, the I-95 route was our only practical route. Did it 46 times, from 2002 to 2017.

All the best!

 

[bluezy]

View attachment 414682

Here is my progress chart I use when driving down. I out run this chart by almost 45 minutes anymore but it includes rest stops, gas stops and drive thrus. For reference, home would be the I78 NJ, PA boarder.
I also have one for the ride home.
I also go a few different ways, I take this way if there isn't a chance of snow or ice. This way takes you through the Shenandoah Mountains.
All depends on driving style, conditions, where you live etc... but all the map services has this way taking me about an hour from my house longer than going down I95.
This way is actually two hours shorter than I95 for me.
If you live in South Jersey or the Philly area, it won't work for you. Basically you have to be north of I78 or real close to it.

I keep trying to get my husband to try this route. We're a little south of 78 but could be on that route within about 15 minutes. He prefers to take his chances with I-95. And the reality is that in 8 round trips over the last 18 years, we've only had one major traffic issue on that route (outside of minor short-lived slow downs) and we actually knew there was an issue before we left the house because Waze and Google maps warned us. But since the incident was 3 hours away from home and we hadn't even left yet, we figured it would be cleared up by the time we got there. Had we taken 2 minutes to find out exactly what the incident was, we would have taken the route you take. Turned out there was a major accident that had both the NB & SB lanes of I-95 in VA closed for over 6 hours. The accident originated in the NB lanes but a 15-passenger van full of (unrestrained) passengers rolled end-over-end across the grass median and into the SB lanes. There were numerous fatalities. Very sad situation that caused a traffic nightmare....that we could have avoided if we had just googled it instead of assuming it would be clear by the time we got there. Lesson learned.

If I ever have to help with the driving, we *will* be taking the route you take because I have no desire to attempt to drive through Wilmington, DC, Baltimore, Richmond, etc. Either that, or I won't take over driving until we cross the VA/NC border.

 

[dvczerfs]

I keep trying to get my husband to try this route. We're a little south of 78 but could be on that route within about 15 minutes. He prefers to take his chances with I-95. And the reality is that in 8 round trips over the last 18 years, we've only had one major traffic issue on that route (outside of minor short-lived slow downs) and we actually knew there was an issue before we left the house because Waze and Google maps warned us. But since the incident was 3 hours away from home and we hadn't even left yet, we figured it would be cleared up by the time we got there. Had we taken 2 minutes to find out exactly what the incident was, we would have taken the route you take. Turned out there was a major accident that had both the NB & SB lanes of I-95 in VA closed for over 6 hours. The accident originated in the NB lanes but a 15-passenger van full of (unrestrained) passengers rolled end-over-end across the grass median and into the SB lanes. There were numerous fatalities. Very sad situation that caused a traffic nightmare....that we could have avoided if we had just googled it instead of assuming it would be clear by the time we got there. Lesson learned.

If I ever have to help with the driving, we *will* be taking the route you take because I have no desire to attempt to drive through Wilmington, DC, Baltimore, Richmond, etc. Either that, or I won't take over driving until we cross the VA/NC border.

Wrecks and slow downs can happen anywhere. We hit Charlotte at rush hour on one trip and crawled.
Ba ck in the early 80s we always went 81/77 but it wasn't as built up as it is today. I still remember I sign that said no gas or services for the next 70 miles, there was nothing. Lol
When I really started to pay attention to time etc..., I looked at a map. If you put a dot on Orlando and draw a straight line north, you are in the middle of Ohio.
Again, depends where you live but I95 runs the coast, the east coast isn't straight, it's a big ole arch. So if I put it this way it's like starting at your nose, driving down to your left armpit and heading to your right knee and from your nose to your waist your driving through the heaviest traffic couridor in the east.
Again, all depends where you live. I just so happen to have a straight shot to i81.
I also will use 81/66/17/95. I use this way a lot in the winter.
And a lot of it is what you are comfortable doing. You get use to the road, the stops, the sites etc....

 

[RK13]

Driving down to Disney in August from NY, usually leave around 3-3:30am and take I95, but this time we're starting out on a Monday morning instead of Sunday. I was thinking of leaving about 5:30am, which would get us to the 495 Beltway at approx 10am, and hopefully after the morning rush.
As an alternative I'm considering route 301 south thru DE, MD & VA. Does anyone have experience with this route? Better or worse than 95?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ninafeliz]

We made it back from our trip, so i thought I would post how it went here.

We drove down from NW PA, leaving at 6:30 AM on June 13th. We drove all day with a stop for lunch, a stop at the VA welcome center for a break, and a picnic dinner at the SC Welcome Center. We took 79-19-77-26-95-4-417. We did run into construction traffic once that maybe added close to an hour to our trip (sorry, I just don't remember where! It was our first day, probably WV) As someone here suggested, in the early evening I got on a map and my phone to see where we though we might be when we were ready to stop, and booked a room. We made to to Savannah, GA, and got a very nice room at an Embassy Suites that slept 6. We got there at around 10:30 PM.

We left the hotel around 8:30 AM and got to the Boardwalk around 2:30. Not sure why it took quite that long, but we did arrive around when I was hoping to. we did take a pp advice and took 417 instead of staying on 4, and we hit no real traffic. Without borrowing my parents sunpass that route would be painful, though, with all of those places to stop and pay a toll. According to Waze traffic on I4 was very slow, so with no way to be sure I suspect this was better.

On the way home we left Disney around 11:30 on June 28th and did the same thing, this time we made it to a Hyatt Place in Charlotte-Arrowood, we stopped around 9:30. This was a great place for the price. we left the next morning at 8:30 AM and were back home (after a stop for lunch on 19 in WV and a stop for gas) at about 6:30.

Both of these hotels were a huge step up from what we found just getting off at an exit when we were ready to stop for the night. However, I will also note, we paid a decent amount more for them. But you get what you pay for, these were quite nice and worth paying more than the not so nice ones we stopped at last time (I can't remember which ones, one was a choice hotel and tho other maybe an econolodge?) We also had to have a room that slept 6 this time, so that eliminates most hotels in reality. The not so nice ones were in the $70-ish dollar range best I can remember (my DH thinks one might have been even less), this time we paid around $150 for the Embassy Suites and $100 for the Hyatt Place. But like I said, they were light years better and worth it. Certainly a lot less than any of our Disney resorts lol!

Thanks so much for the advice, particularly about booking a hotel when we were a couple of hours out instead of just stopping and asking, and for using 417 instead of staying on 4. The drive went very well considering we had 2 two year olds, a 6 yr old, and a 9 yr old. I think we will likely make the drive again in the future - my DH doesn't want to fly until the youngest are old enough to need less supervision and when paying for 6 (ouch) we might possibly choose to drive anyway!

 

[BC1836]

Remember: Be aware of I-4 construction and lane changes before you depart from home.

All the best!

 

[patclairesmom]

Hi All! I've been away from this board for a bit! Two years ago we did a straight thru there and back trip. Last 2 trips to the World we flew but each time it was only 2 of us so airfare wasn't that bad. We'll be driving down in December and am looking forward to it. This time we will definitely make a stop, probably in Savannah for the night.

 

[BC1836]

"Operation Southern Shield," a heavily enforced anti-speeder operation, is underway on several FL highways (including I-95) through Sunday.

Don't speed, and get to and from WDW safely.

All the best!

 

[jscunningham699]

"Operation Southern Shield," a heavily enforced anti-speeder operation, is underway on several FL highways (including I-95) through Sunday.

Don't speed, and get to and from WDW safely.

All the best!

This is also happening in GA, SC, NC, AL, and TN I believe so be careful and watch your speed.

 

[rg35]

"Operation Southern Shield"

What an astoundingly hyperbolic name for an anti-speeding campaign.

 

[dvczerfs]

View attachment 418088View attachment 418088
Had to laugh at this one.

 

[buzzmom12]

Good Afternoon, we are driving from s jersey on Friday. Has anyone done that route lately? Looking for any tips. We do plan on passing through dc in the am before rush hour. Any alternatives to staying on 95 the entire way? I believe we went on the richmond bypass last time. Thank you!!

 

[rg35]

Good Afternoon, we are driving from s jersey on Friday. Has anyone done that route lately? Looking for any tips. We do plan on passing through dc in the am before rush hour. Any alternatives to staying on 95 the entire way? I believe we went on the richmond bypass last time. Thank you!!

Have driven from NYC and back 3 times, and again this coming August. We usually leave on Saturdays at 4am, and I haven't found any compelling reason to bypass 95 so far. Maybe it's different on a weekday where you might encounter rush hour traffic near city centers. But we just use Waze and rely on it to re-route us if anything comes up. Avoiding traffic is such a real time process, I don't think it's worth trying to pre-plan anymore since it's possible to get up to the moment traffic status via GPS apps.