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

[BC1836]

Had a pretty smooth ride all the way down. I was hoping to see some leaf color but i was probably about 3 weeks too late. most of the trees were past peak. I did see many of the trees down on the side of the road from the hurrican, just lIke you said. I-4 was moving but SO much construction. I'm sure it will be wonderful when it is complete.

Thanks to everyone for all the great info on this thread. fyi..I am now bronze!

Congratulations on your Bronze level status, which reflects 10,000+ miles of driving!

All the best!

 

[NH-to-FL]

Ah, I-4. The jam up on the north side of Orlando is particularly brutal along the 70s mile markers. Good luck!

We opt to take 417 around Orlando. There are tolls but less traffic. Safe travels!

 

[Tanooki]

Just realized that we're about to get our Silver status! We've done our 9th drive this past summer (about 1500 miles one way) and we're planning the next for March

 

[sharadoc]

HI folks, I did a separate thread on this, but some of you may only read this, the best thread on the DIS, so I thought I'd repost here as well:

Hi all,

We always stay somewhere between Lumberton and Walterboro along 95, in a 2 room suite with a living room and bedroom. I can't seem to find any, all of the rooms seem to have half walls or little dividers rather than a door that closes.

We're bringing my DD's friend and I want to give her privacy - girls in one room, boys on the sofabed, but I am not finding anything. Even the Country Inn and Suites all seem to be regular rooms, or studios with a whirlpool and king bed.

I know for sure we've stayed in Florence numerous times, but can't seem to find anything with a door. Anyone know what's up, am I doing something wrong in Google? I wonder if rooms have been updated and they took out the interior doors??

We found Baymont Inn and Suites in Florence, it's cheap and the recent reviews are horrible. Smells, stains, terrible staff. I don't want to stay there but I can't find an alternative.

Even Santee is a little too far for us on the first day.

 

[disneysteve]

I have a question about the drive so I figured I'd post it here first. We've driven many, many times but our on-road dining is usually limited to the usual fast food suspects, as much as we hate that stuff.

My wife and I are hitting the road on 11/29, however, and we'd like to find a great BBQ place for lunch or dinner somewhere along the route. We've seen billboards for a few along the way but we don't know if they are any good or just tourist traps.

So can any of you recommend some places worth checking out somewhere along 95 between NJ and FL? We'd like to not travel too far off 95 but a few miles is fine. It doesn't need to be right at an exit.

 

[edbo77]

Disneysteve - I posted a reply in your other thread with a suggested place (Lone Star BBQ) in Santee SC. Check out the Yelp reviews, let me know if you do end up going there.

 

[amcnj]

I have a question about the drive so I figured I'd post it here first. We've driven many, many times but our on-road dining is usually limited to the usual fast food suspects, as much as we hate that stuff.

My wife and I are hitting the road on 11/29, however, and we'd like to find a great BBQ place for lunch or dinner somewhere along the route. We've seen billboards for a few along the way but we don't know if they are any good or just tourist traps.

So can any of you recommend some places worth checking out somewhere along 95 between NJ and FL? We'd like to not travel too far off 95 but a few miles is fine. It doesn't need to be right at an exit.

Also look into Dukes Barbecue in Walterboro SC. Not a fancy place, not far off 95, and always seems to have a full house.

 

[sharadoc]

Also look into Dukes Barbecue in Walterboro SC. Not a fancy place, not far off 95, and always seems to have a full house.

Absolutely loved Duke's in Walterboro. Roll of paper towels and loaf of bread on your table, all homemade food. My Dh called it the best meal of the trip!

We're staying in Santee this time, we may try that Lone Star place!

We also had a great meal at a diner in Kingsland GA but it was about a 20 minute drive off 95, which was kind of a wasted time back and forth so I won't recommend it.

We had a terrible meal at a local chain of Bar-B-Que joints too. My advice, check the bathroom of any local place. If we had gone in there first instead of after our meal, we would have ran screaming in terror at the horror and lack of cleanliness. My poor DD was up all night puking from that dinner and the rest of us were not so great.

 

[sharadoc]

Every time I look at my route trying to decide straight 95 or 81, I see nothing but traffic incidents on Google Maps. There's more yellow !! than road visible. Is this construction, leftover hurricane damage, or now normal? I don't know what to do now? IT doesn't even seem to matter what time of day I look.

 

[Liisa1965]

HI folks, I did a separate thread on this, but some of you may only read this, the best thread on the DIS, so I thought I'd repost here as well:

Hi all,

We always stay somewhere between Lumberton and Walterboro along 95, in a 2 room suite with a living room and bedroom. I can't seem to find any, all of the rooms seem to have half walls or little dividers rather than a door that closes.

We're bringing my DD's friend and I want to give her privacy - girls in one room, boys on the sofabed, but I am not finding anything. Even the Country Inn and Suites all seem to be regular rooms, or studios with a whirlpool and king bed.

I know for sure we've stayed in Florence numerous times, but can't seem to find anything with a door. Anyone know what's up, am I doing something wrong in Google? I wonder if rooms have been updated and they took out the interior doors??

We found Baymont Inn and Suites in Florence, it's cheap and the recent reviews are horrible. Smells, stains, terrible staff. I don't want to stay there but I can't find an alternative.

Even Santee is a little too far for us on the first day.

Is there a Residence Inn in that area? They usually have some one or two-bedroom suites.

 

[justreading]

Every time I look at my route trying to decide straight 95 or 81, I see nothing but traffic incidents on Google Maps. There's more yellow !! than road visible. Is this construction, leftover hurricane damage, or now normal? I don't know what to do now? IT doesn't even seem to matter what time of day I look.

I just returned from a wonderful trip to WDW. I took 81/77/26/95 down and had absolutely no problems at all. This route adds about 1 hour to my total travel time. (Found a lovely Hampton Inn in Jonesville, NC.) I took 95 all the way home and that was a BIG mistake! I decided after sitting in hours of traffic from Richmond past Baltimore that I'm taking 26/77/81 home from now on. I'd rather drive an extra hour than sit in the kind of traffic I experienced on Sunday. I don't know how far up the traffic lasted because I pulled off the road for the night! You could see tree damage on the side of the road from the hurricane in SC & NC, but the road was completely repaired traveling northbound. Hope this helps you.

Just my humble opinion...others may feel differently.

 

[BC1836]

I just returned from a wonderful trip to WDW. I took 81/77/26/95 down and had absolutely no problems at all. This route adds about 1 hour to my total travel time. (Found a lovely Hampton Inn in Jonesville, NC.) I took 95 all the way home and that was a BIG mistake! I decided after sitting in hours of traffic from Richmond past Baltimore that I'm taking 26/77/81 home from now on. I'd rather drive an extra hour than sit in the kind of traffic I experienced on Sunday. I don't know how far up the traffic lasted because I pulled off the road for the night! You could see tree damage on the side of the road from the hurricane in SC & NC, but the road was completely repaired traveling northbound. Hope this helps you.

Just my humble opinion...others may feel differently.

Thanks for your report!

Sundays are always brutal on I-95 along the Richmond-Baltimore link. Our Sunday departures from WDW end somewhere in VA, but nothing north of mm 108, on our first night of a two-day return drive. Monday has plenty of traffic on I-95, but rarely have we experienced any stop and go situations. Of course, during football season, I-95 gets extra nasty with certain college Saturdays, and watch out for Sundays when the Jags and Ravens play home games.

All the best!

 

[dvczerfs]

Every time I look at my route trying to decide straight 95 or 81, I see nothing but traffic incidents on Google Maps. There's more yellow !! than road visible. Is this construction, leftover hurricane damage, or now normal? I don't know what to do now? IT doesn't even seem to matter what time of day I look.

Your probably better going i95, you know when and when not to hit certain areas. If you do decide on 81/77/26, keep an eye on the weather, it's getting cold out and it gets a lot colder up in them mountains.
Rain on the bottom of the mountain, snow and ice on the top.
I most likely am taking 81/66/17/95 in March. I'll hit Richmond late at night and it keeps me away from Philly, Balt. and D.C.

 

[kittylady1972]

Really is there EVER a good time for 95 in Northern Virginia (North of Richmond all the way to the DC Beltway) because I've lived in MD all my life and I still dread driving that stretch of 95 north or south!

Yet here we are a few days away from our trip...and we'll be on the road at 4am if my DH gets his way just to make sure we are hitting 95 South in Virginia by 5am and through the Northern VA parts of 95S by 6:30am. Kids and I aren't happy about that start time, but we know we'll be happy when we are in Florida by dinnertime Friday!

Sunday traffic is always the worst, so we are hoping to be heading home on the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. I'm still trying to talk DH to spending Friday at the parks, then hitting the road by dinnertime and driving as far as we can and then stopping overnight one night before continuing Saturday morning. We'll see how that works out.

 

[amcnj]

I just returned from a wonderful trip to WDW. I took 81/77/26/95 down and had absolutely no problems at all. This route adds about 1 hour to my total travel time. (Found a lovely Hampton Inn in Jonesville, NC.) I took 95 all the way home and that was a BIG mistake! I decided after sitting in hours of traffic from Richmond past Baltimore that I'm taking 26/77/81 home from now on. I'd rather drive an extra hour than sit in the kind of traffic I experienced on Sunday. I don't know how far up the traffic lasted because I pulled off the road for the night! You could see tree damage on the side of the road from the hurricane in SC & NC, but the road was completely repaired traveling northbound. Hope this helps you.

Just my humble opinion...others may feel differently.

What time on Sunday were you hitting that traffic from Richmond to beyond Baltimore?

Thanks!

 

[sharadoc]

Really is there EVER a good time for 95 in Northern Virginia (North of Richmond all the way to the DC Beltway) because I've lived in MD all my life and I still dread driving that stretch of 95 north or south!

Yet here we are a few days away from our trip...and we'll be on the road at 4am if my DH gets his way just to make sure we are hitting 95 South in Virginia by 5am and through the Northern VA parts of 95S by 6:30am. Kids and I aren't happy about that start time, but we know we'll be happy when we are in Florida by dinnertime Friday!

Sunday traffic is always the worst, so we are hoping to be heading home on the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. I'm still trying to talk DH to spending Friday at the parks, then hitting the road by dinnertime and driving as far as we can and then stopping overnight one night before continuing Saturday morning. We'll see how that works out.

What about 11-11:30 AM? That's when we may hit it on Thursday.

 

[justreading]

What time on Sunday were you hitting that traffic from Richmond to beyond Baltimore?

Thanks!

It was in the afternoon, between 1:00 and 6:00.

 

[amcnj]

It was in the afternoon, between 1:00 and 6:00.

OK, thanks! So if you are hitting Richmond 6 PM or later on a Sunday, you think then you'd be OK?

 

[justreading]

OK, thanks! So if you are hitting Richmond 6 PM or later on a Sunday, you think then you'd be OK?

You know, I usually drive on weekdays. this was my first weekend trip so I'm not the best person to give you advice.
BC1836, can you help Amcnj?

 

[cranbiz]

Just go around Richmond. I295 is only slightly longer and almost always faster. No Highway Safety Corridor either.