We've driven from MD 4 times in the last 2 years using I 95. We usually took 2 nights to stop over as we weren't in any hurry. The time we took one night to stop over it was in Santee, SC and we stayed at a Hampton Inn. It was very nice, new, and had a great free breakfast buffet. The buffet was the best we had ever had for a freebie offered at any hotel! There was a small outdoor pool and work out room. We have never run into any nasty reststops on 95 to WDW. I traveled with my mom, in her 60s, my DD, 4, and myself and we always felt safe at the reststops. We stay on 301 coming from MD until we pass DC. Once we pass DC we get onto 95. You want to avoid 95 around DC at all times and all costs! It is always rush hour and always a mess. We only took the bypass around Jacksonville once and it was a waste of time. It would depend on when you are in Jacksonville and whether it is rush hour. We found we were always in the area around 2pm and didn't need to avoid it so we drive right through staying on 95. Because it is just us girls we make good use of the Cracker Barrels along the route. Where else can we eat and get a shopping fix all at once! LOL! Good food and a great diversion. I suggest you take a look at the I95 travel info website for further info on construction, hotel reviews, and good places to stop, rest, and eat. It has a lot of useful info in it. We also purchased their book as it lists all the rest stop on 95 along with hotels and food places. It made it much easier to decide whether to eat at one stop or wait for something better as we could see what was coming up. That site is USAStar.com/i95/homepage.htm. Hope that helps!
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