Ok a bit about us. We are a family who enjoy the drive down to Florida. For the last 4 years we have had to drop of our dog at my parents house in Niagara so it only made sense to go thru Buffalo and down to the I95.
This year we have a neighbour watching the dog so we can make a choice and drive thru Detroit instead and head down the I75.
Going down the I75 will add about 200 kms to our trip but the thought of seeing some different scenery might make this worth while. We love the adventure of seeing new sights and cities as well as finding awesome local food locations on the way down.
Also if the speed limits are higher the extra 200kms would not be much more in time if I can go faster.
I need opinions,
1. which trip is more scienic?
2. how bout road conditions in case of weather?
3. food choices?
any thing you think of that could help make this call....
Thanks
Okay, I could write a book here!
Hubby and I drive down to Florida at least twice a year; in fact, we are currently getting ready for our late January getaway, returning in March.
This is what we do: up until a day or two before we leave, we keep our options completely OPEN. We base our route decision on the weather reports for the various interstates; here's the link:
http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/interstate/index.html
This site has been
very valuable for us. When you choose an interstate, you can then click on each city, and see the forecast. Starting about 10 days away from our scheduled day to leave, we keep a close eye on the places where we would be driving through on Day One.
Now, having said that, most of the time we take I-75 down, but we rarely take it coming home. On the trip back, we typically drive I-77/I-79. When we leave Florida, we always go up I-95 to Savannah GA, where we spend the night and enjoy a great seafood dinner (wild Georgia shrimp are amazing!). Then we head to Charlotte NC the next day for lunch, then continue northward and spend the night in West Virginia. We then head for Buffalo and spend the night there, then get up in the morning, do our grocery shopping, then cross the border and head home.
(Edited to add: we know we could do this faster, and at times we have; however, we prefer to do it this way, knowing we have time for any off-interstate adventures that beckon......)
So, back to the trip down. Heading south on I-75, you have a couple of options; we have done them all. Firstly, you can stay on I-75 all the way to Florida, then, depending on where you're staying, either stay on I-75 or take I-10 east over to I-95 (we stay in the Cocoa Beach area, so this is what we do).
You don't have to do that, though, especially if you want to end up on I-95. At Knoxville TN, you can head west on I-40 over to Asheville NC, then head south on I-26 until you get to I-95. Or, stay on I-75 until you get to Macon GA, then take I-16 east over to I-95 (if you keep going on I-16 and go past I-95, you'll go straight into Savannah). Since hubby and I often spend three or four nights in Savannah before we head on down into Florida, this is what we have done several times. This past January, we spent the night in Macon and then instead of going east on I-16, we instead took US-80 across Georgia, from Macon to Savannah. It was a great drive.
We have done the drive down in January many times, and our experience is that the most questionable day for driving, weather wise, is Day One. We leave very early in the morning and by the time we stop for the night on Day One, we are usually south of anywhere that would have very bad weather. Of course, this isn't carved in stone, so that is why we watch the weather reports with an eagle eye before we go.
I-75 has some scenic moments in Kentucky and Tennessee but, mostly, it is definitely NOT a trip to take for scenery.
I STRONGLY recommend the Along I-75 book by Dave Hunter, as suggested by the previous poster. It is a WONDERFUL book and invaluable for the trip.
As for food choices, I will respond back later with that. We have many places marked now as "favorites" in our GPS, so I'll need hubby to get that out.
Well, I see I've blathered on here long enough. Have fun on your trip---hubby and I are road trip aficionados and we always enjoy our trips down and back!
We are planning to make Cinci the first night and the do a quick side trip to the aquarium there. It looks real cool online and it will break up the drive a little for the kids.
