Please help, anyone familiar w/ MD

[Jacksmom99]

Please help me!!! DH wants to change our travel plans. Instead of leaving MA at 3am Thurs. and traveling to Lumberton, NC the first night, DH now wants to leave at 3PM and drive as far as Aberdeen, MD or something else in MD. Then, drive 16 hours to Orlando the next day arriving around 10pm or so on Friday.

My questions are, what are good hotels in the area? We are trying to find things under $75 that are safe and clean. The next question, has anyone done the drive to Orlando straight through from MD? How long does it take?

I thought my plans were all set , but DH doesn't want to waste a vacation day or me to loose an additional day of summer school (I get paid per diem, so it's a sizeable hit). Any info would be greatly appreciated, since I'm now stressing out. I should add that I would like to be in Orlando on Friday since we are meeting my whole family on Sat morning who are taking a 6:30am flight out of Boston.

Thanks,
Kim

 

[kandmwedding]

I live in Maryland, and would suggest stopping in Hanover, Maryland. It's convenient to I-95 (which I would assume would be what you're driving on) and has lots of good places to eat in the area (I assume you'd be hungry). Go to hotellocators.com and search for hotels in Hanover, MD (the zip code is 21076 if that helps). If you have questions about any specific hotels let me know, I may be able to help. My email is kandmwedding@hotmail.com And the drive from here to Disney is probably about 13 to 15 hours depending on speed and traffic.

 

[Jacksmom99]

Thanks for the info. If I need any help I will let you know, I'd love it to only take 13hours to get to WDW!!!!

Thanks!

 

[madhouserobey]

in nov 2003 from dtd to home was a 14hrs and 15 mins.stop for gas in daytona another stop for gas and drive thur dinner in nc. that's doing about 75-80 mph.

 

[kandmwedding]

Sykesville is about 1/2 hour north of Hanover, so my guesstimate was pretty close I think. It's really an easy drive from here too - a straight shot on I-95 all the way down. And by the time you get to Hanover you'll have missed all the Baltimore traffic, but will still hit the DC traffic, so you'll want to plan your departure around rush hour. Good luck!!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Your speed, # of rest stops, and traffic all help determine how long it will take. From just N. of Baltimore (when we used to drive down in one day--we don't try that anymore) it took about 16 hours. That's not pushing any speed limits and includes several rest/gas/breakfast stops along the way.
And as kandmwedding says, be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you leave so as to miss DC rush hour traffic!!!
And Aberdeen is N. of Baltimore, so if you stop there you'll battle the Baltimore rush hour traffic next morning--and that's no fun at all. So it would be nice if you could get just S. of Baltimore that first nite---.

 

[DaveH]

The DC rush hour is several hours long. On Fridays the locals of Metro DC are heading out of town also. The traffic will just build all day long here. I saw one poster here talking about at 7:30AM the very long traffic back up going into DC northbound on I95. You will need to get a very early start out of Maryland to get past this stuff. We live by Dulles Airport which is west of DC and outside the beltway. We are in an area that is considered light traffic for here. I4 seems like it is moving real fast compare to here. Just make sure and leave early enough to get south of DC before our rush gets started.

 

[Jacksmom99]

Thanks for all the replies! I sent a good deal of time on the web last night looking for hotel rooms. I thought I'd run a few by you guys since you all are more familiar with the area than I am.

Edgewood, MD: Best Western, Confort Inn, Sleep Inn
Jessup/Columbia: Red Roof Inn
Hanover: Red Roof Inn BWI Pkwy
Laurel: Red Roof Inn, Best Western Maryland Inn

Any thoughts or input on any of these locations or hotels will be greatly appreciated! Also, if we leave any of these areas by 6am and drive to the "left" around DC, are we going to be OK? I was really pushing DH to try to get to Alexandria, VA the first night, but he has his doubts about getting that far.

Thanks for all your help!
Kim

 

[madhouserobey]

at 6am in dc you will be in rush hour going around 495/95. just an example i live about a half hour from 95 an work in dc .if i leave my house by4:45 am i can make it to the m and 11 st s.e. in one hour and 5 to 10 mins. if i leave at 5 am it take a good hour and 30 mins as you can see by this rush hour in dc usually starts by5 am and goes until at least 10 am .tell your dh you should not stop until at least fredricksburg va.this would put you past balt and dc traffic. the only city that would have some morning traffic is richmond and to get away from that use the richmond bypass

 

[mdlinda1]

I live in northern MD and I would suggest the closer you get to DC the better off you are, because you are not just getting past DC in the morning but also northern VA. I believe from the motels you have listed Hanover might be the closest.

 

[Madhatter266]

I live east of Edgewood/Aberdeen, and whenever I have to go to the northern Virgiinia area in the morning I make sure that I am across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (95/495) no later than 7:00 AM. This would be going "left" on 95. The 'bridge" can be a bottleneck for little or no reason, let alone if there is construction or an accident. If you did plan to stay in Edgewood, I would leave a little bit earlier than 6-maybe 5:30. All of the hotels/motels that you mentioned, in Edgewood, are right off the 95 exit. If you don't want to leave that early in the AM, you might want to try one of the ones that you mentioned that "more south."

 

[Jacksmom99]

We decided on the Best Western in Laurel, and hope to leave the next morning at 6am. Any thoughts on this area? It seemed the furthest south of all my choices. I did try to convince DH to go as far as Alexandria, but he's still not sure we could make it that far. And as he does most of the driving, I really can't argue Anyone know if DC traffic any worse than Boston and the Big Dig?

Thanks again for all the help!
Kim

 

[kandmwedding]

Laurel is a typical mid-sized city. Near you you'll find several dining options (always a plus in my book). The Best Western is close to 95, without being close to tons of traffic (also a plus I think). If you leave at 6am you should have no problem getting past DC before the rush hour. Good choice!!

 

[Jacksmom99]

Thanks again for all the help! You have put my mind at ease....now to find something else to plan!

 

[Uncleromulus]

I'd leave at 5:00 AM at the latest. Rush hour is well underway at 6:00 am.

 

[DaveH]

Originally posted by Jacksmom99
Anyone know if DC traffic any worse than Boston and the Big Dig?

Thanks again for all the help!
Kim

DC is usually ranked number 2 in traffic congestion behind LA.

 

[clutter]

I'd go the extra hour (less, really) and see if you can grab a room in Bethesda or Tysons Corner or Fairfax VA. (Look for ones along route 50.) You'll pay more, but it'll be well worth it to get past the worst of the bottle necks in the morning. I don't know what you mean by left or right side, but you want to take the western route of the beltway. But that's one of the more congested places in the morning. If you get past Silver Spring, you'll be ok starting off at 6am.