Where do most people stop when driving?

[Euby]

I will have to respectfully disagree with those that do not book a room in advance as an overnight during their roadtrip. Several years ago, my sister, niece, and I were driving down from Nashville and didn't book a room ahead of time. We had been driving awhile and really started getting tired around Gainesville. This was when cell phones were phones (and not mini-computers). We tried finding hotel rooms at a few exits, but there was either no vacancy or they were charging $300 for a night at a one-star non-chain hotel. Turns out we were there while Gatornationals were going on. "The Gatornationals is an annual National Hot Rod Association national drag racing event held each March at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida. The event is one of the sport's most revered with a rich tradition of history-making performances." We finally found a place and booked the last room they had. A family walked in after us and were turned away. The place wasn't filthy, but it definitely wasn't clean. We got settled and while my sister was in the bathroom area, I started channel surfing to kill some time. They had the usual movie channels, plus the Playboy channel (unscrambled) which was a big shock. I told my sister about it when she came out of the bathroom. She immediately blocked the door with a chair. We were on the ground floor, and I think she thought the hotel may have been a "meeting place" if you get my meaning. We left very early in the morning.

Years later, this has become a "remember that time..." story. However, now I always book a room ahead of time for my overnight stop (usually in Valdosta when driving to Disney). If you decide not to book a room ahead of time, do some research and make sure that where you may be driving through doesn't have some sort of large event going on.

 

[LadyBeBop]

If you decide not to book a room ahead of time, do some research and make sure that where you may be driving through doesn't have some sort of large event going on.

It doesn't have to be in the town you're driving through. Once, we had a whale of a time finding a room in Lake City on a Saturday night in October. It seems that Florida State was playing a home game in Tallahassee, and fans were booking rooms within 100 mile radius of the game. We ended up at a Days Inn off I-10, well off the beaten path.

 

[sam_gordon]

All it takes is one HS sports tournament or a bad accident closing a highway to derail that plan and leave you stuck with no choice but someplace sketchy and grubby when you just can't drive any further.

But that same bad accident could prevent you from getting to your scheduled stop. And, from what I remember (in regards to your "book 2-3 hotels" idea), if you want to have a "late check in", you need to pay for the room in advance. And "late check in" I think starts at 6p. So, if you're ready to stop by 6, more power to you. But I don't want to pay for a room that I might not be able to use, and I don't want to pay for a room and stop before I'm ready.

Several years ago, my sister, niece, and I were driving down from Nashville and didn't book a room ahead of time. We had been driving awhile and really started getting tired around Gainesville. This was when cell phones were phones (and not mini-computers). We tried finding hotel rooms at a few exits, but there was either no vacancy or they were charging $300 for a night at a one-star non-chain hotel. Turns out we were there while Gatornationals were going on.

Having small, internet computers in our back pockets or purses definitely changes things. Assuming you have another person in the car, they can look up hotels, reviews, prices, etc while you're still driving.

If you decide not to book a room ahead of time, do some research and make sure that where you may be driving through doesn't have some sort of large event going on.

This is a good idea.

I've told this story before... I had to pick up a truck for work in San Antonio and drive it back to Kentucky. I got a MUCH later start than I had planned (by like 3-4 hours at least). Then I hit construction. I think the signs said "Construction Next 15 Miles" or something like that. It was obvious it was going to take a while, and it was already 9-10p. I started looking for a hotel, but since I was solo, I couldn't look things up myself and was forced to just stopping at hotels. I got the last room at a hotel and found out it was move in weekend for Baylor. So most rooms were booked. I had planned on being 4+ hours more down the road, but circumstances changed.

 

[piglet1979]

We have driven down to Florida (4 WDW and 1 Disney Cruise). We are from Ohio so we take 77 most of the way. Our first drive down our kids were 4 and almost 6. The first 3 trips we drove the 20ish hours straight through there and back. Kids had the kids type tablets/hand held games (Leap Frog and Moobigos). I also packed coloring books and crayons (every stop I made sure all the crayons were put away and not out to melt). We also brought a labtop that played movies for the kids. They alternated who picked the movie. After the first trip they either had their own portable DVD player or we had one in the car. We also stopped often for bathroom breaks and to stretch but never stayed long. DD did most of the driving. He would sleep then the rest of the day at Disney. So the first day was always a resort day for the kids and I.

On our 4th drive down we started stopping at Kingslnd, GA. It is the last exit before Florida. It was a nice area and left only a few hours the next day to drive. The first trip we did not book anything a head of time. We did the second time. We liked the hotel we stayed at the first time. We still drove straight thru going home on the 4 trip.

The 5th trip the plan was to drive to my dad's in Marietta, Ohio and stay the night. Plans got changed when I spilled a hot cup of water from Wendy's on me and burnt my leg and fingers on both hands. We made a detour to the ER and a pharmacy and that took a lot of time. Plus I was just in a lot of pain from the burns and very uncomfortable in the car. We decided to stop around Beckley, WVA but there were no hotels with rooms in the area. So we ended up on a different highway (not 77) to find a place to stay. At that area only 1 hotel had rooms. It was a disgusting hotel and we couldn't wait to get out. We left super early. We even made it to my dad's by like 8am for breakfast.

If you don't book a hotel before hand just know that you may not be able to find one where you want to stop. It worked out for us once but did not another time. With kids have activities for them to do. Also, leaving at night/early morning worked for us. We would leave at about 3am. I would keep the kids up late the night before while DH went to bed super early. Kids then slept a good portion on the morning drive.

 

[Spaceace5150]

Will you be on I-75 for a long portion? If so, you need this book: https://www.i75online.com/I75BookInfo.html

Maps are very helpful and tells you what is at each exit, and time between exits... lots of interesting information as well!

 

[NotUrsula]

But that same bad accident could prevent you from getting to your scheduled stop. And, from what I remember (in regards to your "book 2-3 hotels" idea), if you want to have a "late check in", you need to pay for the room in advance. And "late check in" I think starts at 6p. So, if you're ready to stop by 6, more power to you. But I don't want to pay for a room that I might not be able to use, and I don't want to pay for a room and stop before I'm ready.

In my experience, if you're trying to drive a long way, you're going to try to start pretty early; and most of the time you'll know by 6pm how much you have left in you, so canceling the ones you know you won't make it to by 6 pm seems reasonable to me. Then you can call the one you are aiming for and ask them to hold it for late arrival; sure, you may have to pay for that if late is really late, but presumably by that time of the evening you're either IN any evening rush hour you will encounter, or past it, making it much lower risk by then; that possible accident notwithstanding. (The point in case of accident is that everyone else around you gets their trip interrupted and starts looking for a room as well, she who already has a room booked is ahead of the game.)

Having small, internet computers in our back pockets or purses definitely changes things. Assuming you have another person in the car, they can look up hotels, reviews, prices, etc while you're still driving.

Which I agree is great, but which will not make any real difference if every hotel in a 150 mile radius has been booked up for weeks because of a special event. When people check on events in a given area, they seldom think to check how large a radius the lodging shortage might hit. I have had several situations with family members coming to visit me in August who ended up in this situation around Memphis, TN, which is halfway between where I grew up and where I live. If you look at the Memphis Convention & Visitors bureau calendar for August, you won't see much, but from about August 6th to August 17th, the Elvis pilgrims come to town to commemorate his death, and they fill every hotel and campground around, and then some, all the way up to Blytheville, Ark. If you're driving north on I-55, there is a REALLY long stretch after Blytheville before you reach Sikeston, MO, which is the next place of any size; it's nearly 3 hours north of Memphis; if you're going South, your next best option after the Memphis suburbs is Jackson, again, about 3 hours (yes, Tunica fills up, too; the casinos all do Elvis tribute acts for the pilgrims.) I had warned them about Elvis Week in Memphis, but they didn't believe that hotels further out in the suburbs would be full as well. That's just an example, but it shows the risk.

 

[Her Dotness]

The above about special events filling hotels within a huge radius can be very true.

You may also get caught in horrid traffic jams. It once took us almost two hours more to get from WDW to Atlanta because there was a college football game in one of the towns along 75.

We crawled in 25-35 mph traffic for miles until cars began turning off. No idea what was going on until I guessed hmmm-Saturday-November-noonish. Had to be a football game starting soon. Googled, and sure enough.

Yes, booking somewhere is definitely wise in Southern states in the fall.