Who drives from New England?

[darthspud]

I live in Massachusetts (chelmsford to be exact) and will be driving down solo in June for my first tent camping (solo) trip to the fort!... I've never driven to florida before but have made several other solo road trips... I plan on taking my time driving down 2 days at the least... Can any one suggest a nice route and a nice place to stop over night (campground or hotel)... also... What kind of gas stations are along the route mostly.. the plan is to save up for the trip by buying gas cards... I love to know if there are Sam's clubs along the way (they by far always have the cheapest gas) are there mostly mobile? flying J's? Shell?

any insight will help me plan!!

Thanks!

 

[wrongagain]

We are about a 1/2 hour south of you.
I basically follow a truck routing gps due to the size of the vehicle, but for the most part it is I95 the whole way.
Watch out for N.Y. and D.C. area during rush hour.
Again due to the size of the vehicle I usually stop at truck stops "Flying J".
Flying J is also where we stop for any resting that needs to be done.
Get a fast pass or a lot of change for the tolls.
The GPS says its about 1260 miles, so if you are like me, the only person driving, it is a long couple days.

 

[BradyBz12]

We're very close to you - just over the line in NH. We pull the TT down to WDW in Nov/Dec. We go 1 of 2 routes depending on what time we're leaving and if we're trying to avoid NYC.

1) Slightly longer, avoid NYC way...
495 to MA Pike to 84 thru CT to NY
87 to Garden State Pkwy to NJ Turnpike to 95 pretty much all the way to FL (taking the beltways around DC and Baltimore)

2) More direct way...
495 to MA Pike to 84
Pickup 91 @ Hartford, follow to 95 all the way to FL (taking the beltways around DC and Baltimore)

You actually won't have to worry about the Baltimore beltway if you're in a car only (they don't allow TTs with propane through the tunnels)

We usually only stop for nap breaks at Walmarts or the better lit/patrolled rest areas (where allowed), but I'm sure other folks will have campground suggestions.

You might want to pick up the book The Next Exit to map out gas stops, Sam's clubs, etc. It's a great book and gives you tons of info.

Safe travels!!

 

[motherwild]

Watch out for N.Y. and D.C. area during rush hour.

Get a fast pass or a lot of change for the tolls.
QUOTE]

Ezpass is the way to go. Wehave saved a lot of time not waiting to pay tolls. NJ turnpike usually has the lowest prices for gas. There are site on line with gas prices for different area. Flying J also post the prices on the website. We travel in a MH and spend a night or two at Flying J depending on what time we get on the road.

 

[JennMouse32]

Good place to stop and rest.. and have a little fun is a place called South of the Border.. just past the borders between North Carolina and South Carolina.. I've made teh trip befor from Syracuse NY to Disney..​

 

[darthspud]

Good place to stop and rest.. and have a little fun is a place called South of the Border.. just past the borders between North Carolina and South Carolina.. I've made teh trip befor from Syracuse NY to Disney..​

Is that the place that has a sign "Chili today hot tomale"? I think I remember that place... when we were little (me and my brothers) we drove to florida and always stayed at the cabins at FW but of course the last time we did that I was probably like 12 and so its been a long long time..

I do have an EZ Pass... I drive to KY and at least once a summer (my brother, sister in law and niece and nephew live there) so I always take the route around NYC

 

[BradyBz12]

Is that the place that has a sign "Chili today hot tomale"?

Yup! That's one of the zillions of billboards for the place that start something like 100 miles away.

 

[VW camper Dan]

I've driven it from Syracuse (waves to Jenn) via I-95, 1st stop was Richmond (have family there) then Savannah, GA (nice campground is Skidaway S.P) then to WDW. did this in our classic 1980 VW Camper

we're going back to the Fort the 1st week of May 2010 with about 10 VW campers as a group. but this time were taking the atlantic seashore the whole way down. and the Autotrain from Orlando to DC on the way back (may be a decent solo option too)

youc an see our route here: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=e...5872255365233015125.0004482c833a41bbeeba4&z=5
and our basic itinerary: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4370951#4370951

I'm fairly excited about Jekyll island, GA and well everywhere else along the way.

Dan from Syracuse, NY
VW Club of Central NY
www.vwccny.com

 

[disney4dan]

Several years ago someone on this board (I can't remember at the moment) gave us the heads up to try Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina as a nice diversion on the way down.

We fell in love with the place and were glad we had the two nights there. It was pretty hot on the beach in August, but the sites were fairly well shaded and they had electricity so we could run the AC at night. Lots of deer and other wildlife in the CG at night.

We prefer to take a more scenic drive and go south along Rte 81 through VA. Check out the difference in total miles and you will find it is not that much more, and provides some fantastic scenery along the way. Plus I avoid driving around NYC area as much as I can.

 

[dale62676]

On our family trips in our RV to the Fort from Mass (Brockton), we would leave around midnight, miss NYC traffic completely, then after the NJ turnpike, stay on Route 1 into Delaware, going onto 301 into Maryland and picking I-95 again a little north of Richmond VA (where there's a nice campground at King's Dominion), missing Baltimore and DC traffic as well. I hear 301 is a lot more built up these days around Annapolis MD, so maybe the time we saved before may not be the case anymore.
And we would pull into South of the Border too!

 

[disneylovin24]

We drive down from the NYC area every year. We started driving due tocosts but now we just do it because we love the drive so much, it's fun and you get to see a lot.

We like to take I81 to I77 going down, then we go back over to 95 in South Carolina. 95 is just a lot of flat land and you hit traffic in D.C., Baltimore, and Richmond. I81 and I77 are great because you never hit traffic and the views in the mountains are beautiful. It adds an extra 60 miles to the trip, but when you consider the time you would be sitting in traffic on 95, it's about the same.

We love to stop at Flying J's for gas. The bathrooms are clean, the quick shops are nice, and the gas is cheap.

 

[disneylovin24]

On our family trips in our RV to the Fort from Mass (Brockton), we would leave around midnight, miss NYC traffic completely, then after the NJ turnpike, stay on Route 1 into Delaware, going onto 301 into Maryland and picking I-95 again a little north of Richmond VA (where there's a nice campground at King's Dominion), missing Baltimore and DC traffic as well. I hear 301 is a lot more built up these days around Annapolis MD, so maybe the time we saved before may not be the case anymore.
And we would pull into South of the Border too!

We took 301 5 or 6 years ago and it was horrible. There were so many stop lights we figured out it took us 2 hours longer to go this way then 95.

 

[JennMouse32]

Is that the place that has a sign "Chili today hot tomale"? I think I remember that place... when we were little (me and my brothers) we drove to florida and always stayed at the cabins at FW but of course the last time we did that I was probably like 12 and so its been a long long time..

I do have an EZ Pass... I drive to KY and at least once a summer (my brother, sister in law and niece and nephew live there) so I always take the route around NYC

Yes that would be South of the Border.. its still a fun place.. lol​

 

[JennMouse32]

*waves back to Dan* a fellow orangemen... nice to know there are others out there

 

[northern camper]

From southern Nh. I take 3s - I495s - I90w - I84w I684w - I287 tappanzee bridge -garden state parkway - jersey turn pike - I95. Then just before Jackson ville fl. I take 301s(watch speed on 301) - I75s - I4, It avoids most of the I4 Orlando mess. I leave about 6:30 pm and am through Dc. before morning commute. I just hate the bigger city traffic.

 

[Mickey'sPal]

Hi neighbor, we're from Haverhill.

We'll be leaving this Thursday for our second drive down.

We take 495s to 90w to 84w to 91s to 95s.

EZ Pass is a plus.

Good luck!

 

[shoreline99]

We're in NYC Metro area. Take 95s. Pick up an EZ Pass.

South of the Border, while cute and Kitschy, was totally run down when we stopped there last year - the original owner passed away and a lot of the area seemed closed and in need of maintenance. Just my $.02.

We stayed overnight in Brunswick, Georgia - lots of hotels, cheap rates, only a couple of hours to Orlando area in the AM.

We also hit up the Winn-Dixie outside the park for supplies, but there are entire threads on here about where to stop and what to bring.

Have a great trip!