Has Anyone drove to the Crystal Coast? (Charlotte, Raleigh: how much, calculated)

[SunnyKayak]

I have some work I need to do in Swansboro, NC and my GPS puts mostly I85 to I40 as the route and it is calculated about a 6 hour trip.
I then started thinking I would hit Greensboro and Raleigh morning commute traffic and not sure how much of delay that would be.

I tried having it find an alternate route and it put hwy 74 to 17 estimate time 7 hours but by looking at a map it looks like I am going further south than needed?

I like to travel kinda in a straight line or I feel like I am going out of my way but going through a bunch of small town downtown stop lights isnt great either. The 40 directions goes way north, and 74 goes way south of the area. Has anyone tried alternative method to go to the Crystal Coast area?

Thanks

[Casey123]

My grandfather has lived in Cape Carteret (just E. of Swansboro) since 1981. We've driven every which way, and below is the best. It's a long drive, and there is no direct route.

US 74 to I-95 N (there is a detour here and you will parallel I-95 for
several miles and enter I-95 at the first traffic light you come to ((also a
McDonalds there)).

You will go north two or three exits to Exit 20, for
Hwy 211 and "To" Hwy 41 (which is what you are looking for). There is also
a McDonalds at that exit. Follow the signs "To" Hwy 41. You will turn left
up 4 or 5 lights onto Hwy 41.

Stay on Hwy 41(forever) through Elizabethtown, White Lake, Harrells, Wallace(crossing I-40) to just past Chinquapin where you will turn right onto Hwy 111 (also Jacksonville Airport Rd). Stay on this until you come to NC Hwy 24(dead-end) and turn right. Stay on this thru the bypass of Jacksonville, past Camp Lejeune, to Swansboro.

[SunnyKayak]

Awesome thanks and the place to stop for quick eat recommindation lol.
Since I cant program a route of my choice in the gps I am here manipulating it to travel via the towns on that route you mention so I can go the directions you suggested .

Thanks

[Casey123]

Plenty of places to eat/stop along 74 East (Laurinburg is last big town before 95) and then of course along the 95 stretch.

Once you turn onto 41 though, it's a LONG, RURAL drive.

But in all our years of driving there, it's the best way to go. Buena Suerte.

[LBIkid]

I've made the drive from Charlotte to Emerald Isle a number of times as we have a good friend who lives out there. We've tried the 74/17 route, I-85 to I-40 and also Albermarle Road/24 route. I can definitively say that although Highway 24 is the most direct, its also the longest because you can rarely get up any speed. I'm partial to the I-85 to I-40 route because its mostly highway and you can generally make good time, although we've never had the displeasure of doing it at rush hour.