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We are driving down Friday from NJ to check out Union County. We are thinking of stopping half way down to spend the night. 10 hours with a 5 & 8 year old is going to be hard in the car! Any suggestions on where to stop for the night? Thanks!
Before we moved, we made several trips down from CT. Our halfway point was always VA, but then we had family there. It took us 6.5 hours to drive from Hartford, CT to Manassas, VA with only a couple of pit stops. Sorry I can't be more specific as to accomodations...just wanted to give you a timeframe.
We are driving down Friday from NJ to check out Union County. We are thinking of stopping half way down to spend the night. 10 hours with a 5 & 8 year old is going to be hard in the car! Any suggestions on where to stop for the night? Thanks!
If you are coming down from Northern NJ, I used to do it the following way.
1. I'd take Route 80 to Route 287 South
2. Stay on 287S until you get to the exit onto 78 West.
3. 78 West will take you into PA. Continue to Harrisburg until you can get onto 81 South.
4. 81 South will lead out of PA into Maryland for just a few miles and into West Virginia. You'll only be in West Virginia for 10-15 mile and you'll then enter Virginia.
5. Virginia is the "long haul" part of the journey and you'll be on 81 for just about 300 miles. Somewhere along this leg, is probably where you would make a decision to stop for the night. There are many small and medium-sized towns along this stretch that have the typical low to mid-priced motels and hotels that would be suitable for your family.
6. Next day, continue down 81 South until you get to 77 South. It is slightly north of the NC border and continues past the Charlotte area into SC.
7. Get off 77 South and onto 485. Look for the Pineville exit and you can stay on that until you see the signs for Monroe and Rte 74 (a main drag).
*These are just general directions. The nice thing about going this way as opposed to the more "easterly" route, is that you save a lot on tolls. You only pay one toll (NJ into PA) and that's it! Lodging will be cheaper also than coming down the "eastern" side. Hope this helps!!
I drove down from Bergen County last friday with a 2 & 1 yr old! We stopped in VA (6.5 hrs) at a relatives house. May I suggest leaving after dinner, around their bedtime! They slept the entire way - which meant we only took 1 refueling stop. We then left VA overnight and made it to Charlotte in 5.5 hrs - again - they slept the whole way. I think we would have all gone nuts if we did that drive during the day!
I drove down from Bergen County last friday with a 2 & 1 yr old! We stopped in VA (6.5 hrs) at a relatives house. May I suggest leaving after dinner, around their bedtime! They slept the entire way - which meant we only took 1 refueling stop. We then left VA overnight and made it to Charlotte in 5.5 hrs - again - they slept the whole way. I think we would have all gone nuts if we did that drive during the day!
dknj - That seems like a great idea if you have young children! I was always coming down by myself and if I took a long lunch, the drive was always closer to 12 hours than 10. You can make it in 10 if you or your significant other drives like "Chief Lead Foot", but I wouldn't reccomend it!
We are driving down Friday from NJ to check out Union County. We are thinking of stopping half way down to spend the night. 10 hours with a 5 & 8 year old is going to be hard in the car! Any suggestions on where to stop for the night? Thanks!
???We made this drive straight through with a 2 year old and an 8 year old. If you just stop for meals and break up the driving it isn't bad with kids. Do you have a DVD player? That really helps the kids, along with some new toys etc. But really it isn't hard at all. In any case if you do decide to stop half way then VA is usually the half way mark and the better area to stop in.
We have taken the trip down 81 a few times w/ kids. Plenty of small towns, we have stayed at The Country Inn's along the way. They are mostly new and have never felt unsafe. Easy to pick your spots, plenty of billboards. I would not even make reservations, just pull over when you have had enough.
I am from Virginia, and know 81/77 extremely well.
I would suggest, as previous posters have said, not even bothering with reservations. There is good lodging to be had in Harrisonburg (starting around mile marker 247 - I could recommend a particular place there, but don't want to violate protocol), Lexington, Roanoke (around mile marker 150 on) and Wytheville (right where 77 picks up). The scenery is beautiful, but can be a bit rough at night in terms of not having much to look at.
Thank you all for the advice!
We will be taking 22, 81 & 77.
We have the portable DVD player. I bought travel bingo and puzzle games.
Thanks again!
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