Driving from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale in March (Atlanta, Tennessee: construction, tornado)

[jman004]

Hello,

I am making the drive from the Chicago area down to Fort Lauderdale in late March. I plan on it taking me two long days of driving. Does anyone know what I can expect as far as tolls? And more importantly, I hate driving in bad weather, what can I expect to face on the way down? I will be driving through part of Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.

Thank you for any help or advice you can give me!

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

No tolls in IN, KY, TN, or GA. You may hit a few in South Florida, but depending on your route, you can probably avoid those, too.

You're basically just dealing with any tolls you might encounter in the Chicago area or in the Fort Lauderdale area. No tolls between.

As far as weather.... weather.com, man. It's still usually chilly in Chicago in late march, and it's pretty warm in S Florida by then. You'll drive through every type of weather in between. Check the weather before you make the trip.

[jman004]

Thank you so much! Yeah I am really more worried about sever weather that I may face in southern Illinois and Tennessee....lots of storms that time of year.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by jman004

Thank you so much! Yeah I am really more worried about sever weather that I may face in southern Illinois and Tennessee....lots of storms that time of year.

Well, nobody on this site'll be able to predict that. My advice is to be a little bit flexible on departure dates in case the weather's nasty.

[cubssoxfan]

That is 2 VERY long days. 713 miles Chicago to Atlanta and 600 or so from Atlanta to Miami. To shorten your tolls on the Florida turnpike take exit 152 off the turnpike and travel east about a mile to exit 129 on I-95, then continue south. ONly problem is I-95 may be a bear with afternoon rush hour traffic compared with the Turnpike. Try posting on FL site and asking which is better during afternoon rush and if there are any construction projects that may slow you down on either road.

[saitoh7]

We recently did the reverse, Ft.Lauderdale to Chicago 2 weeks ago. It took us 26 hours with a large truck, but by car it could be done in a few hours less. For Illinois I took I-57, Kentucky and Tenn I took I 24 W, I75 until the mid of Florida, but I do recommend taking the turnpike since I95 is a full of construction until Boca Raton. I think the tolls from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale were around $20, well worth it IMHO.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by jman004

Thank you so much! Yeah I am really more worried about sever weather that I may face in southern Illinois and Tennessee....lots of storms that time of year.

You need to be worried of weather in Kentucky too. Today for example they have wind gusts over 6omph.

There is usually lots of rain in late March/early April in the states you are going through and it is the beginning of the real Tornado season.

[jman004]

Thank you all for the advice! I will probably post on the Florida site to ask about construction, didn't think of that.

[jessiegirl_98]

It took us about 30-some hours with traffic, etc from Tampa to Chicago. There aren't any tolls until Indiana (you may hit a few out of Florida depending). It's a VERY long drive. Weather will be iffy. I would just plan on taking your time. We hit a ton of construction as well so you should look into that.
(Mapquest said 18 hrs, real time was 30)...3.5 days

[chicagocubs]

I am confused why you would drive through GA? Is it closer?

Maybe because I live in Charlotte, I would drive thru KY, TN,...then, take 40 east to 77 south to 95 south....

Charlotte is about 1/2 way between Chicago & FL. Used to drive to FL frequently (Port Charlotte, on the other side of the state) when my parents lived there. (now deceased)

About the only bad weather to deal with would be in the mountains of TN/NC. (and to have snow/ice in March is not normal) Besides that, even if it rains (almost always rains on 95 for some reason), it is not a big problem....