South Padre Island or Destin, FL? For a family trip.

[buenos]

So, an 11-12 hour drive (e.g. Dallas to Pensacola) is one day or 2?
How does the family take the long car tip?
Do you stop for few hours in New Orleans or Houston or some other place?

[ParaguaneroSwag]

If you stay in Texans, Port Aransus is better

[bu2]

Originally Posted by buenos

So, an 11-12 hour drive (e.g. Dallas to Pensacola) is one day or 2?
How does the family take the long car tip?
Do you stop for few hours in New Orleans or Houston or some other place?

We almost always drove straight through. Its not that bad a drive. Just rotate drivers every 2 or 3 hours. But if you are leaving on a Friday night you could stop in Baton Rouge or detour down to New Orleans.

[buenos]

here is a FL to TX road video, I just found.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cIVw5-kpZw

[kemahkami]

Both beaches feature reliably clear, beautiful waters. Destin has much whiter sands, while South Padre has a longer beach window due to the warmer winters.

[resonator]

Destin in summer is beyond crowded. Have to drive to Louisiana to get dinner.

[Bike4Life]

Originally Posted by buenos

So, an 11-12 hour drive (e.g. Dallas to Pensacola) is one day or 2?
How does the family take the long car tip?
Do you stop for few hours in New Orleans or Houston or some other place?

If you have a comfortable SUV or minivan, the family will be comfortable stretching out on long road trips with their iPads or iPhones. Might want to download movies or be able to play DVDs on the laptop in case satellite signals are weak on rural roads. If your children have to be in a car seat, keep in mind that they may get uncomfortable with little mobility and hard seats. So, make sure you assess the situation. To save time, we make sandwiches with chips and dips for the road and avoid fast foods. Usually, we treat ourselves with a late lunch or dinner at a nice sit-in dinner.

If beach is your primary destination, I would skip Houston, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. Those routes are heavy traffic and these cities will significantly get you delayed. You may want to take I-20 to Jackson and then switch to state highway 49 to Mobile and then to I-10 to your preferred destination but check your traffic map as this can change due to weather, accidents, and construction closures. I like Pensacola Beach, FL for beer bottle budgets and Seaside, FL for high-class champagne budgets. Both beaches are beautiful.

With my SUV, I have driven 18 hours straight only stopping to get gas and make more sandwiches for the children as I was the only designated driver. But that's a tall order for energized drivers. Most of the time, my wife and I rotated about every 4 hours at the next gas refill. And we prefer to get off the road soon after it gets dark unless we are familiar with our route and a few hours from home. Besides, young children love stopping by the hotel to roam around the halls and dip in the swimming pool or spa. Our annual 22 hour drive comfortably requires two overnight stops because we usually leave late in the morning or in the afternoon. However, if we woke up early, it could be one overnight but this rarely happens when leaving vacation.