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We can leave for a trip to Ocean City, NJ either Friday night (after 5pm) or very early Saturday. Which way is the way to go? We will be traveling with three very young kids and don't want them to be trapped too long. Will hitting Philly around 6:30 be okay? Or later? What will the Jersey roads be like then?
Saturday may not be great, but Friday evening would probably be pretty awful. Unless you leave no earlier than about 7:00 from Allentown on Friday (although not sure how feasible that is with the young kids). For one, there'd still be traffic earlier than that (and maybe still some then), and there's also a Phillies game at 7 on Friday, so getting to Philly at 6:30 would put put you into a big mess of the end of rush hour/shore traffic/Phillies traffic.
Friday will definitely be worse than Saturday. I avoid going East on certain roads sometimes because of the traffic. Early Saturday morning will be the best.
I would actually wait and leave later, like 9. It'll still be bad but not as bad as 6:30. I also wouldn't take the Expressway/Parkway on a Friday night. When I go from the Philly area on Friday (never by choice) I always take 42 only as far as 55 south, then 55 south to exit 24. That puts you on 49, take that to 50 and take that a couple of miles until you get to Tuckahoe Road (it's a left at Levari's restaurant). That'll take you right over the 34th street bridge. It's longer mileage wise but I find it much less stressful than AC Expressway and the Parkway. 49 is actually a lovely tree-lined road. The only drawback (and sometimes it's a major one) is there is no place to stop and use a bathroom aside from a dirty gas station on 49, and that's on the wrong side of the road. You won't get gouged on tolls, though.
We can leave for a trip to Ocean City, NJ either Friday night (after 5pm) or very early Saturday. Which way is the way to go? We will be traveling with three very young kids and don't want them to be trapped too long. Will hitting Philly around 6:30 be okay? Or later? What will the Jersey roads be like then?
So OP, what did you decide to do?
Did you leave on Friday night or early Saturday?
What time?
What route did you take?
How was the traffic?
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Saturday, for sure!
You won't get gouged on tolls, though.
