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If you want to shorten your first day a bit, you could stay in Statesville (north of Charlotte), and then the next day wait until 9 or 10 to leave. You'll miss the Charlotte traffic.
Will definately hace a few stops for gas and meals.
Just be careful not to get fatigued while in route…. that many hours behind the wheel can get exhausting, however I’m sure you’ve given that some thought already.
I'd just do I-95 all the way, timing it to avoid rush hours around NYC/Baltimore/Washington.
I've been driving to Florida from Montreal several times a year for the last 40 years and find the best plan is to leave Montreal around 4pm which gets me through the big cities in the wee hours of the morning, around noon i`m around NC/SC border where i get a motel eat a bunch of food drink a few beers watch a bit of tv to unwind and then sleep till midnight where i then get up and complete the last 10 hours of the drive to Tampa.
Bit of an iron butt affair and would depend on your driving capabilities.Working 30 years on the night shift probably gives me a bit more comfort driving nights.
Bottom line, if you feel tired at all pull over and take a nap which i usually do at the Ramapo rest area just before NYC then again just after Washington...
Location: Danbury CT covering all of Fairfield County
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I got back last night. The first day was very long. I left the house around 6:30 AM. I-684 and tappen zee were were easy, but the road was very dark. I-287 was fine, but a little slow before I-80 and Route 24 in NJ. No traffic through Allentown and fine through Harrisburg. I stopped for a late breakfast in Carlisle,PA, which I wish I had done sooner. Southern PA, Western MD and West Virginia was a breeze.
I didn't realize long long VA was, but that took a lot of out of me. Got gas in some small town between Winchester and Harrisonburg. I hit the worse traffic/congestion of my in Pulaski,VA for no apparent reason. Over a 1 hour backup on the highway, and I was going crazy. The winding portion of I-77 scared me, especially since it was starting to get dark and there were no lights on the highway. From the border to Statesville seemed to take a very long time and I wish I had my hotel reservation there. How come 77 isn't wider going down to Charlotte. Going through Charlotte around 8:30PM was busier than I thought and had some weird turns. Finally made it to the hotel in Rock Hill at about 9PM totally drained & hungry, luckily there was a Ruby Tuesday within walking distance of the hotel.
The next day, I left at about 10:30 AM. South Carolina was nice and easy, stopped for lunch in Walterboro. A few bad drivers in Savannah, including one that almost sideswiped me that was cutting in and out of traffic. Traffic was a little slow in Jacksonville at about 4:30, but doable. Jacaksonville looked like a nice city. My navigation said to stay on 95 through there. No problem on the rest of 95.
Wasn't use to the high speed limits down there, but I stayed calm. Won't want to make the trip again soon, but would give I-95 a try next time. I would leave later and not be on the road soo much on the 1st day.
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