<p>Our big family (22 people) vacation in late June this year is going to be at Navarre Beach in the Panhandle of Florida. We’ve decided that since we have more time then money, we’re going to drive. Doing a quick google map search it looks like just over 18 hours from where we live in PA to Navarre Beach and Charlotte NC looks about half way.</p>
<p>I’m probably going to be the main driver down as my husband won’t be able to join us until a few days later and will fly. I’ve driven six hours to visit son at his college in Roanoke, VA - is Charlotte, just three hours farther? (further?) </p>
<p>Is Charlotte a good place to spend the night? Any other suggestions for a long drive like this? I will have my parents and two or three of our adult/teenage kids. My youngest will be a rising HS junior so we may swing off the highway for a drive-by or two of potential colleges. We will definitely stop at Roanoke College to show it to my parents and daughter, who have never seen it.</p>
<p>Are you in eastern PA, where you will start south on Route 95? If so, try to time your trip so you get south of Washington DC without driving through rush hour. Heading south from Philly, we potentially have to battle traffic in Philly, Chester, Wilmington DE, Baltimore, and DC. This can easily add 2-3 hours to drive time.</p>
<p>I only drove through Charlotte one time so I don’t have much to offer…but a funny story. D1 was 11 years old, too young to worry about colleges, but I knew we were close to Duke and I wanted to see it. (As a college bball junkie, the chance to see Cameron Indoor Stadium was too good to pass up). I followed signs (pre-GPS, so it’s all I could do!) and got close, but could not find any buildings or anything that looked like a college campus. I finally stopped at a gas station for directions…I was only two blocks from campus and had been driving in circles around it. Boy, did I feel stupid…but in my defense there was a forest of trees between me and the campus. I’m sure the gas station attendant told his friends about the goofy yankee who had to stop for directions to Duke! </p>
<p>By the way…don’t stop at Duke if your kids are the type to fall in love with a dream school and nowhere else…imo Duke is gorgeous!</p>
<p>I live just South of Allentown and will go west and then South. Avoiding I-95 is a priority and googlemap agreed that going 78 to 81 is that way to go! No problems avoiding Duke. I’ve got a B student and that’s not on our radar screen.</p>
<p>Sometimes I skim the thread titles too quickly. This one jumped out because I thought it said ‘Drinking from PA to Florida Panhandle’…I figured it was a spring break type discussion and got misplaced from the college cafe forum! Now, back to your regularly scheduled broadcast .</p>
<p>Yep - go down 78 to 81 to 77. Done it many times. I-81 through VA takes FOREVER. It is pretty though.
My suggestion is the pack the car the night before and get up really really early. Like 4 am and get a start. Drive then stop for breakfast and wake everyone up, you will be in the middle of Va by then.
I-77 from Va into NC is absolutely beautiful.<br>
There are colleges all down I-81 beginning with Shephard in WVa. There is JMU, Bridgewater, Mary Baldwin, Va Tech, Radford etc. In NC - Appalachain State is in Boone which is a little out of the way.</p>
<p>OP, yes Charlotte is about 3 hours down 77 from Roanoke, and would be a good place to spend the night. I would recommend that you go past Charlotte to spend the night to avoid busy 7-8am traffic that morning. Drive to south of metropolitan Charlotte to spend the night. And in the AM you will be going south watching more AM traffic coming north.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I know the section from my house down to Roanoke because son (junior in College) goes to Roanoke and also we lived there for a year many years ago, but I don’t think I’ve ever driven south of Roanoke on 81. Oh, wait, I did do it at least once when I took daughter to visit Elon. I forgot all about that! Thanks for the tip, sunnyflorida, about stopping South of Charlotte.</p>
<p>The only time I ever drove to Florida, it took us about 22 hours from the northern end of the Jersey Shore to St. Petersburg. We left after dinner, and arrived around dinner time the next night. We had four drivers, and stopped to stretch our legs and rotate every 3 hours or so. It wasn’t that bad.</p>
<p>If you want to stop, I would think that anywhere not in a major metropolitan area (i.e., Charlotte) is likely to be cheaper and easier than anywhere that is. I know that around Philly you would struggle to find a room under $100, but I’ve paid $59 for a motel room in rural Pennsylvania. (A very scuzzy motel room, to be sure, but hardly life-threatening.) I can’t imagine North Carolina is much different.</p>
<p>Kathie, I sent you a PM, I hate to dispute SunnyFlorida, because she lives there, but I;m pretty close to Navarre, and I would go through Knoxville and Chattanooga. They are rebuilding many of the interstates around Charlotte and I’d rather miss that. You still would go through Roanoke. Do you need to pick up hubby in Charlotte?</p>
<p>I just looked on the map and found Navarre Beach - I agree with cangel. Forget Charlotte and stay on I-81 to Knoxville. You won’t have to deal with Atlanta traffic.</p>
<p>I have driven this down to Birmingham and it’s not a bad ride, Tennessee is lovely.
We actually went that way on the way down and then up through Atlanta on the way home. If you get to Chattanooga the first day you can easliy make Navarre Beach in about 8 hours the second day.</p>
<p>Full disclosure - Googlemaps did want me to go through Knoxville instead of Charlotte, but my daughter has a good friend in Charlotte and the time difference was less then an hour going that way so I moved the pin over on the map and voila, we’re going through North Carolina! Kinda fun to fool around with directions like that! I had not thought about Atlanta though, I’ve heard that is a traffic nightmare. hmmm. </p>
<p>JHS, I was thinking that there would be more competition near a city and a better choice of hotels, but you have a very good point. I’ve found the older I get, the pickier I get about hotels. Doesn’t have to be fancy, but it has to be clean and quiet or I just can’t sleep. Not sleeping makes this driver cranky and no one likes that. </p>
<p>Perhaps we can go down through Charlotte and then back up through Knoxville on the way back or vice versa. Husband will be with me for the ride home.</p>
<p>I can confirm that Atlanta traffic is a nightmare. My D graduated from Florida State last year. We live in northern KY and made the drive to Tallahassee several times each year. It didn’t take us too long to learn that, even though taking I-75 through Georgia was a little shorter, it was always much smoother sailing to drive through Alabama. After D’s freshman year we chose to avoid going through Atlanta. The traffic there is awful no matter the time of day (though it is certainly worse during rush hour!)</p>
<p>C’mon guys, Atlanta driving is FUN! Actually, the secret is go through the city, never, never take 285. Avoid rush hour if possible, but even rush hour isn’t too bad if you avoid 285! Any Atlantans want to weigh in on that. My DD is in college up north, that’s why i had opinions about the route, I’ve driven it about 4 times now. Did you know that if you are really masochistic you can all the way from B’ham to Harrisburg PA in one day?? Or Gadsden, AL to Allentown? You could really hate travelling with DH ;).</p>
<p>Has anyone checked out Navarre? It is lovely and relatively undeveloped, although it had some moderate damage after one of the hurricanes a few years ago, probably 2005.</p>
<p>I, too, love driving through downtown Atlanta. You do need to observe how the locals drive and drive accordingly: that is, fast.</p>
<p>Local radio stations, WSB (750 AM) and WGST (640 AM) particularly, provide up-to-date traffic information, so you’ll at least know why you’re stuck if you do get stuck.</p>
<p>I try to drive through Atlanta while my wife is asleep to avoid all the screaming.</p>
<p>I agree with the advice about avoiding I-285 if you can.</p>
<p>LOL seniors dad!! Avoid the screaming!! LOL! Atlanta traffic is entertaining, but can get a bit jammed up around the rush hours (translation- 7-8:30 am and 4-6 pm if you are heading south). They are still doing construction on the “connector” as it is called, so you will run into a slowdown between Howell Mill Rd exit and about North Ave-- possibly as far as I-20 if you are smack in the middle of rush hour. <strong><em>BUT</em></strong> You will be able to use the HOV lanes, so you will move faster than the other lanes for most of the drive through town. If you have time, stop and see ithe aquarium (exit off Willliams street, I believe). It is NOT to be missed, and if you have a lot of time, it’s incredible. The new World of Coke museum is right there as well, so you can enjoy both. They are across the street from each other.</p>
<p>As for Charlotte, while yes, avoiding rush hour traffic is always a good thing, if I recall correctly, the hotels on the north side of town are nicer than the ones on the south side (can some Charlotte resident please confirm?) Also, any chance your s wants to see Davidson? it’s very easy to get to from the highway. Whats not to like about a college that does your laundry?!? By the way- if there isnt much traffic-- the Charlotte-Atl drive should take you about 4 hrs. Watch for cops around Charlotte the state borders.</p>
<p>JHS- Driving from the panhandle of FL to St. Pete adds about another 2-3 hrs to the drive (note: See seniordad’s post-- we drive fast). BTW, just did the Atl-St. Pete drive a month ago-- I-75 is under a lot of construction south of Macon, but it didn’t seem to hold up traffic too badly. It is, however, something to consider as you plan your route, OP. More reason to take Cangel’s suggestion.</p>
<p>Last thing to know about ATL traffic-- only local big trucks/tractor trailers are allowed inside 285 (on I-75/85). Thats why there are so many trucks on 1-285. And, there is no HOV lane on 285. So yes, at times I-285 can be not for the faint of heart. Another thinf, besides listening to the readio stations Senior’sdad so aptly recommended, is to check the Georgia DOT website (you can probably ck it from your phone) and it’ll tell you real-time traffic problems as well as any construction. I love that site.</p>
<p>If I were doing that drive I’d make it a barbeque tour. Search out the little hole-in-the-wall joints where the locals congregate, and eat pork and whatever sides the locals serve—hush puppies and slaw, mostly, but those can be a delight, too. There’s not much left in this country of authentic local or regional cuisine, but Southerners swear by their local barbeque, they support it and it thrives, in seemingly infinite local diversity. Pig out!</p>
<p>Don’t stop in North Charlotte. Either stop in the Lake Norman/Davidson area (just north of Char.) or keep going south on I-77 to center city Charlotte (nice hotels/downtown area, may be pricey) or on to south Charlotte (Pineville, Ballantyne area).</p>
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