<p>My D will be driving from South Florida (palm beach county) to Lafayette Indiana later this summer. I am not familar with this area of the country.
She will be going to AAA to get her route routed but am hoping I can get some good advice or tips from CC to make the drive less stressful.
She is my high anxiety kid.
I am looking for best towns to stop in for the night. Somewhere safe for a female that also allows a pet in the room. Areas to avoid. Areas to anticipate road work and heavy traffic.</p>
<p>DH and I drove from the Chicago suburbs to Naples Fl and back in February with our cat and it took a lot of research to find pet-friendly hotels that didn’t charge a fortune for a pet. Coming back, we took 75 north to Chattanooga TN, then 24 north to Nashville TN, then 65 north most of the rest of the way.</p>
<p>Going down, the first night we stayed at the Doubletree in Murphreesboro TN, a very nice hotel with an attached restaurant. We used Hilton points; other option was the Murphreesboro Hampton. Due to our Hilton status, we were on the concierge floor with a continental breakfast. Both are rated well on TripAdvisor. At that time the Doubletree charged $50 for the cat, and the Hampton $25, but the Doubletree was less points. The Hampton of course has breakfast for everyone. The second night we stayed at the Red Roof Inn in Gainesville FL. It was a more basic hotel but adequate and comfortable with a very friendly staff. No free breakfast, but pets were free. There were lots of eating places near both of these locations.</p>
<p>Coming back, the first night we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Adel GA; the cat was free. Basically it was a highway hotel; we had stopped for dinner earlier that evening. The second night we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Bowling Green, KY. There were a ton of eating places close by. Pets were free.</p>
<p>I would feel safe in any of these hotels on my own. I had hoped to find an appropriate hotel in the Atlanta or Chattanooga area, but they all charged highly for pets. </p>
<p>You’ll have to get advice from Floridians about the Florida turnpike vs 95, but once you enter Georgia I don’t think there are alternative options. I would not recommend driving 24 out of Chattanooga at night because of the mountain roads and aggressive truckers. We would have preferred to stop just one night down and one night back, but our vet said the cat should not be in the carrier more than 8 or 9 hours a day since she did not choose to use the litter box in the car, so that dictated our stops. She also did not choose to sleep in the hotels at night but that’s another story…</p>
<p>Since she’s a AAA member, she can also get guide books for the states she will be crossing - they should list which hotels allow pets and their policies. They often are aware of construction areas as well.</p>
<p>I remember a friend mentioning that the Drury line of hotels accepts pets:</p>
<p>From their website:</p>
<p>What is Drury Hotels pet policy?
Pets are accepted at all Drury Hotels if state and local laws permit. Pets are not allowed in the public gathering areas of the hotel, including the breakfast area and pool. Pets are not to be left unattended for more than 30 minutes, and each guest must assume liability for damage of property or other guest complaints. There is a limit of two pets per room. Dogs, for persons with disabilities, are accepted and permitted access to any area frequented by their owners. No state or local laws concerning dogs apply to guide dogs. Guest will be asked to read and sign our “Pet Owner Letter” at check in.</p>
<p>Marilyn- thank you. Just the type of information I am looking for. I think she will head up Florida via the turnpike and following the same route you took. Adel looks like a good first night stop. From looking at the maps I had thought about Valdosta or Tifton.
I will pass along the advice about 24. How long was it from Adel to Bowling Green? Or to Murfreesboro? Which would be the better stop?</p>
<p>Hi Mom60 - We stayed in Adel because the Hilton properties in Valdosta did not accept pets (we were trying to use HHonor points as much as possible). Otherwise we might have considered the La Quinta in Valdosta; I think pets are free and it gets nice reviews. In our opinion, there really wasn’t much exciting along the highway from Gainesville to near Atlanta, but it sure was billboard heaven! Your daughter can stop and buy fresh Georgia pecans and maybe peaches (alas there were no peaches in February). Adel is only half an hour further than Valdosta so no real difference.</p>
<p>You can google map for the driving distances; just put the towns in “get directions”. We’ve found google travel times to be fairly accurate. Adel to Murfreesboro is about 7 hours; Bowling Green is another 1 1/2 hours further. So it depends on how far your daughter feels like driving. It’s only another 5 or 6 hours further to Lafayette depending on where she stops. The driving time will also depend on how many stops she makes and how long. I will say even with all my research, I was very happy to have our then-new Garmin along just for confidence. And the lovely British guy who kept telling us to take slip roads instead of exit ramps!</p>
<p>Try to time the drive through Atlanta during the non rush hours. I75 is a hassle going through during the rush hour. Also, make sure that she knows that gas is cheaper in GA than in FL. We paid $2.51 on Monday at exit 5, but would have had to pay in the high $2.60’s or low $2.70’s on the FL side.</p>
<p>If she wanted to go a bit past Adel the first day where would you recommend?
Mapquest puts her drive to Adel at just over 6 hours. She could probably go a bit further. On the other hand I like the idea of her staying somewhere that someone I know (even via CC) has Mom approved as being fine for a student traveling alone.
Are there any tricky interchanges she should know about?</p>
<p>You might consider Macon for the first night - about 2 hours past Adel. It was a bit too far for our first night since we didn’t leave until the afternoon. Look on the 475 bypass, not 75 itself; the bypass avoids downtown Macon and all the signs say to use 475 to Atlanta. If you look on a map you can see it’s the more direct route.</p>
<p>There’s a Best Western in Macon right off 475 that gets good reviews and allows pets under 25 pounds for $10. It’s near a college with lots of other hotels around and no one mentioned anything negative about the area in their reviews so presumably OK.</p>
<p>Also you mentioned Tifton - half an hour past Adel - there’s a Country Inn & Suites that gets nice reviews and accepts pets, although you’d have to call for the details.</p>
<p>Can you tell I love this kind of research?!</p>
<p>I don’t really remember tricky interchanges per se but the highway does go right through Atlanta so you just have to keep an eye on the signs - I believe mainly the left lane is normally 75. Then just south of Chattanooga, you need to watch the signs to make sure you’re in the lane for 24 - not really complicated, just something to pay attention to.</p>
<p>Also just for fun your daughter might want to read (re-read?) Gone With the Wind because there’s a lot of familiar town names! Just don’t bother with the Tara-type roadside stops - ordinary tourist stuff, not Southern belle.</p>
<p>Her pet is over 25 lbs. More like 65 lbs.
I appreciate your research! Thank you.</p>
<p>Bumping.
Anyone else made the drive up from Florida to the midwest?
The Hampton in Adel might be a go.
Hampton in Bowling Green has a pet size limit of 25 lbs. Her dog is 60 lbs. So I need to find somewhere in that vicinity that takes a larger pet.</p>