1st Timer - Car trip from CT to TV

[CTgolfer]

This is our 1st visit to TV. We will be traveling by car from southern CT to TV. Not sure if we should plan on one or two hotel nights before reaching TV. Any suggestions? If we do it in one stop, we look at the Rocky Mount, NC area as a possibility. Suggestions for hotel/motels would be greatly appreciated. You ladies and gents are the greatest!

[mfp509]

That is a good stopping point. I either stay there or Fayetteville, NC. I usually stay at a Red Roof Inn because I have a dog. I actually liked Fayetteville better. Without a dog, I would stay at a Hampton Inn. With 2 drivers it's nice to do the trip with one night stay over.

[travelstiles]

We drove from NY in December with our 2 cats so we needed a pet-friendly hotel/motel, and 2 nights along the way.
We stayed at the following Comfort Inns and Suites with AAA rates (12/26 and 12/27/07). Each of these also offers a generous continental breakfast, and were very clean and quiet (even with pets). Check out their website:
choicehotels.com

Comfort Inn
Rocky Mount, NC $80.99 + $25 pet fee
Comfort Suites
Richmond Hill, GA $76.49 + $20 per pet fee

[Sidney Lanier]

Hi we travel from the Mid Hudson Valley of NY. We usually take three days to get to TV, as we prefer to drive in day light.

The trip seems to go faster when we listen to books on tape. We usually listen to two of them.

HB

[renos]

Have made the trip 21 times round trip from Ma. Going down stay in Fayettiville NC exit 49 Econo Lodge pet freindly. Quite a lot of other motels on that exit.Stop at wecome center entering NC and pick up discount coupons. Return trip go to Emporia Virginia exit 11b Econo Lodge also pet friendly.

[Ooper]

We've made many trips from Central NY... one year we did 3 round trips. What worked for us was to leave early on day 1 and drive about 2/3 the way. That would put us in GA and then get up early on day 2 with about 6 hours left. We would be here before noon and still have the rest of the day! Going back was the same idea... we'd make it to PA on day 1 and have about 6 hours on day 2. But whatever works for you is what is important.

[JeanneBeannie]

My son and I will be driving from Central NY on Wednesday, we probably wont get on the road till after the closing, hopefully by 2 p.m., drive till around 8 p.m., will need a pets friendly motel, then start out early in the morning. Since MapQuest isnt always 100% correct, any tips on directions and motels along the way would be greatly appreciated.
I cant google because I dont have DSL in the boonies, but my son does have an Atlas and good with directions, just looking for any tips if you have them. Thank you fellow TOTV'ers! :beer3:

[tpop1]

This is our 1st visit to TV. We will be traveling by car from southern CT to TV. Not sure if we should plan on one or two hotel nights before reaching TV. Any suggestions? If we do it in one stop, we look at the Rocky Mount, NC area as a possibility. Suggestions for hotel/motels would be greatly appreciated. You ladies and gents are the greatest!

We drive from Clinton CT to FL a couple of times per year. Previously Sarasota, now The Villages(20 hours). Just did a round trip in August.

Since I work on a company PC (Desktop not Laptop) driving is the only feasible way to travel back and forth with this computer .

We do 2 days...1 long day(12-14 hours) and 1 short day(6-8 hours). I've done this mostly with the wife but sometimes alone. We found that driving anything shorter on the 1st day, ends up with us sitting on a bed in a motel room, waiting for dark to fall asleep.We drive til 10-11PM and get a room wherever we stop.

Only time we make reservations is during our Christmas travel....very busy time.

Also, CT and NY traffic being what it is, we have lost 2 hours in the 1st 150 miles, which would throw off any plans we might have made.

Our normal practices & recommendations are:

Try to travel on Sat. & Sunday if possible,
Make Tappen Zee / GW Bridge decision based on radio traffic reports(WCBS 880 Traffic
on the 8 minute mark, 1130 Bloomberg radio on the 5's, and 1010 WINS on the 10's)
Getting an EZ Pass for tolls can save 1-2 hours during busy travel at tolls(good for all tolls til you hit the FL line).,
Take 895 outside Baltimore to the Harbor Tunnel(avoids Baltimore Center city traffic)
Take the BW expressway & 295 Balt. to D.C. (straight shot and avoids I-495 around D.C.)
Take I-295 around Richmond(few miles longer, but much faster...avoids Richmond
traffic and curves)

Hope this helps!

[njbchbum]

This is our 1st visit to TV. We will be traveling by car from southern CT to TV. Not sure if we should plan on one or two hotel nights before reaching TV. Any suggestions? If we do it in one stop, we look at the Rocky Mount, NC area as a possibility. Suggestions for hotel/motels would be greatly appreciated. You ladies and gents are the greatest!

My son and I will be driving from Central NY on Wednesday, we probably wont get on the road till after the closing, hopefully by 2 p.m., drive till around 8 p.m., will need a pets friendly motel, then start out early in the morning. Since MapQuest isnt always 100% correct, any tips on directions and motels along the way would be greatly appreciated.
I cant google because I dont have DSL in the boonies, but my son does have an Atlas and good with directions, just looking for any tips if you have them. Thank you fellow TOTV'ers! :beer3:

CTgolfer & JeanneBeannie -
Here is some info that I have found invaluable for all of my travel between Maine and Florida:
http://travelcoupons.com/ [coupon booklet you find at stops along I-95 - red booklet]
http://www.roomsaver.com/ [coupon booklet you find at stops along I-95 - green booklet]
http://www.i95exitguide.com/ [everything you wanted to know about travelling I-95 - gas, restaurants, motels, etc]
http://autos.msn.com/partners/sponsorpage.aspx?page=gas [msn gas prices search]
http://www.gasbuddy.com/
It can keep you up late researching! Hope you find it as useful as I do.

[SteveFromNY]

We've stayed in Rocky Mount and Wilson on a pretty regular basis on the way back. I usually use Residence Inn or Fairfield Suites as I collect (or use) Marriott Points.
My house in NYC to TV is approx 1100 miles.
On the way down I usually try to go a little further, someplace in SC. Like someone above said, I prefer doing a longer day the first day. Going to Florence makes it almost a 60/40 split. But this wont work for you if you don't like driving at night.

[Peazoup]

I also have driven from Southern CT (Fairfield) over the Tappan Zee. It takes me two 11 hour days. I stopped in Emporia for the night. Many good chain hotels/motels around $65-$70 in the area right off the highway. Just avoid the GW Bridge at all cost.

[JeanneBeannie]

Thank you all for your help.

Njbchbum...thanks for the websites! They are loaded with lots of good information...it was a big help! :beer3:

Jeanne :2excited:

[l2ridehd]

I have done it both ways, spend the night and drive straight through. My trip is a little long for straight through, but sometimes it works out that we do it. Do it based on traffic, how tired I get, etc. I usually use Hampton Inns as there seems to be one about every 75 miles down 95. We split the driving and change drivers about every 2 to 3 hours. Comes quick when starting out, but if you do it, you can go for a long time. Don't drive 3 hours and say I am not tired yet so I will go another hour. If you do you can't continue the trip for as long. I will drive until around 10:30 PM and then look for a place using a list of the Hampton Inn's and their phone number I got from the web.

Drove down last Saturday. Left at noon, got here at 1:00 AM on Sunday. Usually takes 14 hours, but for some reason made it in 13. Again, made that decision to keep going someplace in SC.

[katezbox]

Ok - so here is a bit of a different viewpoint - there is one in every crowd.

I am OK with the GWB (I like Tpop's advice on traffic checks) - but I really like to avoid 95 as much as possible. There is way too much of an issue around NY, no NJ, the Delaware Bridge, Baltimore, DC....

Instead we take 287 to route 78/80 across PA to Harrisburg. We then take a "left" onto route 81 into WV and VA and follow it to Route 77 in NC. Route 77 connects into 85 which takes you to Atlanta where it merges with 75 that you can follow to TV.

Atlanta is the only place you hit traffic and it can be easily managed by deciding when you want to do the short/long days. Mapquest will tell you this is longer - but it can be a huge timesaver due to traffic - which Mapquest doesn't factor in. It is also a beautiful and much more relaxing drive.

Lots of pet-friendly hotels as well and far fewer tolls.


PS - we have made this trip a lot to our daughter's when she was at Clemson and when she movw to ATL.

[swrinfla]

Jeanne:

No one seems to have mentioned pet-friendly motels. Red Roof Inns are among many who take pets, and were definitely my preference when The Cat and I came here 4-1/2 years ago.

SWR
:beer3:

[Hawkwind]

Instead we take 287 to route 78/80 across PA to Harrisburg. We then take a "left" onto route 81 into WV and VA and follow it to Route 77 in NC. Route 77 connects into 85 which takes you to Atlanta where it merges with 75 that you can follow to TV.


If you are on I-77 you should try taking it all the way to Columbia then get on I-26 over to I-95. You are picking up I-85 in Charlotte already so you know what the traffic is like there. The only other you will find traffic is in Jacksonville (depending on the time of the day) and you can use the I-295 bypass to I-10 to get to 301. Or continue down I-95 and after Jacksonville you can try one of the other routes that have been posted before.

[JeanneBeannie]

Thank you all, I just knew you would have great tips, other than MapQuest, which isnt always accurate. I will write all this down, it is very helpful! :thumbup:
It sure is a long ride, but I am sure I wil be so excited...I wont even notice hehe! :a040:
Thanks again,
Jeanne