[momar]

Is there anything to be aware of when I drive from St. Louis, Mo to TV next month, such as major construction?. Any advice where to spend the night around the Atlanta area? Anything else I should know?
Thank you so much.

[swrinfla]

momar:

Don't know about construction stuff, but the Auto Club can help.

On a couple of trips I programmed Chattanooga as my stopping point. It allowed me a leisurely departure from St. Louis (I lived in the Central West End), with arrival in 'nooga not too late for supper. A shortly-after-dawn departure from there got me to TV mid-afternoon.

My Chattanooga place was right where I-24 meets I-75.

When I actually moved here, having spent the night in a motel in St. Louis rather than in my empty house, I got an earlier start and stopped in Kennesaw, on the north side of Atlanta. That worked out again, too.

When you come here to live, and eventually you will, there's a fun bunch of people at the Saint Louis Club. You'll be welcomed with open arms.

SWR

[Mikitv]

We drive down from Ark to TV and go I55 to Mississippi and pick up 78 which is almost two lane until we get to Birmingham and that is about 12 miles until we pick up 65 which we take to another secondary till we get to 10 and then 75. First time we took I55 to 10 down in New Orleans then 75 into TV. That route took us about 3 hours longer and meant an nights stay. This new way is not all expressway but it is most direct and saves us 3 hours so we can drive it in one day. Good luck on your drive.

[JeanneBeannie]

Hi Momar!

Well I dont have any info on the directions for your trip etc., but looks like you have heard from two of the very best to guide you along the trip .

on your new adventure to TV, the best is yet to come!!

Have a great trip, see you when you arrive!!
Jeanne

[GatbTester]

Best advice......get a GPS, some are really low priced now, program your start and your finish and let the satellites guide you home.

[JohnN]

I'm like Mikark, but I like my travel route best from NE Arkansas.

I-55 to Memphis, 78 south (don't hit Memphis during rush hours, there is construction there) through Tupelo to Birmingham. Take the highway til it ends there, there's a detour for about a mile then you hit 65.

Don't go through Atlanta, 100 miles out of your way and Atlanta is a hassle to get through). Instead, I-65 south to Montgomery and then you choose, either Highway 331 south to I-10 (it's a bit quieter but 30 miles overall longer) or Highway 231 through Troy and Dothan to I-10. Then I-10 to I-75 south.

It takes me 12 hours from Memphis (I'm 2 hours west of Memphis) and it's not that bad, seem to hit the towns during off hours.

I find weekends less busy with truck traffic than weekdays.

[bxmt54]

We live in the St. Louis metro-east and drive back and forth to the Villages alot. We usually try to stay in either Tifton or Valdosta Georgia. Lots of choices in both places to stay and eat. It makes a rather long day the first day of driving but then we get into the Villages pretty early the next - so that is nice (and we don't have to get a really early start). Driving back we always stop in Dalton, Georgia (just on the south side of Chattanooga) but we usually don't leave until at least noon or 1 pm that day. We have a rule of thumb that we always stop no later than 10 pm - otherwise the 'grumpies' seem to find their way into the car and that's not a good thing!

[Irish Rover]

We drive down every year from Whitmoor in St. Charles and our overnight stop varies between Macon, Tifton, or Valdosta. Our trip begins on December 30th and if the 30th falls on Saturday or Sunday we go to Tifton or Valdosta. Atlanta traffic is the decider. Even though we have made the trip dozens of times, we always consult AAA as they indicate the construction ares and current speed traps. When we head back home on March, we drive straight through. Hope this helps a little.

[cybrgeezer]

Every year, I make a roundtrip from Jacksonville to St. Louis. On the return trip south, (via I-64 out of StL to I-55, then I-24 to Chattanooga and I-75 from there), I try to get south of Atlanta the first night. That way, in the morning, I'm driving away from the city while the going-to-work traffic is all inbound.

Just one traffic-hater's opinion.

[chacam]

Beware of Adel Georgia ! !

[JohnN]

I'm just tellin' ya, I've made this trip 20-30 times now and driven every route known to man, and the Atlanta-Macon-Tifton-Valdosta is always busy busy busy.. that's a hard run and an extra 100 miles compared to slicing through Alabama.

[Mikitv]

I agree with John we've driven a few different routes and the way we both go shaves off a lot of time. I am all for not being in the car for two days. Much easier to get it all done in one long day. Thankfully we have two drivers and can switch off every few hours. The worse spot on the whole route is by Birmingham trying to get on I65 but if you stay in your lane and don't speed it will be okay except for having to yell at a few stupid drivers. IMHO.

[bxmt54]

Just did a little checking and according to Mapquest the way JohnN goes from St. Louis is 1058.02 miles and takes 17 hrs and 12 mins....going thru Memphis, Montgomery etc.

The other way from St. Louis thru Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, etc. is 959.04 miles and takes 14 hrs. 45 minutes.

We've never encountered really "bad" traffic thru Atlanta..slow maybe but not really terrible. Kind of like I-70 on a Friday night...lol We've ran into more trouble on I-75 going north when we try to go back home than anything.