Driving from NY to Florida

In article , Lasitha wrote:

I am thinking of driving from NY to Florida (Orlando). How long should I
allow for the drive?. According to my calculations, it will be about 18-20
hours of driving. Is this a good estimate?.

That sounds about right. Either two long days of driving with no chance
to really stop anywhere, or three days with a few brief stops.

The quickest route down I-95 is not scenic at all. I've driven both
halves of it, going north and south from South Carolina, Lots of traffic
and lots of heavy trucks. No wait, the stretch through Georgia *is* a bit
scenic, going through the coastal marshes with bridges over the river
inlets. But that's only about an hour's worth.

Is there a good scenic route?.

For what most people would consider "scenic", you'd have to do something
like swing eastward along the North Carolina coast (the "Outer Banks") or
swing westward along the mountains to North Carolina, then head south
through South Carolina and Georgia. I'd allow at least four days for
either of those routes, and even that would leave little time for
sightseeing.

Or you can simply take a route that more or less parallels I-95 but avoids
most of I-95 itself, sticking to non-motorways as much as possible.
That's what my wife and I ususlly do when we travel. I find it more
relaxing, and there's more variety, even if the overall speed isn't as
fast. The trick is to avoid the Washington DC area. One way is to take
the turnpike through New Jersey, then get off in Delaware and head south
along the peninsula between the ocean and Chesapeake Bay, and cross to
Norfolk via the long bridge-tunnel across the mouth of the bay. Then
follow some combination of US-numbered highways (the old main roads,
before the Interstates were built), e.g. US-1, US-17, US-301.

--
Jon Bell Presbyterian College
Dept. of Physics and Computer Science Clinton, South Carolina USA

On Wed, 4 Feb 2004 07:02:23 +0000 (UTC), (Jon
Bell) wrote:

In article , Lasitha wrote:

I am thinking of driving from NY to Florida (Orlando). How long should I
allow for the drive?. According to my calculations, it will be about 18-20
hours of driving. Is this a good estimate?.

snip

Or you can simply take a route that more or less parallels I-95 but avoids
most of I-95 itself, sticking to non-motorways as much as possible.
That's what my wife and I ususlly do when we travel. I find it more
relaxing, and there's more variety, even if the overall speed isn't as
fast. The trick is to avoid the Washington DC area. One way is to take
the turnpike through New Jersey, then get off in Delaware and head south
along the peninsula between the ocean and Chesapeake Bay, and cross to
Norfolk via the long bridge-tunnel across the mouth of the bay. Then
follow some combination of US-numbered highways (the old main roads,
before the Interstates were built), e.g. US-1, US-17, US-301.

Unless time is at a premium I too will go to great lengths to avoid
Washington DC when driving to Florida. One caveat is that leaving New
York in the morning could put you on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
with the sun low on the horizon and directly in front of you. It can
be scarey driving indeed! But once you are in Virginia it is a
relaxing drive, unlike I-95 which is a torture test for most of it's
length. On thing about I-95 that I do like is stopping early in the
Carolinas at a motel near the highway and asking about good places to
eat in the town nearby. We have had some wonderful, and cheap,
dinners that way. Enjoy them while you can because once you get to
Florida you'll have a tough time finding anything other than microwave
restaurants.

Brian Wickham

Brian Wickham