North Carolina cruisers.....

[kimmimom]

We are going out of Tampa from the Chapel Hill/Raleigh area. What way do others go and found to be the best route? How long does it take approximately? We dirve to Orlando a lot and that takes 9 hours driving time (not counting getting gas, eating, etc). We will probably drive to about 3-4 hours from port and stop for Sat night and maybe see something new on Sat afternoon/evening. Any suggestions? Any ideas/thoughts/experiences would be great!

[DONDONMA]

From my MSN home page I click on "driving directions" type in the start city and the end city..........you'll get the complete mile by mile directions for your journey. It also gives you mileage and est time for the trip.

 

We drive to Florida all the time from Massachusetts. This August we will be driving from Massachusetts to Jacksonville to sail on the Celebration. We plan to stop in Atlanta, Savannah before the cruise, then travel on to Clearwater FL after the cruise, and then on the homeward bound trip stopping in Charlotte, and the Hershey PA before heading home to Foxboro. I have all the maps and directions printed for each leg of the trip.

 

Check it out........I find the directions are very accurate and easier to read than a AAA trip tick.

 

Donna in MA

[Gabsabunch42]

From my MSN home page I click on "driving directions" type in the start city and the end city..........you'll get the complete mile by mile directions for your journey. It also gives you mileage and est time for the trip.

 

We drive to Florida all the time from Massachusetts. This August we will be driving from Massachusetts to Jacksonville to sail on the Celebration. We plan to stop in Atlanta, Savannah before the cruise, then travel on to Clearwater FL after the cruise, and then on the homeward bound trip stopping in Charlotte, and the Hershey PA before heading home to Foxboro. I have all the maps and directions printed for each leg of the trip.

 

Check it out........I find the directions are very accurate and easier to read than a AAA trip tick.

 

Donna in MA

 

AAA trip ticks are hard to read. I had to respond to your post because you remind me of our family. We live in Charlotte and Travel up north all the time because that is where all of our family is -- Upstate New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachussetts, and Vermont. My brother used to live in Foxboro, but now he lives in Ashland. That sounds like a wonderful trip you have planned. Also funny is that we lived in Savannah for a little while too. We also would like to stop at Hershey on one of our trips up. Anyway, we do the same as you, print out each leg of the trip.

[torpeedo]

We're going to Tampa from Lexington SC in November. We try to avoid going through Orlando, so will go south on 95 to Jacksonville; pick up I-10 west to I-75, and south on 75 to Tampa.

[F5Loar]

Just back from Salisbury and took I-85 to I77 to I26 to I95 to I4 into Tampa.

If you can do Orlando that way in 9 hours add 1 hour and 15 mins. to the Port of Tampa. We drove through Orlando late evening and stayed at cheap hotel(hojos) in Kissimmiee then it was only an hour into Tampa the next morning. Coming home we did self luggage and were on the road by 8:30 and home by 6PM. Parking did go up to $12 a day at Port but it's inside and close walking to terminal.

[DONDONMA]

Gabsabunch42............what's your brothers' name, I may know him. I've lived in Foxboro 39 years......

 

My husband won't fly so all of our vacations are road trips. So I always try to find cool things to do along the way....Hershey was one of our trips a couple of years back. We went to Amish country, the Harley Davidson Factory, and Hershey Park. You should definitly stop there on your next road trip. We go that way now so we can stop at our favorit Amish farmstand and stock up on homemade pickles, garlic, jams and jellies. We try to stay off of 95. The scenery and traffic is so much better going up through the Carolinas , Virginia, and Pennsylvania........

 

Donna

[Gabsabunch42]

Gabsabunch42............what's your brothers' name, I may know him. I've lived in Foxboro 39 years......

 

My husband won't fly so all of our vacations are road trips. So I always try to find cool things to do along the way....Hershey was one of our trips a couple of years back. We went to Amish country, the Harley Davidson Factory, and Hershey Park. You should definitly stop there on your next road trip. We go that way now so we can stop at our favorit Amish farmstand and stock up on homemade pickles, garlic, jams and jellies. We try to stay off of 95. The scenery and traffic is so much better going up through the Carolinas , Virginia, and Pennsylvania........

 

Donna

His name is Lonnie and his wife's name is Ann. (I don't want to use a last name lol). they have two children. Anyway, when we go up, we head to upstate new york first, so we also DO NOT take I-95. We go up I-81. Scenery in Virginia is beautiful. Pennsylvania roads are getting bad again though, I guess because of all the salting of roads in winter ?

 

I can relate to your hubby with hating to fly. We usually always drive too, but we are flying up this July and renting a car and taking a bunch of mini road trips up north to see relatives. Our cruise in September is out of Port Canaveral, which looks to be about a 9-hour drive for us. We will drive most of it the day before and stop in Jacksonville for the night. That should leave a couple of hours for driving to the port the next day.