It's getting closer....but

[Suska_83]

So I got my boarding passes and tags . Excited!. Now, my family and I are driving from MA to Fl. My colleague gave me alternate routes to avoid I-95 (NY,NJ.MD,DC) since he has a house in FL he likes to drive down and avoids the traffic that is usual in those states. Instead of taking I-95S all the way he has me going 81-S to 66-E to 17-S to 95-S a little after DC. That's great, but for the life of me I cannot put it on the GPS in the car or the phone. It will not take the alternate route. I have maps(thanks AAA) and the nice man at AAA highlighted the route, It looks great on map, but using technology for so long, it's kind of going to be back to 1999 with paper road maps. Is there any way to input the desired route in any device?. I'm good with maps(found my way in Italy with no prob with one), but I was not driving:confused:. Have any of you driven this route? Is it good? any input would be great help.

[DonnaK]

All the times we've ever driven to Florida, we just take I-95. Never felt the need to take alternate routes. However, we do plan the time that we leave home so that we won't be passing through any of the big cities during rush hour.

[njkruzer]

You can trick the gps by giving it segments, I.e. Ma to point x then to point y, etc. We've done it as we also try to avoid I-95 from NJ to Hilton Head, SC and we take I-78 west to I-81 to I-77 to I-26 to I-95. We tell it to go Martinsburg, wva, to charlotte to get it to get what we want. Hope that helps.

[FLACRUISER99]

So I got my boarding passes and tags . Excited!. Now, my family and I are driving from MA to Fl. My colleague gave me alternate routes to avoid I-95 (NY,NJ.MD,DC) since he has a house in FL he likes to drive down and avoids the traffic that is usual in those states. Instead of taking I-95S all the way he has me going 81-S to 66-E to 17-S to 95-S a little after DC. That's great, but for the life of me I cannot put it on the GPS in the car or the phone. It will not take the alternate route. I have maps(thanks AAA) and the nice man at AAA highlighted the route, It looks great on map, but using technology for so long, it's kind of going to be back to 1999 with paper road maps. Is there any way to input the desired route in any device?. I'm good with maps(found my way in Italy with no prob with one), but I was not driving:confused:. Have any of you driven this route? Is it good? any input would be great help.

Wont your GPS recalculate along the way?

[moorerf]

Yes to trick GPS I give it segments...pick cities along the route you want and make them stopping points...Check your maps...you can also take off near Baltimore on roads down through the eastern shore of VA, across Bay bridge tunnel around Norfolk then 17 and out to 95 on 64 brings you out on 95 at Rocky MT NC...

[RSLeesburg]

Yes to trick GPS I give it segments...pick cities along the route you want and make them stopping points...Check your maps...you can also take off near Baltimore on roads down through the eastern shore of VA, across Bay bridge tunnel around Norfolk then 17 and out to 95 on 64 brings you out on 95 at Rocky MT NC...

 

 

This is how we do it too when we drive up to Cape Cod. We do not take I-95, but drive up through PA and across I-84 as this route allows us to visit family long the way, but GPS does not allow us to plan this route so we break it up into segments.

 

 

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[bouhunter]

If it's all interstate expressway's what's the need for a GPS?

[RSLeesburg]

If it's all interstate expressway's what's the need for a GPS?

 

 

If it's your first time driving a new route, it can be helpful if highway splits or you need to take exit. I mostly use it to track how far I am from where I need to go :).

 

 

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[Polomom]

Try to avoid 95 from dc to Richmond! We just went from Phila to Myrtle Beach and we were backed up for almost two hours each way. Lots of construction which adds to the normal mess there! ( and we were very careful to plan the times we went through that area) Follow your maps and your GPS should recalculate! Have Fun!

[temple1]

Other than the slow down near Massaponax when heading south, the worst traffic we hit when going and coming from NYC is the New Jersey Turnpike. It was horrendous last year! I am definitely looking for an alternative route this year.

 

Just drove down to Orlando and no traffic problems on I-95 in May we drove to Port Canaveral, no problems, in December we drove to Ft. Lauderdale, no problems until we got to the turn off for the port.

[BND]

Remember when we didn't have GPS? I used to use this thing called a map.

[Suska_83]

You can trick the gps by giving it segments, I.e. Ma to point x then to point y, etc. We've done it as we also try to avoid I-95 from NJ to Hilton Head, SC and we take I-78 west to I-81 to I-77 to I-26 to I-95. We tell it to go Martinsburg, wva, to charlotte to get it to get what we want. Hope that helps.

 

That's a good idea, I was thinking about that, its my first time driving that way, although it will be 4 of us that are able to drive and we are pretty good reading maps, but its nice to have GPS to tell you the exits. I know 17 is a route which is a secondary road, that's when it might get iffy, but we are counting on getting a little lost, so we are planning to leave early.

[Suska_83]

Other than the slow down near Massaponax when heading south, the worst traffic we hit when going and coming from NYC is the New Jersey Turnpike. It was horrendous last year! I am definitely looking for an alternative route this year.

 

Just drove down to Orlando and no traffic problems on I-95 in May we drove to Port Canaveral, no problems, in December we drove to Ft. Lauderdale, no problems until we got to the turn off for the port.

 

exactly!. It is horrendous every year though. I hate GWB, i hate it with a passion. I know NY NJ traffic since i'm a new yorker, living in MA. Plus also going this way instead of taking 95 all the way i save on Tolls, which is a plus.

[Suska_83]

Try to avoid 95 from dc to Richmond! We just went from Phila to Myrtle Beach and we were backed up for almost two hours each way. Lots of construction which adds to the normal mess there! ( and we were very careful to plan the times we went through that area) Follow your maps and your GPS should recalculate! Have Fun!

 

Your right. Colleagues and friends say the traffic in DC is the worst, even if you drive in the wee hours of the morning, always traffic. I am avoiding that. Thank god.

[Suska_83]

If it's your first time driving a new route, it can be helpful if highway splits or you need to take exit. I mostly use it to track how far I am from where I need to go :).

 

 

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That true, I use it just for reassurance. And also telling you the exits to take especially on secondary roads which we will be driving its always a plus.

[Trekker954]

you can also put your car and yourselves on the amtrak auto train and take the train from Lorton, VA to Sanford FL. Saving yourself 17 hours of driving. Then you are only 4 hours from Fort Lauderdale. (I'm not sure what port you are sailing from). I find the Amtrak Auto Train part of the vacation.

[Redsfan]

What gps nav to do you use for your mobile? Google maps gives you the fastest times to your destination and you can take out toll roads, etc...

[specklyfe]

Try to avoid 95 from dc to Richmond! We just went from Phila to Myrtle Beach and we were backed up for almost two hours each way. Lots of construction which adds to the normal mess there! ( and we were very careful to plan the times we went through that area) Follow your maps and your GPS should recalculate! Have Fun!

 

I second this. I drive from New York to Myrtle Beach a few times a year and the past couple times Virginia has had the worst traffic of the entire trip - dead stop for up to a couple hours due to construction. I would try to avoid I-95 S until you pass Richmond if possible! :)

[Suska_83]

What gps nav to do you use for your mobile? Google maps gives you the fastest times to your destination and you can take out toll roads, etc...

 

i have google maps on my phone. and the car we're taking comes with a GPS. I input the address (Port Canaveral) and it still gives me 95 all the way.

[Suska_83]

you can also put your car and yourselves on the amtrak auto train and take the train from Lorton, VA to Sanford FL. Saving yourself 17 hours of driving. Then you are only 4 hours from Fort Lauderdale. (I'm not sure what port you are sailing from). I find the Amtrak Auto Train part of the vacation.

 

mm That's a good idea. Probably for the next time we go down to FL. My family wants to drive down there since they've never driven that far, part of the vacation experience I guess :). We are going to Port Canaveral and plan to get there saturday, stay in Cocoa Beach for the night, and head to the port the following day.

[Suska_83]

I second this. I drive from New York to Myrtle Beach a few times a year and the past couple times Virginia has had the worst traffic of the entire trip - dead stop for up to a couple hours due to construction. I would try to avoid I-95 S until you pass Richmond if possible! :)

 

thanks for the info! I will look at the map again, this secondary route takes me past DC, but i do hit VA on I-95 S.

[RSLeesburg]

i have google maps on my phone. and the car we're taking comes with a GPS. I input the address (Port Canaveral) and it still gives me 95 all the way.

 

 

If your phone is connected via Bluetooth, you can use Google maps and the directions come through the car speakers like a phone call would. We found this out by accident one day when my wife was looking for directions while we were driving around. I found that Google maps does provide better directions, so I may try using it on our next trip.

 

 

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[Mommags123]

We live in Central PA, about 2 miles from I-81.

We have taken the route that your friend has suggested and we love it.

Whenever we have taken it, there has been minimal traffic on the roads compared to I-95. The terrain is hilly/mountainous and in spots is very scenic.

There are not quite as many rest areas since you are not blowing through states like you do on I-95.... but we have never had a problem finding an exit with bathrooms/gas/food.

 

I definitely would recommend you taking this route for a nice change of pace. For us, it adds about 20 miles to our trip but I think it is well worth it.

 

Good luck! Have a safe trip!

[Suska_83]

If your phone is connected via Bluetooth, you can use Google maps and the directions come through the car speakers like a phone call would. We found this out by accident one day when my wife was looking for directions while we were driving around. I found that Google maps does provide better directions, so I may try using it on our next trip.

 

 

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I've never tried that before. My car does come with bluetooth, but never actually tried it with Google maps. I do trust google more so than the car's GPS, thanks! I'll play with it today.

[Suska_83]

We live in Central PA, about 2 miles from I-81.

We have taken the route that your friend has suggested and we love it.

Whenever we have taken it, there has been minimal traffic on the roads compared to I-95. The terrain is hilly/mountainous and in spots is very scenic.

There are not quite as many rest areas since you are not blowing through states like you do on I-95.... but we have never had a problem finding an exit with bathrooms/gas/food.

 

I definitely would recommend you taking this route for a nice change of pace. For us, it adds about 20 miles to our trip but I think it is well worth it.

 

Good luck! Have a safe trip!

 

Thank you so much for your input, now I feel more confident about taking this route, I don't mind hilly, I actually like it. My colleague did say that its about 20 miles more, but I like you think it is worth it if it avoids the major traffic in NY,NJ DC :).