OT - Route Guidance to Hilton Head

[RUBill]

My family will be driving from Morris County to Hilton Head Sunday. Any thoughts on the relative merits of taking 78 to 81 to 77 versus the Turnpike/95 route. Is skipping the Turnpike/Baltimore/Washington worth an extra 60 or so miles of driving?

I hope to leave around 6:00AM, but 6:30-6:45 is much more realistic.

 

[zappaa]

nt

 

[RUkhoury]

We've done this a few times before, Baltimore-Washington-Richmond is a geographical oddity. There is always a line of traffic there hours on end...skip those cities the that you can. The extra 60 or so miles saves an hour or so

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Bypass Virginia entirely because the cops there have a mandate to be dickheads. You are fair game for a ticket if you are doing 1mph over the posted limit. Take 81 south through West Virginia, where the cops not only aren't dickheads, they pretty much aren't there.

 

[derleider]

My family will be driving from Morris County to Hilton Head Sunday. Any thoughts on the relative merits of taking 78 to 81 to 77 versus the Turnpike/95 route. Is skipping the Turnpike/Baltimore/Washington worth an extra 60 or so miles of driving?

I hope to leave around 6:00AM, but 6:30-6:45 is much more realistic.

Use Google maps and just go with what they say. Keep an eye on the arrival time, and if it starts slipping, check to make sure there isnt a faster route. DC and Baltimore can have bad traffic, but sometimes its fine. Instead of randomly guessing, just check out the map.

Used it to get us down to Florida and it caught to separate accidents that had seriously snarled traffic and routed us around them.

RaRa - 81 is mostly in VA, only passing through about 20 miles of WV.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Use Google maps and just go with what they say. Keep an eye on the arrival time, and if it starts slipping, check to make sure there isnt a faster route. DC and Baltimore can have bad traffic, but sometimes its fine. Instead of randomly guessing, just check out the map.

Used it to get us down to Florida and it caught to separate accidents that had seriously snarled traffic and routed us around them.

RaRa - 81 is mostly in VA, only passing through about 20 miles of WV.

Yeah, I take 81 to (IIRC) 77 (maybe 79, I forget) into WV. Beautiful drive and very few cops.

 

[OTBOTOR]

Yeah, I take 81 to (IIRC) 77 (maybe 79, I forget) into WV. Beautiful drive and very few cops.

81 to 77 goes mostly through Virginia. If you mean take 81 to Hagerstown, MD and then 68 out to 79 (near Morgantown WV) and take 79 through WV to 77 in Charleston, that surely is a pretty ride, but that's adding 200 extra miles to the trip.

 

[knightfan7]

Used to do the drive to Myrtle Beach leaving early Sunday morning too. always took the direct route (95). Never had bad traffic but it could get a bit crowded between Baltimore and Richmond and maybe a little around Fayetville. Other than that it was a breeze. Just don't speed thru Va.

 

[greenknight]

Leave 10pm-2am and you will not go wrong anyway

 

[RU'70]

If you are going on Sunday morning, you shouldn't hit a lot of traffic in Baltimore and around DC. There are EZ Pass lanes above Baltimore on I-95. In all my trips south, I have NEVER had to use them. I take I-895 through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, and then below the tunnel, I take MD 295 which is AKA the Baltimore Washington Parkway (nice road--no trucks. I stay on this road all the way down below DC and get on I-495 (beltway)/I-95 south. There are also (very expensive) EZ Pass lanes below DC but during the week they are directional--mornings heading north and evenings heading south. Not sure which way they will be operational on a Sunday mid day.

 

[RU'70]

Forgot to mention, if you are a cheapskate like me, get off the Turnpike at exit 7 and follow the signs to I-295 south (about 1/2 mile max). 295 parallels the Turnpike all the way down to the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

 

[GuildenGuy]

Leaving on a Sunday morning you should be fine with 95 all the way down, but with that said, I take 78-81-77 every time we go. It's a little longer but I find it to be a MUCH more pleasant drive.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

81 to 77 goes mostly through Virginia. If you mean take 81 to Hagerstown, MD and then 68 out to 79 (near Morgantown WV) and take 79 through WV to 77 in Charleston, that surely is a pretty ride, but that's adding 200 extra miles to the trip.

Yep, that's the route I take. I have friends who live in Dunbar, just outside Charleston (WV), and I stay with them a night or two, occasionally going to their home in Lewisburg (WV), then either down to Charleston, SC, or over to Nashville. Driving in VA bites the tall one, driving in WV does not.

 

[RU in IM]

Sunday should be fine. We are in HHI right now and have gone every year except one since 1991. We live in central jersey and take 95 to exit 8 in S.C. You really want to get to Richmond by morning, especially if you leave on a Saturday. We usually leave at 3:30 am.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

Bypass Virginia entirely because the cops there have a mandate to be dickheads. You are fair game for a ticket if you are doing 1mph over the posted limit. Take 81 south through West Virginia, where the cops not only aren't dickheads, they pretty much aren't there.

I agree about the cops being dicks in VA. The irony of course is that VA drivers actually believe that every time behind the wheel is a NASCAR audition. I've driven in every state except New Mexico. VA drivers are THE. WORST. And the cops are too. Well, TX cops sorta suck too...lol

 

[RU848789]

If you leave at 6:30 am on a Sunday, you should be fine on 95, as you'll be through DC by 9:30 am or so and Richmond by 11 am or so, unless there's some crazy accident or unexpected construction. I've done this drive countless times to Charlotte, NC (95 to Richmond, then 85 to NC), and 95 is almost always the way to go, as long as you time it right and pay attention to traffic. Taking 81 to 77 and going ~100 miles out of your way is just nuts, unless you're traveling on a weekday anywhere near rush hour.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

I agree about the cops being dicks in VA. The irony of course is that VA drivers actually believe that every time behind the wheel is a NASCAR audition. I've driven in every state except New Mexico. VA drivers are THE. WORST. And the cops are too. Well, TX cops sorta suck too...lol

That's impressive. Though I've driven in NM, there are lots of states I haven't. And Wyoming was wiiiiide open--the 4-cylinder Subaru we rented somehow did 107.

 

[SteveVA2]

I live full-time in Hilton Head. In South Carolina around Hilton Head, I 95 is only two lanes and it can get very busy on Sundays with lots of backed up traffic.

 

[ruhudsonfan]

That's impressive. Though I've driven in NM, there are lots of states I haven't. And Wyoming was wiiiiide open--the 4-cylinder Subaru we rented somehow did 107.

Nevada between Reno and Vegas is like that.