Driving to Myrtle Beach (Chester, Central: hotels, construction, camper)

[thebordcu]

Hi -If you are familiar with the drive from NY/NJ to Myrtle Beach - where would you recommend as a good stopping place if you wanted to break the drive up. Planning to leave on a Saturday morning, do a fair amount of the drive on Saturday and then leave late Sunday morning and arrive in the early/late afternoon.

Thank you!

[GJM]

Driving from NJ to SC I normally stop in Emporia VA - Exit 11. I stay at the Holiday Inn. They offer free breakfast in the morning

Driving from SC to NJ - I do that with no stopping over.

The only reason I stop sometimes from NJ - SC is because I don't want to drive in the dark. But driving up to NJ I will drive in the dark since I know NJ and the roads better.

[pburgess68]

We used to drive from NY to NC and take a break, silly as it sounds. Or stop over at my sisters in Maryland/Wash DC area and leave the next morning before rush hour(s). VA is a good option as well. Be sure to stop in the rest areas and get those paper discount books that look like magazines. They have some great deals for hotels and such on the way down.

[rrufast]

I drive right through 99.9% of the time, but when on the occasion that I/we do stop over, we do so either in Fredericksburg or Chester Va. The hotel in Chester is right off of the 295 loop at exit 215.. conveniently located behind.. the first (or last, depending on which way you're headed) WAWA you'll see.. ;-)

[baylovers]

Emporia is a good spot to stop, my folks usually stop there on the way down. Richmond is about half way to MB from Long Island and you will be about a half hour or so south of there.

[CampingMom]

We have to 2 reliable stops for the drive down. One is the Log Cabin Motel and Restaurant in Smithfield, NC-good food reasonable rates-I think it's exit 95. The other is the Days Inn in Benson. It's also reasonable and has a Mexican Restaurant there at the property. They grow their own veggies to make the salsa right behind the place and it's SO good! It then gives us about a 3 hour drive in the morning to get to MB. We are towing a camper, so it takes us longer to get there than by car since we don't do I-95 until we shoot over to to it in VA. We are coming from Upstate NY to get down to MB.

[rsandoval]

What time of the year will you be doing this drive? The reason I'm asking is because you can count on a continuous traffic jam from Hoboken to Richmond on 95, on a Saturday, during the summer. I've experienced many 3 hour Saturday drives from Alexandria, VA to Richmond (100 miles).

[tmozer]

From Central NJ (Ocean County) it is 654 miles. I just did it in 10 1/2 hours. No stops except for gas and bladder relief. Don't think I could do it faster. I travel with a dog, so if stopping I need a pet friendly motel. Richmond is almost exactly 1/2 way. Have stayed at the Holiday Inn right off 95 in Richmond (visible from the highway) before......

[tmozer]

BTW, I time leaving from SC or NJ so that I reach Washington/Northern Va either long before or long after rush hour. But, I also try to reach that part of 95 before 9 pm to avoid the night time construction delays.

Sunday I left SC around 4 pm and it was perfect North bound. It looked like some delays South bound......

I would love to find another way (non-95/295) around DC. That is always the worst part of the trip even without any traffic delays.

[pamskis2]

We like to drive most of a day then stay over somewhere we would like to visit the next day, e.g. caverns in W. Virginia, or Williamsburg Va. After some sightseeing we continue our trip to MB. Safer, less tiring and more interesting that killing ourselves driving the whole way at one time.