Miami to Chicago in March

[aussie adventurer]

Hi there
My husband and I are planning to visit the US in March 2016 and are considering doing a road trip from Miami to Chicago leaving from Miami in early March. We have previously (a lifetime ago) done a road trip from New York to San Francisco via the south and thought it would be a good opportunity to see something different. We will be visiting family in Chicago and surrounding areas and plan to head on over to Niagara falls and into Canada by the end of March.
We are used to long distances (it's a 12 hr drive to visit our daughter which we do in one day) but would like to experience the country and its people so would prefer to avoid major highways if possible.
We live in rural Queensland so not too fussed on big cities.
I'm not sure what the weather would be like at that time of year. Will there likely be a lot of snow around and would this make driving a bit tricky? My husband is an experienced driver of all types of vehicles up to road trains but has not done much driving in snowy conditions before. Plus, we are used to driving on the left hand side of the road.
We will probably allow about a week for the road trip and would appreciate any suggestions.
thanks
aussie adventruer

[Lifemagician]

Hi, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

You can drive the trip in three days, so with a week you will have time to detour off the highway. Have you been to FL before. If not, I would take a little time to go down the keys to Key West, with a little sightseeing that can be done in six hours or so. Then right nearby is the Everglades NP, which is also worth spending a few hours in. You can drive through most of it, and there are a few boardwalks, where alligators can usually be seen.

From there you could take the Tanamiami Trail or Allogator Alley to the west coast and head up I-75 to Ocala. At that point you can pick up Alt27 to Tallahassee. It is still a very fast speed limit, but a lovely trip through a few small towns. Or you could head up US1 from Homestead through Miami and Ft Lauderdale - actually, depending on the time of day and day of week, you would be better taking I-95 till well north of Ft Lauderdale - and then change to US1 alternating that with A1A along the coast. Both are scenic routes, although US1 gets busy at peak hour and A1A can be very slow along the beach..

In Ft Pierce on US1, there is the Arcade building with the most magnificent murals. Well worth a stop. A little further up is the Kennedy Space Centre. If you are interested, allow at least a day there. Continue on along US1 to St Augustine, a very interesting historical city, and Daytona and the speed track. There is even a beach where you can drive on the beach.

From there you can make your way through Georgia, avoiding Atlanta. But here too, route US1 is quite scenic, as are many others.

Do you have any good paper maps of all these States. If you don't it would pay you to get a road atlas click on maps and atlasses. (only takes a couple of weeks to get to you) and you can check out all these roads. In the atlas all the scenic routes are marked as well as most of the historical, scenic, nature and other attractions.

That should get you started.

Lifey

[AZBuck]

Working your way north from Florida, there are several scenic byways that you can string together as part of a non-urban route. You should also try to avoid the Appalachians and push your drive as late into March as you can due to the succession of winter storms that has been occurring in the Midwest and along the east coast. So wit those thoughts in mind (and, as Lifey suggests, an atlas in your hands) you can plot out a route that includes Talladega Scenic Drive, the northern end of the Natchez Trace Parkway, Woodlands Trace, and parts of both the Great River Road and Historic Route 66.

Those aren't the only scenic roads available to you, just some of the better known. Most maps will indicate scenic roads with a parallel green dotted or dashed line, and many roads that require speeds below Interstate standards are interesting in their own right. The US or Federal highway system is a great example. These were the major roads connecting various areas of the country before the coming of the Interstates, and they're still out there, only now they have a lot less traffic on them. Take a look at US-431 through Alabama, US-41 through Tennessee and Kentucky, and US-51 through Illinois would both get you from one scenic byway to another, and let you make good time when you needed to, all while avoiding large cities (for the most part) and Interstates.

AZBuck