Miami to Chicago

[mrbeef]

Hello everyone!

Me & a few mates have booked a trip to the States this July. We're starting in Miami & ending up in Chicago, looking to spend about 10 days or so for the drive.

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions/advice/ideas/info.....anything really.

Thanks for your help!

[AZBuck]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America forums!

Unfortunately, this is not a place to come for someone to chart your trip for you. In fact, if you read through the many, many planning links and thousands of forum threads you will quickly see that the philosophy of the RoadTrip community is that such ventures are highly individualistic and are best when planned by the people making the journey and with their own tastes, interests and desires firmly in mind. You've told the people you are asking advice from exactly nothing about those factors. So all anyone can do is give you the most general of advice. Sit down with your friends and some good maps of the U.S., take the RoadTrip Compatibility Quiz, decide what you want out of this trip, start marking places on the map that meet your goals, and then 'connect the dots'. That will at least get you started and help ensure that this trip meets your needs.

AZBuck

[mrbeef]

Apologies for not being more specific.

There's 6 of us going on the trip. We're looking to (have apparently sorted out already) hiring a Dodge Durango for the drive.

We're all aged between mid 20s & early 30s. Generally we'll be looking for places that are good for socializing - good bars, places to see some live music, clubs etc. We're not exclusively going for the party though - scenic routes would be great as well as general places of interest.

So far we're stopping in Atlanta for a Baseball game (probably just 1 night), a night in Mcdonough (Georgia - one of us has some relatives there!). There's also a suggestion of going to the Jack Daniels distillery.

Sorry if any of this is too vague! We're in the process of planning this & are all ears for any suggestions!

[mrbeef]

Oh yeah, I should probably mention that we're not equipt for camping

[AZBuck]

Welcome to the RoadTrip America forums!

You could possibly make it all the way to McDonough/Atlanta in one day's very hard drive with an early (dawn) start and sticking to the Interstates, but that would still get you in way too late to see a game. So to set the tone for the rest of the trip, I'd suggest taking two days to get up there, maybe using US-41 which parallels I-75 from time to time to get a feel for the countryside and towns you're driving through. A couple of possible stops on the way up (although they're a bit off the direct route) would be Kennedy Space Center and Okefenokee Swamp.

After a night in Atlanta, the next day would be up into Tennessee with a 'time out' for the Jack Daniels tour. We have had a few people comment favorably on this, but it does mean that one of the older members of your group is going to have to volunteer to stay dry and be the designated driver, as I'm assuming that you won't want to pay the extra $25/day for any drivers under 25 to be listed as eligible to drive the rental. It's not that far to Nashville which would make another great overnight stop with plenty of music, bars and night life.

You could also make it from Nashville to Chicago in a day if you don't party too hard the night before and get an early start. But that would mean minimal stops along the way. If you get a late start and/or want to visit Mammoth Cave on the way, then you'll need another night's stop with Indianapolis or a college town like West Lafayette (Purdue) fitting the bill. By the way, just a thought: plan on taking two motel rooms each night both to give everybody a decent shot at the shower and a good night's sleep, but also to allow you all to change the 'buddy' arrangements in case you get on each other's nerves.

AZBuck

[mrbeef]

Thanks a million for your suggestions mate, really appreciated.

I'm doing my best to lay out at least a vague plan for our trip. It's been suggested that Memphis would be a better place to visit than Nashville. If we went that way it would probably mean we'd lose out on our Jack Daniels pilgrimage!!

At the moment our roadtrip is looking something like this (I got the car journey times from google maps):

Miami > Orlando = 3 hours 39 mins
Orlando > Savannah = 4 hours 21 mins
Savannah > McDonough = 3 hours 21 mins
McDonough > Atlanta = 0 hours 39 mins
Atlanta > Memphis = 6 hours 7 mins
Memphis > St Louis = 4 hours 32 mins
St Louis > Chicago = 4 hours 55 mins

All journey times will probably be increased by an hour or so in practice due to toilet/lunch/gasoline breaks along the way.

....I really wish we had more time for all of this! Retched annual leave limitations!