Chicago round trip

[glc]

Joplin has a bunch of hotels and restaurants at Exit 8. A bit pricey, but I can highly recommend the Drury Inn. The Hampton Inn across the street is also good, Chick Fil-A, Outback Steakhouse, and Olive Garden are literally right next door.

[Mark Sedenquist]

A bit pricey, but I can highly recommend the Drury Inn.

Just an aside, here -- The Drury Inn hotels chain is one of the best in the country. Whenever our travels take us anywhere near a Drury, we make a point of staying there.

I have not stayed in one post-pandemic, but prior to that, they served a light "snack" in the evening that constituted an entire meal for us. We always ate "dinner" from the "snack" buffet.

I would be very curious to discover if they are still serving the "snack meal."

Mark

[stuarta]

Ok sorry you guys are gonna hate me. Wife just been reading her Texas book and realised Houston an option so still looking at Nashville to Nashville, but this time doing Houston after Dallas and heading back through Baton Rouge.

Reading that Memphis/Graceland can be a bit rough so probably going to try and do Nashville to Little Rock with Graceland stop on the way.

Need to work out stopovers between Houston and Lynchburg.

Sat - Land Nashville airport
Sun - Little Rock
Mon - Dallas
Tue - Dallas
Wed - Houston
Thu - Houston
Fri - Baton Rouge?
Sat - Meridian?
Sun - Lynchburg area
Mon - Nashville
Tue - Nashville
Wed - Home

Also what's the verdicts with car hire companies is there a shortage of cars like over here? We normally use Alamo and had no issues while Avis we had ants in a Mustang once and a old Passat that broke down. Alamo is quite a bit more and British Airways uses Budget but heart saying Alamo.

[glc]

I would be very curious to discover if they are still serving the "snack meal."

Mark

Yes. Hot breakfast too.

https://www.druryhotels.com/menu

[stuarta]

I'm a Hilton and IHG member so most the hotels I've looked at have been Holiday Inn Expresses to be honest

[Mark Sedenquist]

Also what's the verdicts with car hire companies is there a shortage of cars like over here? We normally use Alamo and had no issues while Avis we had ants in a Mustang once and a old Passat that broke down. Alamo is quite a bit more and British Airways uses Budget but heart saying Alamo.

Supply chain issues with rental cars has been largely resolved. I've rented a variety of cars from various places recently--no shortage.

My vote is always going to be National Car Rental. (Yes, they are no longer independent) but their cars are ALWAYS clean with good maintenance. Enterprise Holdings now owns National Car Rental, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo Rent a Car and National Car Rental.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm a Hilton and IHG member so most the hotels I've looked at have been Holiday Inn Expresses to be honest

Me too. Which is why I am going to suggest again that at least one night you give Drury a try. They have a very generous affiliate program too.

Mark

[Midwest Michael]

Honestly, it seems like with your latest loop, you're once again back to really trying to squeeze 15 pounds of trip back into a 10 pound can again. You've completely removed Memphis from your plans and instead of doing a lot of driving for a pretty small amount of time in Chicago, now you're doing just as much - if not even a little more - driving for rushed trips through Dallas and Houston.

Basically, what you've listed off certainly isn't impossible, but it sounds pretty exhausting and not very rewarding in my book. I'd still recommend focusing on either Tennessee or Texas, but ultimately, that's still your call.

Personally, for car rental I prefer to use Hertz, because I really like being able to pick my own car - especially now that I've got top tier status, where I've gotten some very nice cars for the price of a mid-sized sedan rental. I probably use Budget/Avis a bit more, however, because I tend to find better deals with them. I've never had a problem with either - although my last time at Budget/Avis, I did go back and demand a different car because the Chevy Malibu they assigned me was beat to hell. Whoever you rent with, being signed up for the loyalty program where you can skip the line is very valuable in my book. More than once that's saved me at least an hour of time.

[glc]

Hampton Inn is a Hilton property, they are generally quite good.

I generally use Avis because they give good deals to AARP members. I can book them through the AARP website. Up to 30% discount on base rate, free 1 class upgrade, and 1 free additional driver.

[stuarta]

Ok thanks so sounds like I don't need to pay premium of Alamo.

With regards to the trip Midwest Michael, yup we do seem to have consolidated it back up but I actually enjoy the driving, more so than in the UK.

I think I worked out around 5hrs from Nashville to Little Rock with around 4hrs to look around Graceland in between. Another 5 to get to Dallas so would have the afternoon and full day to go to Dealey Plaza and look around. 4hrs down to Houston so again get there early afternoon then a full day at Johnson. Unknown where to stop on the way back but so far for 4hrs to Baton Rouge and another to Meridian just as night stops. Then 5 to Lynchburg, couple hours to do Jack Daniels tour and stop. Then short hop into Nashville for most the day and another full day. Looking at staying in downtown with the Ryman, Music Hall of Fame and Opry being the main sites