How long does it take you to drive to the beach?

[Mermaid]

We always get stuck in a monumental traffic jam in Nashville, so we can never make it to 30-A in less than 13 hours, even if we pull an all-nighter (I'm getting too old for those!).

Does anyone drive farther than us?

 

[wintersbk]

I'll let you know Saturday morning. We are leaving from Dallas on Friday night & lookling at a 14 hour trip. We'll see. It could be much longer than that if we can't find gas. :shock:

 

[Paula]

It takes us about 17 hours at least to get to SoWal from SouthEastern Michigan. And that's if we eat in the car for at least a few meals and stay within the speed limits. We're now switching to flying mostly because the drive each way involves an overnight stay at a hotel. By the time we pay for gas, hotel, food it makes flying sound better. Driving also takes a few days off our time in SoWal as well so we gain some vacation time if we fly. Kids are much happier if we fly rather than drive.

 

[RiverOtter]

Normally 6 hours but this one time .... "at band camp".... 5 1/2 hours

 

[Miss Kitty]

I'll let you know Saturday morning. We are leaving from Dallas on Friday night & lookling at a 14 hour trip. We'll see. It could be much longer than that if we can't find gas. :shock:

Are you doing what our family used to do??? Put sleeping kids in the car at 3:00 am, fill up thermos with coffee, eat junk in the car, pull into Destin and stop at the Walmart and Delchamps, arrive 13 hours later to sometimes find your house is not quite ready to move into, run down to the beach and smile...it's all good when your destination is SoWal!!!!

 

[Ocean Lover]

Our drive is 13.5-16 hours depending on the time we leave. If we leave at 9pm and drive all night we hardly stop at all during the night and get to SoWal by 10:30 or so. We lucked out this year and the condo was ready when we arrived. Normal check in was 4:00! We wouldn't have cared...we were at the beach and that's all that matters right? Now the drive home was another story....we left at noon (bad idea) lost an hour b/c of the time change, made way too many stops, spent 1/2 hour looking for a chik-fil-a and got home at 3:30am. Not fun.

 

[Smiling JOe]

When a friend of mine (who usu has no more than 2-3 days off at a time) from Atlanta, about 5.5 hours away, drives down, he tends to get a few hours of sleep, before starting his drive around 3:00am. With the time difference, he arrives around 7:00am central. That way he has an additional full day, rather than only part of a day.

 

[Landlocked]

3 hrs

 

[Mermaid]

It takes us about 17 hours at least to get to SoWal from SouthEastern Michigan. And that's if we eat in the car for at least a few meals and stay within the speed limits. We're now switching to flying mostly because the drive each way involves an overnight stay at a hotel. By the time we pay for gas, hotel, food it makes flying sound better. Driving also takes a few days off our time in SoWal as well so we gain some vacation time if we fly. Kids are much happier if we fly rather than drive.

Paula, what airport do you fly into? I'm thinking there will be times that we'd prefer to fly, but I'm not sure if it's better to go to Panama City Beach or Fort Walton Beach. Is it six of one/ half a dozen of the other?

 

[beachmouse]

Ten minutes to the Crystal Beach/Henderson Park area unless I get caught up at the light at US 98 and Danny Wuerffel.

The advantage of Ft. Walton Beach/VPS airport is that you get more carrier options and there are more Delta flights that are actually operated by Delta proper and not ASA (aka Satan's commuter airline as determined by a major customer satisfaction survey) Though given a choice, I really prefer Northwest and connecting through Memphis on the trips to Michigan to visit the parents.