Driving to Florida?

[Anonymous]

Talk me down (or don't) - we (me, husband, almost 5-year-old and 6-month old, both of whom love the car) need to be in Tampa next weekend. Flights come to at least $850. Looks from Mapquest and GPS to be a 15-hour drive, fuel cost ~ $150. Getting to airport plus flight time plus getting to destination from airport is about six hours. Am I crazy for wanting to drive instead? Has anyone done this? Do you have any advice for me?

[Anonymous]

OP here - we are planning to drive at night. They both sleep from about 8 pm to about 6 am, which almost gets us there.

[Anonymous]

I've done it, but without kids. Just make sure you aren't the type who nods off at the wheel. And I'd add at least a 1/3 more time to the time estimate for travel, for unexpected stops, etc. I think the six month old would be easy, but woudl the 5 year old sleep very well in a car seat/booster?

[Anonymous]

We did this when DC was one. Not terrible but we did stop frequently to let him walk around....I probably would not do it again unless I was going to stop half way (in Savannah for example). you will be exhausted the next day for sure....I was just looking for flights to Tampa in July and usair has $69 each way from national airport. this would be on a wednesday though....

[Anonymous]

You are not crazy at all. When I was 33 weeks pregnant my DH and I got on the Honda wheels to Amelia Is. It took us 10:45 hs. Once in Amelia Is. and having slept in a nice, very affordable hotel, we hit the road to Tampa. It took us 5 hours.

[Anonymous]

We have driven to to north-central Florida (2 hours north of Tampa) two times, and it takes us between 14-16 hours door to door, including stops. (We go early morning to evening because we'd have trouble staying awake at night, though I certainly see the appeal of driving while the kids sleep!) It's a long trip, and at least in our case, it's manageable--though for me adding 2 more hours (to get all the way to Tampa) might just about kill me!

[Anonymous]

How about taking the Auto Train?
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Vertical_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081256321200&ssid=136

[Anonymous]

Is flying to Ft Myers instead of Tampa an option for you? With just two days notice for a funeral last week, we booked round-trip tickets from Reagan to Ft Myers for $170 per person (AirTran) and then rented a car. We found that flying into Ft Myers instead of Tampa at this time of year was much cheaper. Best of luck---hope you find a good option that isn't too draining.

[Anonymous]

Auto train is just as much (if not more) than flying and renting a car. We've driven to Orlando twice with our kids (twins under 5) and it's been pretty easy. We leave at 5am and drive through the day.

Pack lots of snacks, videos and new toys to keep them busy.

[Anonymous]

I did this a couple of years ago when my very active boys were about 4 and 7. We left after school and drove to North Carolina and then did the rest of the drive starting the next morning. On the way home, we found a hotel with a swimming pool that was a bit over halfway home. It was fine. We took the portable DVD player and toys. I also took some books and read to them. We stopped at McDonalds, which we only ever do on long car trips. It was fine. If I were faced with $850 plane tickets versus the cost of driving, I'd do the drive again in a second.

[Anonymous]

I personally would never do this, but that's my own situation. In addition to the other airlines suggestions above, check out Southwest. They have direct flights from Dulles (and maybe BWI too - not sure).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally would never do this, but that's my own situation. In addition to the other airlines suggestions above, check out Southwest. They have direct flights from Dulles (and maybe BWI too - not sure).

I thought the same thing about recommending flying SW - and since it's a short flight you probably don't need to pay for seats for the baby since he/she is under 2.

However, SW departing from Dulles sometimes doesn't offer the cheap-o rates...something quirky with the gate fees, but flying out of BWI will usually get you a good deal.

If your heart is still set on driving, I would caution against falling asleep at the wheel. I95 South is a long, boring, mundane stretch of interstate. You can count the Pedro signs, but when it's 3am and dark and quiet it's hard not to nod off - we drove to Chicago overnight and, oh boy, that OH Turnpike is sooo boring.

As for the kids - the baby would probably be ok, but I can see the older one getting fidgety/waking up/needing to stretch - even if he/she has always been good in the car.

[Anonymous]

Try priceline and see if you can get a cheaper rate or change your days somewhat. If that isn't feasible then don't try to do it all in one stretch. Maybe leave right after the 5 yr. old gets out of school and drive 5 hours then stay at a hotel over night and finish the next day. And on the way back do 2 days coming back also.

My question is, have you ever driven that long of a distance before, if not, or if you or hubby tend to get sleepy on long car trips, I wouldn't risk it with kids. It's one thing to fall asleep and have an accident with yourself, another to put your kids in danger. I've considered driving to FL many times since the little one came, but my hubby gets sleepy at the wheel so it's not worth it to me to risk it.

[Anonymous]

Growing up we did this all.the.time. My parents were too cheap to fly us down to visit relatives 1-2 times a year so we drove. We'd leave early in the morning and usually arrive in the very late evening or around midnight. It was a haul, and this is when we were older, making hardly any stops except for lunch, dinner, gas, and bathroom breaks. I think it would be pretty hard to drive straight through with small kids.

When we were younger, we did the drive but broke it up by spending the night halfway (usually around South of the Border or somewhere in S. Carolina at a motel). It adds time but not too much extra $ to your trip.

I don't think you're crazy for wanting to drive - it would save a lot of $ - but you will need to add in a decent amount of extra time if you're going with little ones.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks to everyone for all the advice! I did check out Southwest, they have direct flights from Dulles and BWI and they are the cheapest but it is still a lot of money. It turns out that my SIL's kids are both sick this weekend so we are going for Memorial Day weekend instead - but leaving Thursday evening and coming back Sunday evening.

My husband and I do long drives a lot - have driven to Vermont, Montreal, Cape Cod, multiple times each. And I myself drove from Toronto to Yankee Stadium in one day, practically by myself, and then went to a Pink Floyd concert! We haven't driven through the night but we'll give it a shot and if we're too tired to continue through the night we'll get a hotel.

Thanks again to everyone!