I have driven to Sarasota Florida from Springfield Virginia in one day, twice, many years ago. You have too many people to drive to Tampa in one day. Plan on about 10 hours to drive to Jacksonville if you don’t stop to eat. I would recommend stoping for the night at st. Augustine or st. Augustine beach, which is slightly past Jacksonville. I would not suggest Amelia Island Florida because it is too far from I-95. The biggest problem was the road quality in South Carolina, which is roughly 200 miles long.

Doable. Drove home from key west in less than a day with covid

Florence, SC and Puller, GA (Savannah suburb right on I-95) are our usual places to stop for the night.

Big. Mistake.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would play it by ear. Your stop if you make one does not need to be a destination, just something clean, safe, and comfortable right off the highway. You can find it on the way if you decide you need to stop. Just see how you are feeling and make a game day decision.

When I was a kid my parents routinely did a 17-hr drive with no stops. They would pull off at a rest area and sleep for a few hours, then finish in the morning. That was insane, but they had no money, and that's what they did.

As an adult, I've routinely down 8 hrs as a day trip, and I think 10 would be fine. 13 is a lot, but it's entirely possible. But again, I say, don't decide now. Just see how it's going.

I highly discourage this. The last time I did this -- driving from New Orleans to DC -- it was a disaster. When I decided to stop, there were no rooms available. Drove to the next place with motels, nothing available. There was some big kids sports thing going on or something, and everything was booked for a good couple of hours. I ended up driving until like 2am exhausted and pissed off.

Much better to reserve something and avoid this problem.

PP who frequently drives straight through. Same thing happened to me. We did eventually find something but it was awful. We never played it by ear again.

Not a big deal at all with 2 drivers. It's 13 hours. This is like a nothing burger. So much better than splitting and having two crappy days on the road and in a crappy highway side hotel.

I've done it at night in a rain/snow storm and don't recommend it.

We drove to Ft. Lauderdale, which is further than Tampa, and back in 1 go without overnighting. Dh and I alternated driving. I wouldn’t drive it if only 1 person is driving. It also depends on the day, we were lucky to get there with no traffic. On way back got stuck in Georgia.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would play it by ear. Your stop if you make one does not need to be a destination, just something clean, safe, and comfortable right off the highway. You can find it on the way if you decide you need to stop. Just see how you are feeling and make a game day decision.

When I was a kid my parents routinely did a 17-hr drive with no stops. They would pull off at a rest area and sleep for a few hours, then finish in the morning. That was insane, but they had no money, and that's what they did.

As an adult, I've routinely down 8 hrs as a day trip, and I think 10 would be fine. 13 is a lot, but it's entirely possible. But again, I say, don't decide now. Just see how it's going.

I highly discourage this. The last time I did this -- driving from New Orleans to DC -- it was a disaster. When I decided to stop, there were no rooms available. Drove to the next place with motels, nothing available. There was some big kids sports thing going on or something, and everything was booked for a good couple of hours. I ended up driving until like 2am exhausted and pissed off.

Much better to reserve something and avoid this problem.

Personally I do long drives and would consider it, but I would start with the first leg and when I would be to the NC border. 6am might work but it depends on whether you are north or south of DC, what day of the week you are leaving, and how well a group that size can hit a scheduled departure time. If that turns into a 7:30 departure from Gaithersburg it would be a long day. After the NC border I feel less likely to hit a random hour long delay on 95

My parents always stopped in Beaufort, SC on their way to Florida. It's where the Big Chill and Prince of Tides were filmed. It's a gorgeous place and the loved the inn where they stayed.

So with 12 people that are all tweens or older, you're going to need at least 3 or 4 hotel rooms if you stop for the night.
If you're trying to stop at a popular place during a busy travel time it could be hard to find a hotel with that many vacant rooms same day/at the last minute.
Since everyone is reasonably old enough to handle a drive, I'd just try to power through. I'd leave earlier than 6 am though.

Anonymous wrote:there is the auto train from lorton to orlando

Which is crazy expensive

OP, I would play it by ear. Your stop if you make one does not need to be a destination, just something clean, safe, and comfortable right off the highway. You can find it on the way if you decide you need to stop. Just see how you are feeling and make a game day decision.

When I was a kid my parents routinely did a 17-hr drive with no stops. They would pull off at a rest area and sleep for a few hours, then finish in the morning. That was insane, but they had no money, and that's what they did.

As an adult, I've routinely down 8 hrs as a day trip, and I think 10 would be fine. 13 is a lot, but it's entirely possible. But again, I say, don't decide now. Just see how it's going.

My sister does it. But she loves driving and doesn't mind long road trips.

I would never ever drive that far in one day. It would be hellish for me.