Maine to HHI in February

Hi. Now that we have completed our most recent vacation, we are looking ahead to our next big trip.

Feb 28 - Mar 7 Monarch at Sea Pines
Mar 7 - Mar 11 Charleston

We've gotten into the habit of taking I-81 when heading down south, but just realized that our next trip is in February.

If you were driving this, which way would you go in February to get from Maine to SC?

If you were flying, which airport would you fly into?


Thanks.
NKN

How many hours a day do you drive? If you are taking 81 I assume quickest is not the #1 priority, if so the ocean route thru De/Md/Va and the bay bridge tunnel puts you at somewhat better odds of avoiding the slippery stuff. Getting thru or around NYC stinks unless you time it for the wee hours or a weekend. Once south of DC I 95 is generally good and the ocean route gets you on 95 on the Va/Sc border so you are well past all that nonsense. After years of driving to the keys from Long Island my experience is to be flexible and add another day on just in case....

We live in Sun City HHI and fly in and out of Savannah. We have a daughter in Cape Elizabeth Me so we fly Sav to Portland often.

Pardon, Va/Nc border.oops

Savannah airport is closer to HH but if you are spending your second week in Charleston, you may want to go in/out of Charleston. Hilton Head does have an airport but service is limited and typically more expensive than Charleston or Savannah.

We drive 295 to 95 to 495 to 290, Mass Pike to 84, Saw Mill River to 687 to Tappan Zee, NY Thruway north to Garden State, then NJ Turnpike to 95 again to the exit to HHI.

We leave either at 4 am to miss all the major rush hours, or at three pm and drive through the night.

I like the fact that you are already planning to get out of state next winter. We certainly had a bad one this year!

We too were traveling from the Northeast in February and AAA advised against it. Apparently I-81 is treacherous even if not snowing, prone to snow drifts and tractor trailer traffic in both lanes! We typically use I-95, which is marginally less risky, and time our departure so that we miss rush hour traffic in the major metropolitan areas. Works like a charm! I should mention that we make the drive in one straight shot -- three gas fill-ups and 16 hours later we're there! This drive isn't for the faint of heart but it works for us.

These were all great suggestions....thanks.

My husband grew up in Westchester County so, as a rule, NYC traffic doesn't bother him that much. But we have been known to take the I-287 route instead.

We no longer push ourselves to do 15-20 hour trips. On this trip we would have made two overnights, each way, dividing the days into nice 6-7 hour segments.

But, in the end, you helped convince my husband that we should fly this time. We can fly non-stop from Portland to Charlotte, NC and then rent a car for the rest of the trip. We decided we preferred this non-stop flight due to all the weather delays you can encounter in the winter. We wouldn't have connecting flights to worry about. You cannot always get a non-stop flight from Portland.

So, we will use his frequent flyer miles for the airfare and the money that would have gone towards gas and hotels will go towards the rental car.

It should work for us. The downside is we won't be able to take half the stuff we normally do, when we go by car.

Thanks again.

nkn

Enjoy the flight! Always nice to let someone else do the "driving"

I was going to suggest flying in and out of Charlotte. Great choice. You should have decent to good weather in both HHI and Charleston. Bring a variety of clothing.