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Question about traveling

MarcB

MarcB

Depending on when I get employment a couple of friends and I are talking about driving from Bristol, Connecticut to Jacksonville, Florida (and back) in February 2019. Although it will take longer driving, it most certainly will be cheaper than flying. Not to mention we can see more of the country and sample different radio stations, which brings this topic to broadcasting.

Now according to the Google Maps directions there are tolls along the way. (None in Connecticut where we live). No doubt some of these tolls are electronic and some aren't. I have two questions about tolls.

1. If there are electronic tolls and no lane to pay with cash, will they send a charge for the toll in the mail?

2. Is there anyway of calculating approximately how much the tolls will cost? Is it based on where you're going? Or is it based on the type of vehicle you have? It's definitely going to be an SUV and not a sedan.

We all will have money saved for this trip, but we like to budget extra for this and that.
 
MarcB said:
Depending on when I get employment a couple of friends and I are talking about driving from Bristol, Connecticut to Jacksonville, Florida (and back) in February 2019. Although it will take longer driving, it most certainly will be cheaper than flying. Not to mention we can see more of the country and sample different radio stations, which brings this topic to broadcasting.

Now according to the Google Maps directions there are tolls along the way. (None in Connecticut where we live). No doubt some of these tolls are electronic and some aren't. I have two questions about tolls.

1. If there are electronic tolls and no lane to pay with cash, will they send a charge for the toll in the mail?

2. Is there anyway of calculating approximately how much the tolls will cost? Is it based on where you're going? Or is it based on the type of vehicle you have? It's definitely going to be an SUV and not a sedan.

We all will have money saved for this trip, but we like to budget extra for this and that.
Click to expand...

1) Yes, you'll receive a bill in the mail for tolls - electronic tolls scan license plates, and the registered owner of the vehicle receives the bill. These are the highest rates, due to the paperwork involved. Least expensive tier is for EZPass or other local windshield-mounted transponder.

2) To calculate approximate toll, determine which tolled roads/bridges are along your route and go online -- most all of them have toll schedules. As for an SUV, most tolls are charged by axle - so it would cost no more than a regular sedan.

Via each toll website you can find out if the bridge or highway in question offers cash lanes. If you don't have a transponder, that's your best bet.

PS - Most of your tolls will be in NY, NJ, PA, DE and MD. Once you're south of DC, it's all free until you get to Florida. Even then, if you're going to Jax., it's not as bad as central Florida. TMK, the major freeways aren't tolled, so you can easily sidestep any roads they are.

Safe travels!

--Russell
 
Marc I thought you were over at the Price Chopper, what happened and where are you going to be next?
 
I'm pretty sure all tolls on I-95 have manned cash lanes. The only exceptions I've had in that area are the local exits from the Atlantic City Expressway or Garden State Parkway, which are only electronic for exact change or EasyPass in off hours.
 
Heretical idea. A quick check of Amtrak shows Bridgeport (picked at random in CT) to Jacksonville for $145. No tolls. No driving. And typically Amtrak seats are a lot better than an airline firs class seat.
 
As I said my friends and I are only in the preliminary talking stage of this trip. I mentioned it to one of them on Thursday as he's getting ready to head to Europe with his Mom and Brother for a couple of weeks. He told me sounds like it might be fun, but July is too early to think about February. Besides the fact that I'm still not working.

Despite only being in the preliminary talking stage my brain has already fast forwarded this to actually happen and so far twice I've had nightmares about the three of us dying in a fiery wreck somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line. I really don't know what I'm worried about for. One friend the one I hope will drive is a very good driver. I've ridden with him many times. The two accidents he was involved in in 2016 weren't his fault. Twice he was unlucky enough to get rear ended at a red light by someone who was texting whle driving - once while he was alone, driving his younger brother's car and once when he was a passenger when he was with a friend.

The other friend - meh, I'm not sure I trust him to drive us. I mean earlier this year he totaled his Mom's new used car 3 days after she got it. He told me he didn't even know how he managed to pull that off.

As for myself, I can drive fine, but I don't have the highway driving skills. Driving on the highway terrifies me. I only drove on the highway once with the driving instructor when I was learning how to drive back when I was in my early 20s. And then when I finally got my license I took a train to Philly rented a big SUV to drive to the suburbs and had an ever loving anxiety attack driving on I-76 from 30th Street Station to King of Prussia. Even when I got off the highway I still was having an anxiety attack. I remember stopping at the King of Prussia Mall using the men's room and getting a burger and a coke at BK. I remember I could barely swallow and threw out most of my burger and coke. I didn't calm down til I got to my hotel and into my room.

Two mistakes were made that day.

1. Driving on an unfamiliar highway when I only had my driver's license for 2 1/2 months. With no highway driving skills.
2. Driving on said highway with Power 99 the hip-hop station cranked up. I should've been listening to something like 97.5 the Smooth Jazz station. (That's what I had on when I drove back from KOP to 30th Street station).

What terrified me the most about I-76 was the fact that in places it was a narrow two lane highway with bumper to bumper traffic and it ran along the river. I was in a rented Chevy Trailblazer. I was terrified that something larger than me i.e. a Hummer H2 or an tractor trailer would shove me and my SUV into the river.
 
landtuna said:
There used to be a toll booth at the intersection of I-95 and I-64 in the middle of Richmond, VA. I am pretty sure it is still there.
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I think that have been gone for years.

I do remember needing a few quarters, nickles and dimes to get through Richmond on I-95 but that was long ago. I think the remnants of the toll machines might still be in the center median in a few selected spots.

I'd say the I-295 bypass on the east side of Richmond is a nicer drive.
 
MarcB said:
As for myself, I can drive fine, but I don't have the highway driving skills. Driving on the highway terrifies me.

.
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Once you get south of Richmond, and of course depending on time of day, I-95 is relatively easy to drive.

When I was teaching my wife to drive, we were doing a fair amount of DC-JAX driving and most of her early mileage was interstate during the less busy times. She probably had a thousand miles or more of interstate driving before she ever had any surface road driving.

Right now, I am working with youngest daughter, with her learner's permit and she has hours of I-95 driving time.

At least with the interstates, everyone should be going the same way, there are no cross streets, traffic lights and generally no stopped traffic, unless it is rush hour or a crash situation.
 
I don't know about the side trips, but we used to have somebody who made the trip from Boston to Cocoa Beach several times a year. The best answer after several of these was to use I-84 to I-81 down to SC and then cut south to I-95. Bypass the tolls. Bypass the traffic, and lots of really nice scenery.
 
K6JHU said:
I don't know about the side trips, but we used to have somebody who made the trip from Boston to Cocoa Beach several times a year. The best answer after several of these was to use I-84 to I-81 down to SC and then cut south to I-95. Bypass the tolls. Bypass the traffic, and lots of really nice scenery.
Click to expand...

I will assume that you probably mean I-81 to I-77 in Virginia and South Carolina, connecting to I-26 then to I-95 then south.

It has been a few years since I've done much I-81 driving, but there used to be a lot of tractor-trailer trucks using I-81 through Virginia.

I will agree with you the I-81 scenery beats I-95 by a long shot.
 
MarcB,

Just remember to watch your speed. I-95 is a huge money maker for the Peoples Democratic Republic of Virginia.
 
landtuna said:
MarcB,

Just remember to watch your speed. I-95 is a huge money maker for the Peoples Democratic Republic of Virginia.
Click to expand...

I won't be driving. I could make a smart-mouth remark, but I'll behave. RFLMAO. Whoa! Did Brammy just say he's going to behave? Is he high? LOL. No.

>>>>>>>>

I forgot to mention this. I'm sure some of you reading this are like "Whoa! Is Brammy crazy? Driving from Connecticut to Florida in February?" No. I'm not crazy. (Okay, that's debatable. LOL). The whole purpose of the trip, which is just in the peliminary stages at this point is to go see the Daytona 500 race. The reason we're going to Jacksonville is because the lodging is much cheaper there than in Daytona Beach proper. I was looking on Booking.Com and Trip Advisor and a lot of hotels are getting a grand a night the weekend of the race. Can you imagine? Staying at a Motel 6 and paying a grand a night? My friend was like "WTF? Are you kidding me?"
 
RadioFan2J3 said:

I will assume that you probably mean I-81 to I-77 in Virginia and South Carolina, connecting to I-26 then to I-95 then south.
It has been a few years since I've done much I-81 driving, but there used to be a lot of tractor-trailer trucks using I-81 through Virginia.
I will agree with you the I-81 scenery beats I-95 by a long shot.
Click to expand...
Yes, I-81 does not go through the Carolinas.
 
MarcB said:
I forgot to mention this. I'm sure some of you reading this are like "Whoa! Is Brammy crazy? Driving from Connecticut to Florida in February?" No. I'm not crazy. (Okay, that's debatable. LOL). The whole purpose of the trip, which is just in the peliminary stages at this point is to go see the Daytona 500 race. The reason we're going to Jacksonville is because the lodging is much cheaper there than in Daytona Beach proper. I was looking on Booking.Com and Trip Advisor and a lot of hotels are getting a grand a night the weekend of the race. Can you imagine? Staying at a Motel 6 and paying a grand a night? My friend was like "WTF? Are you kidding me?"
Click to expand...

That is one of the primary reasons NASCAR is in big financial trouble currently. Do you notice the number of empty seats at virtually every race now days? NASCAR used to try to keep those shots out of the TV frame but it isn't a secret any longer. It has gotten crazy expensive to attend one of the major tracks now with travel costs, motel, food and tickets. Back in the 70's it was possible to hit several races per year with the family but like Disneyland, it has gotten totally out of reach for most people now.

One of the other major reasons, which you will notice at Daytona, is restrictor plates on the engines. The cars are virtually identical these days and the restrictor plates reduce horsepower and acceleration so that it evens out the cars more than ever. It isn't unusual for long periods of racing to be follow the leader unless some poor sap pulls out of line and moves to the back causing chaos and "the big one". NASCAR races are not what they once were.

A suggestion though.....if you are making the trip down to Daytona you should try to stay for the major part of Speed Week if you can and not just the 500. The bike races and just people watching in the evening is something you will never see in staid, old Connecticut.
 
landtuna said:
That is one of the primary reasons NASCAR is in big financial trouble currently. Do you notice the number of empty seats at virtually every race now days? NASCAR used to try to keep those shots out of the TV frame but it isn't a secret any longer. It has gotten crazy expensive to attend one of the major tracks now with travel costs, motel, food and tickets. Back in the 70's it was possible to hit several races per year with the family but like Disneyland, it has gotten totally out of reach for most people now.

One of the other major reasons, which you will notice at Daytona, is restrictor plates on the engines. The cars are virtually identical these days and the restrictor plates reduce horsepower and acceleration so that it evens out the cars more than ever. It isn't unusual for long periods of racing to be follow the leader unless some poor sap pulls out of line and moves to the back causing chaos and "the big one". NASCAR races are not what they once were.

A suggestion though.....if you are making the trip down to Daytona you should try to stay for the major part of Speed Week if you can and not just the 500. The bike races and just people watching in the evening is something you will never see in staid, old Connecticut.
Click to expand...

Obviously I'm getting ahead of myself since I'm not working yet. The least expensive tickets I found for the Daytona 500 are $99 + tax each. Seems reasonable to me. That's one of the first things I'm going to buy when I get my job (along with a new phone. I wish I didn't need to buy a new phone. I just bought one with my tax refund in February 2017, but even though I can't use it for calls I use it as a stopwatch when I walk and when I was putting it in my pocket and I dropped it on the brick walkway in front of my house and cracked the screen. Whomever said the screens on Android phones don't crack are lying).

As for lodging part, there are a some questions I've gotta ask my friend next time I see him when he gets back from Europe. - First I've gotta find out if this other guy wants to go with us. When I mentioned it to him he was like "Gee I don't know. When I was younger I watched racing all the time. Now it's been several years". - When you were younger? It's been several years? You're 29 now! How old were you? - Then I should ask the first guy if his Mom belongs to any hotel rewards programs. His Mom retired from being a cheerleading coach when she turned 50 a couple years ago and as a cheerleading coach she used to travel several times a year. Then I gotta find out if they or he wants a smoking or non-smoking room. Very hard in 2019, I've already looked. If they need to smoke let them smoke in the SUV. (One actually doesn't smoke that much anyway, so maybe he won't need to during the 4 days). Hopefully I will be able to buy an SUV before the trip. I know someone at a dealership who told me he can get me a deal and help me get financing even with my messed up credit. My friend has an SUV he shares with his Mom (along with his own sedan). I don't know if she'll let him drive it 2000+ miles round trip. And she certainly doesn't allow him to smoke in it.


>>>>>>>

What I've noticed that hotels that still allow smoking many of them are lower class motels such as Econo Lodge, Quality Inn, and Super 8. And even with those chains still allowing smoking it's up to each individual motel owner. The first two being part of Choice Hotels and the latter part of Whyndham.
 
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