jazzy3179

Hey All!

My family & I are leaving in a few days for MB. We are driving our Inifinti QX56 which is a pretty large SUV. This is our first long road trip down south. We are inexperienced drivers in mountains & hills. Chicago is as flat as you can get & I see rain in the forecast! I am really nervous. When I GPS the location, I get 3 different sets of directions. Any suggestions on which route is best? We don't want to stray off the highways since this is all really new to us. Thanks!!

Gretchen

Not to worry--really!!
I might suggest you come south from Chicago to Indianapolis, head east on I70 to Dayton. Take Rte 35 to hit Rte_23 (?)__ that drops straight south to Portsmouth Ohio. Take rte 52 along the Ohio River to Charleston. Take I77 south through WVA--it is a beautiful drive--long sweeping curves and NO drop-offs!!
In Charlotte
Take I485 around Charlotte to Route 74 East to Monroe
At Monroe, take 601 to 151 to Darlington SC
At Darlington take I95 NORTH (yes) for 3 exits to Rte 327 (this bypasses Florence!!).
Rte 327 turn left on Rte 376 which becomes Route 501 to take yo directly into MB,
I KNOW this sound complicated, but it is 4 lane all the way, and VERY direct.
To give you some times.
From Dayton to Charlotte is 6-7 driving hours.
From Charlotte to MB is 3.5 hours.

Gretchen

I will add that I like the I77 route a little better than coming down I75 which you also might have looked at and considered. I think it is a bit more of a hypotenuse (and I have done both a LOT of times) so may be a little quicker/shorter.

jazzy3179

Thanks for responding so quickly. You've given me much relief knowing that their are other alternatives!