Road Trip to North MB
 

I'll be driving from Columbus, OH with infant and read the "BEST ROUTE " question below with interest. Does any one know the time difference between taking I-77-to Columbia, SC -to NMB versus the short cut described? I am also interested in the difference between rest stops. Thanks.

Joe,<BR><BR>I estimate the Charlotte-to-Columbia-to NMB is going to take you 4 to 4.5 hours (excluding stops). The short-cut will take about 3.5 hours. <BR><BR>On the interstates, I believe there is a rest area no more than every 60 miles. Generally, there are also gas stations or fast food places no more than every 20 or 30 miles. <BR><BR>Same for the short-cut except that there are no official rest areas--just gas stations and fast food places. From Charlotte, you'll find those in Lancaster, McBee, Hartsville, Darlington, Florence, and Aynor before you hit NMB.<BR><BR>To confuse matters further, I got to thinking about your route from Columbus. You could get off I-77 above Mt. Airy NC and take 52 South (a good highway) to I-40 East in Winston-Salem. Then take 220 South before you get to Greensboro. Take 220 to the Highway 74 (East) by-pass around Rockingham, and then get on I-95 South from 74. I-95 has very easy access to North Myrtle Beach, via Highway 9 South, as I believe I described in the earlier post. <BR><BR>The advantage of this route is avoiding Charlotte, avoiding lots of Interstate traffic, and a more direct flow into NMB. Highway 52 is four lanes, divided; same for most of 220; and 74 is mutli-lane, divided highway too. Probably more than half of Highway 9, the smallest highway, is four lanes and divided as well. Now that I think about it, this might be a good route for you. The only possible drawback is construction on I-40 between Winston-Salem and Greensboro, but I still think it would be the easiest route for you. Rest Stops? Basically the same deal as for the other two routes--more fast food places and gas stations than rest areas.

What's MB? I'm on the west coast and when I saw the header, I thought you were referring to Monterey Bay or Morro Bay. It would be great if posters wouldn't use abbreviations in their headers.

I didn't see the shortcut you mentioned, but I agree with any route that allows you to avoid Charlotte. Horrible traffic there.

Vague: I agree about using abbreviations in headers; some of them have me baffled as well, but not this one, because I live in SC:<BR> MB = Myrtle Beach<BR> NMB = North Myrtle Beach