udonkey Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 4 buddies and I will be making the trip from Cincinnati to Daytona Beach for the Daytona 500 in February. Our original plan was to drive down Friday, stay with friends, then drive back Monday. Turns out that our free lodging fell through, so now we're deciding what we want to do. The plan so far is to pick a city on the way down, drive there Friday, party, then drive on down to Jacksonville/Daytona Beach on Saturday where we'll stay in a hotel (most likely Jacksonville, as Daytona will be expensive and probably mostly booked). Any suggestions on what cities along the way to stop in? Preferably college towns (we're all ~25) and relatively close to I-75. Right now Atlanta is at the top of the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Savanah and Charleston are fun towns. Just about every town off 95 in Florida is a good time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taterhill Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 fly to Amsterdam... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVUFootball29 Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 Jacksonville itself is a pretty fun time and everything should be busy eventhere due to the 500...just make sure you leave early that morning...traffic will be horrendous. The last time I went and stayed outside of Daytona it took us nearly 4 hours from Orlando to Daytona. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Atlanta can be a marvelous town. Lots of colleges and Buckhead area can be terrific. Me, I'd rather stop in Savannah or Charleston or for you, maybe Asheville if you come through 40 and down 26. Have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlegm Alley Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 Why not drive staight down and spend an extra day at a beach. Cocoa beach is pretty nice and I'm sure you could score some pretty nice tail down there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 fly to Amsterdam... Do they have direct flights or do you have to fly into Ballston Spa?... God how I hate that trip down route 67... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier in france Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Charleston is a good suggestion that's sure. And you must have Knoxville on your road too no? I have great memories of the night i spent there back in 93 or 94 ... For young bachelors it can be quite a destination! The wildest night i ever spent (and yes i spent quite a bit that day!) in the US! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 Any suggestions on what cities along the way to stop in? Preferably college towns (we're all ~25) and relatively close to I-75. Right now Atlanta is at the top of the list. Excuse me, could you please tell me how to get back on the express way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
udonkey Posted February 14, 2007 Author Share Posted February 14, 2007 Plans are finalized and we leave in less than 2 days... Friday night in ATL Saturday and Sunday, staying in Orlando (6 miles from U of Central Florida campus, ~60 miles from Daytona Beach) Good times, no doubt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In space no one can hear Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Why not drive staight down and spend an extra day at a beach. Cocoa beach is pretty nice and I'm sure you could score some pretty nice tail down there as well. BINGO!! This is the advice to follow-IMHO. With so many drivers-why stop? Have fun! (P.S. Watch out for runaway U-Hauls) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
udonkey Posted February 20, 2007 Author Share Posted February 20, 2007 So we got back this morning ~12:30am after a LOOOOOONG drive back. Fortunately, we managed to miss most of ATL rush hour (fortunately it was President's Day) and were only stuck there for around an hour. Friday, we rented a van and drove straight to Atlanta. Checked into our hotel in downtown, and went straight to a bar district recommended by a friend that lives there (Highland Ave). First stopped at a quaint little Irish pub called Limerick Junction. After sitting down and having a few drinks, we decided that the only thing missing, which would make this place a really fun atmosphere, was live music...not 5 minutes later, an Irish folk singer took the stage with his guitar. We knew right then that we weren't going anywhere else. ~$500 later (5 of us), we were closing down the bar and headed back to our hotel...we did Friday on the cheap, so we only had 1 room - 2 double beds with 5 guys, so needless to say, that place smelled BAD when we checked out Saturday morning. Saturday, drove to Orlando, where we checked into our hotel right near the University of Central Florida. After making a run to Wal-Mart to get the necessities for the race, we went exploring to find some food. The plan was to find a nice seafood place, but we couldn't find anything in the UCF area besides Red Lobster and similar chains. Ended up eating and having a few beers, then decided to head back to the hotel, as 3/5 were still pretty hungover from the plethora of car bombs the night before. Sunday...the race was AWESOME. A little disappointing that the weather sucked - it was around 60 degrees with no wind, but the 20-30mph winds made it feel like the 40s, but we made the most of it. The Stewart wreck and the one at the end were on the opposite side of the track, but we still had a pretty good view for some great action on the back stretch. Sat directly behind a guy wearing a Bills hat, with a guy in a Sabres jacket in the section right next to me. Fortunately to the Patriots fans sitting in front of me (and next to the other Bills fan), I wasn't doing much drinking The only hang up for the weekend was the drive home from the race...what should've been an hour drive from Daytona Beach back to Orlando turned into ~3 hours of being parked on I-4. Surprisingly, traffic wasn't too bad considering NORMAL circumstances, but it turns out that a road rage incident involving a car of Nascar fans and a car of thugs turned into someone getting shot and killed, which shut the highway down completely. http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJour...ws/shooting.htm By the time we made it back to the hotel, it was after 1:30am - we had originally been planning on leaving ~6am Monday. We all slept in til about 9, then headed back...after a few stops, but a steady 80-85mph cruise setting, we made it back to my house ~12:30am this morning. Needless to say, I'm glad that I don't work today. Looking forward to my next race, the Brickyard 400 in July! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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