Planning out each nights stay.
As our road trip from Ontario to Florida becomes more of a close reality, we are starting to finalize our itinerary.
We plan to only travel for 7hrs (give or take a little) each day. This puts us somewhere in West Virginia for night stay # 1 and somewhere Georgia for night stay # 2. Finally putting up in Florida by lunch on the third travel day.
We want to have our accommodations, reserved and preferably pre-payed before we set off on our 2000km journey to Florida, in a Journey. Figuring out where we will be staying is an important step in setting up our itinerary.
Night # 1 Somewhere in West Virginia
My original plan was to stay in Beckley, WV. it seems like a nice town from what I gather online. After checking the maps and routing the whole trip to Florida, I decided on Summersville, WV which is approximately 7-7.5 hours from Hamilton, On.
While researching things to do in Summersville, WV I kept coming up with Squat (that is kid friendly). There seems to be some haunted tours, Jail tours, and lots of parts and water attractions, however none seem to be kid friendly, or fit within our timeline of stay.
I started looking on the map for places that were closer to Ontario about a half hour or so driving time, and there’s just small town after small town.
Night # 1 Hopefully finalized in Beckley, WV
I eventually ended up back in Beckley which is about an hour South of Summersville. This is a larger town, with what seems to be more things going on.
a couple things that pop up when searching for things to do in Beckley is the Beckley Fire Department which I have to research a little more, perhaps they have tours for the kids? And there is a Youth Museum, which kind of sold me on the extra hours drive. There is also an old mining tour, which could be interesting. The last mining tour i was on is when I did a road trip to Newfoundland in 2001 and Visited Bell Island. Im sure the kids would like to see this so maybe a tour of the mien as well if time permits.
Leaving in the early morning (around 4:00am) and driving for approx 4 hours or so (half the days travel) will put us somewhere near Pittsburgh, PA. This gives us a great time to wake the kids if they have hopefully slept all night, and perhaps check out some sights in Pittsburgh, grab some breakfast and grab some snacks for the road.
My hope is to arrive in Beckley, WV around Lunch time (or shortly after) have a picnic lunch somewhere, and check in to our first hotel and get settled quickly. hopefully leaving ample time to checkout the town a little bit and visit the youth museum before dinner.
Night # 2 in Savannah Georgia
We plan to stay in Hotels that offer free breakfast, so after a quick bite to eat, we can hopefully be back on the road in the early morning.
Savannah, GA. is approx 7 hours from Bekley, WV. This will put us there around 5pm if we leave at 9 with minimal stops along the way.
Leaving at 4am isn’t really a good option for day 2 travels as we want to get a good nights sleep and be fully rested for the next day. This however can be perhaps a 6:00 wake up and on the road by 7 I know that’s pushing it (giving us a final arrival for 3 PM in Savannah.) We will be able to quickly check into the hotel, and find a place to eat.
seeing as we will be picnic lunching the whole way down, a nice sit down dinner is what we would like to have. Being able to checkout the town while there would be great as I’m sold Savannah is a great place to visit.
Day 3 – Are we there yet?!
From Savannah to Hilton Grand Resorts at Sea world is approximately 4.5 hours. Getting up super early isnt a necessity on day 3. The kids will be cranky getting into the car by now im sure. I know I will be, but the destination is in sight. By Lunch time we should be in Orlando, FL. However check in is kind of late at this resort. That’s Ok, it will be Saturday when we arrive and we can look around town to see whats around. We will have to do some grocery shopping at this point, however i assume the car will be backed to the brim. So once check in happens we can unload and head to a grocery store.
The resort has Full kitchen and laundry facilities in the room, so we don’t need to eat out from this point on wards in our week. Stock up the fridge with food and we’ll be good for the week.
Arrival Scheduled for Sat Oct 20, 2018
Once we are settled into the resort we will have only 1 planned outing (as of right now) to Magic Kingdom, and having lunch with Mickey for my sons 5th Birthday (which will be 1 month in the past at this point). This will take place on the Monday of our stay. We will be looking for day trips to do while we are in Orlando. I’m sure we’ll want to checkout the beach (Daytona? or Cocoa beach) both are about an hour away, however Cocoa seems to be close to the Kennedy Space center. I might have to see if they do tours or anything for the kids while we are there.
Im still trying to decide on a route back. Do I stop in the same towns? This will give us more time in Savannah and Orlando on our last Saturday (leaving later in the day from Orlando and arriving in Savannah only 4 hours later) or do We travel 7 hours North and find a new spot to stay in on the way home that is somewhere between Savannah and Beckley?
Let me know in the comments below, what route you would take on the way home. Is there any other cities or towns that we should check out on the way home?
I think the next post might be something about getting our vehicle ready for the trip.