Driving from Dallas to St. George Island, FL (near Destin)

[Jameslaw121 4448]

We have a beach house rented for the week of July 5th. It's about a 14 hour drive and it's me, wife, 6 yea old bow and 1 year old girl. Ideally, I would like to leave early on the 4th and stop somewhere for the night about 4-6 hours away from St. George. It would be great if I could find fireworks, but mostly, I want to get the kids out of the car doing something fun for a few hours before we go to sleep. 

[LonghornJones 837]

Yes?

[Jameslaw121 4448]

Sorry... Any suggestions in where to stop

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[baboso 6057]

Pensacola is your best bet.

[StruggleBus 3922]

I'd stop at the airport and get on an airplane. 

[6th Street 6508]

56 minutes ago, Jameslaw121 said:

We have a beach house rented for the week of July 5th. It's about a 14 hour drive and it's me, wife, 6 yea old bow and 1 year old girl. Ideally, I would like to leave early on the 4th and stop somewhere for the night about 4-6 hours away from St. George. It would be great if I could find fireworks, but mostly, I want to get the kids out of the car doing something fun for a few hours before we go to sleep. 

You crazy - we have an 18 mo old and no way he would sit in the car that long 

[conVINCEd 21469]

Get a carafe of coffee for you and some Dramamine for the kids.  Leave around dinner time and drive straight through.  Kids sleep while you drive and they wake up around the time you arrive.

[StruggleBus 3922]

3 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

Get a carafe of coffee for you and some Dramamine for the kids.  Leave around dinner time and drive straight through.  Kids sleep while you drive and they wake up around the time you arrive.

If you are set on driving, this is the way to do it. As long as you can drive through the night without putting your family at risk.

[DDD Dad 14351]

2 hours ago, Jameslaw121 said:

We have a beach house rented for the week of July 5th. It's about a 14 hour drive and it's me, wife, 6 yea old bow and 1 year old girl. Ideally, I would like to leave early on the 4th and stop somewhere for the night about 4-6 hours away from St. George. It would be great if I could find fireworks, but mostly, I want to get the kids out of the car doing something fun for a few hours before we go to sleep. 

We made this trip lots of times over the years while the kids were growing up.  Most years we'd stop in Baton Rouge to split up the drive (take 20 to Shreveport and then go down through Alexandria rather than 45 to Houston).  With a relatively early start that gets you to BR by dinner time.  A couple of times we would go all the way into New Orleans and make it a double destination trip (spend a little time in NOLA that evening and next morning before getting back on the road), but the drive into and out of New Orleans adds a lot of time with traffic and extra miles.  

Other than that there's really no particularly great place to stop along the way.  Mostly just your standard Motel 6 and Waffle House places as food and lodging options.

Edited November 6, 2019 by DDD Dad

[Dr Fear 1268]

If you are at all interested in aircraft, the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola is a must visit.

[baboso 6057]

Getting through Baton Rouge anymore is a nightmare.

[Brew 3049]

We’ve been taking long road trips with our kids since they were little without doing overnight drives and it’s never been an issue. Stop every few hours for bathrooms and food, let them run for a little while, and then right back on the road. We also always found it harder on them to stop overnight because they never got settled which kept us from getting much sleep. Our trip is 14 hours plus a time change and we just leave at 5-6 and drive the whole thing. They are older now, but we are getting ready to make the 4th and 5th trips of the year to the beach house with them at Thanksgiving and Christmas and we’ll just drive it.

[Jameslaw121 4448]

We've done some sort of trip like this every year for awhile. Driving's never been an issue. I actually like the overnight driving. a couple of years ago, I was in San Antonio for work, drove from there back to Dallas, picked up the family and drove to the Florida/Alabama state line. Once the kids were asleep in was pretty relaxing for me, just listened to baseball until around midnight, then podcast.

[Jameslaw121 4448]

This year is kinda weird because it's the weekend of the 4th. So we essentially have an extra day. I was thinking taking an extra day of driving, but stopping at a lot of places along the way. Just not sure of anything that's worth stopping at

 

[Jameslaw121 4448]

Mobile would be a pretty good stopping point. But I don't know what we would do there other than dinner

[futureman 22547]

off I-10 just before mobile is dick russell’s.  bbq place but stick to the fried catfish, fried okra, greens, cheese grits, and biscuits.  biscuits are tier one, for real.  worth the stop if you don’t mind a sit down meal on the road.

[Jameslaw121 4448]

15 minutes ago, futureman said:

off I-10 just before mobile is dick russell’s.  bbq place but stick to the fried catfish, fried okra, greens, cheese grits, and biscuits.  biscuits are tier one, for real.  worth the stop if you don’t mind a sit down meal on the road.

We actually prefer the sit down meals when we drive, unless we're in a hurry or the kids are asleep

 

[Brew 3049]

1 hour ago, Jameslaw121 said:

Mobile would be a pretty good stopping point. But I don't know what we would do there other than dinner

Battleships, Maritime Museum, and the forts in the area are about all I know of in Mobile. They are all worth a visit, but your kids are probably in the young side for it.

[DallasHorn26 586]

3 hours ago, Dr Fear said:

If you are at all interested in aircraft, the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola is a must visit.

Yes! I took my kids to Pensacola few years in a row, we usually left Dallas around 9-10 at night and drove straight through. I felt the trip went faster that way. One year we went around the 4th and actually saw several fireworks shows on our drive back. 

[Jameslaw121 4448]

29 minutes ago, DallasHorn26 said:

Yes! I took my kids to Pensacola few years in a row, we usually left Dallas around 9-10 at night and drove straight through. I felt the trip went faster that way. One year we went around the 4th and actually saw several fireworks shows on our drive back. 

How old were your kids at the time?

 

[DallasHorn26 586]

They were between 3&4 the first time we did it and 4&5 the following year. 

4 minutes ago, Jameslaw121 said:

How old were your kids at the time?

 

 

[SimonBolivar 10959]

3 hours ago, Jameslaw121 said:

Mobile would be a pretty good stopping point. But I don't know what we would do there other than dinner

Kids always like the tunnel but yeah the Battleship is cool.

[Reagan1k 3024]

Orange Beach, AL / Perdido Key, FL.

You'll be 4.5 hours from St. George's and there are tons of fireworks on the 4th in that area.  Some really big shows around Perdido Pass and personal shows all up and down the beach....some quite elaborate.

Book in advance but there are a few national brand hotels (non-condo) right there on the beach.

It would take you about 40-50  minutes out of the way off I-10 to get down there using the Baldwin / Foley Beach Express.  From there you could decide if you wanted to stay on the coast for the rest of the drive or backtrack to 10. Depending on the time of day/night you are traveling the last leg it might be a wash time-wise.

[jimmyjazz 46138]

Biloxi, MS is a nice town, about 5 hours out from where you're headed.  We stayed at this hotel for a similar reason and enjoyed it.  It's on the beach.  Not cheap, but not ridiculous considering the fact that it's July 4th ($229):

White House Hotel

 

 

 

[Junior Miller 1502]

Did the drive from Dallas to PCB a couple years back and on the way decided to take 20 to Jackson, MS then the next morning drive down to Mobile to meet I10. I enjoyed the drive through Mississippi to Mobile but pulling into Jackson at midnight was interesting. Rough town. 

[Eggo 3995]

We drove from San Antonio to St George Island on the way to Miami. We stopped for 2 nights in New Orleans and took a scenic route from NOLA to SGI. Pine forests are nice, but not much there. Just get to the beach as fast as you can so everyone can enjoy themselves. 

[jdhorn92 1558]

Check out Fairhope AL, it’s the picture in my avatar. Great Southern City along eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Easy access to I-10, and would fit your 4-6 hour out requirement. There is great Fireworks show on the bluff overlooking the city pier /beach. Your wife will like the shopping, good way to stretch your legs after being in car 9 hours. Orange Beach , Perdido and Pensacola will be a nightmare traffic-wise.  I would not advise Biloxi (0 to do for kids and well it’s MS). Fairhope is regular voted best small town in the South (along with Beufort SC). Check it out 

[PorscheGuy 127]

Made that trip once with a 5 and 7.5 year old.  The problem is not getting there in one piece, it’s getting back. I was able to drive straight there with a lunch stop in Baton Rouge. 
You are exhausted, sunburned, hungover and tired as shit from spending a week at the beach.   It would be smarter to stop on the way back.  On the way back was the hardest drive I will never make again.   Stoping on the way back would be ideal.