Route Advice: Saint Louis MO to Destin Florida

[pmahoney]

Loading up the family and headed to Destin (from STL) this weekend. Have two options for routes and seeking any insight from members on items like road conditions, elevations, services along the way, etc..

First option would be I-55 South through Memphis, then cutting East on US 22 towards Birmingham.

Second option would be to take 57 South to 24 East through to Nashville and then connect to I-65 South towards Birmingham

Once past Birmingham, the path is simple-to connect thorugh Montgomery and ultimately Destin (ahh... Destin

The kicker is that Im going to try and make the bulk of this travel at night time, hopefully with the kids asleep in the back.

Any experience driving either of the above routes?

Thanks in advance.

[Oakman]

Since you haven't gotten a reply I'll give you my 2 cents. If it were me, I'd take the I-57, I-24, I-65 route. It's just a few miles longer than option 1, but with it being all Interstate, it is probably the quickest. This is just my opinion.

[pmahoney]

Thanks Oakman...

I actually dug a bit deeper and found a third consideration, which is to go I-55 all the way through Jacksonville, then head through Haitsburg, Mobile and finally Destin. Found out that Google Earth has option to show the elevation on any given route and seems fairly flat. Probably a bit longer but I've heard that the travel along the gulf coast would be a nice scenic route for my passengers (i of course will be focused on staying awake

Might just do both and see what the best way is.....,, stay tuned.

[Oakman]

That's funny because that is the route we take to Gulf Shores, Alabama. I took it for granted you just didn't want to go that way.

[pmahoney]

Yea... that was the route reccomended to me by a friend... Starting looking at it and looks good.. Truth be told, he mentioned to consider taking i-55 to Jackson, then US 49 through Hattiesburg and US 98 from there onto Mobile... then onward into Destin...

Any experience with that route?

[martin73]

to pmahoney. the routs 55,49,and 98 are god, prette flat. martin73

[Oakman]

Yes, I-55 to 49 and 98 is a good route and flat. When I go that way, rather than stay on 98 going through Mobile, I jump on I-65 south to I-10 and then go east.

[Momma Tac]

We just came from that area visiting our son in Navarre. Once in the panhandle of Florida, I'd stay on I-10 until the Destin exit and then go south. Hwy 98 is very crowded and lots of signal lights. Depending on time of day you'd be on Hwy 98, it could also be very foggy which we experienced. My two cents worth!!

[pmahoney]

Great - thanks Gents... much appreciated.

[h20ski]

From Montgomery take a look at US331. Almost all 4 lane and not bad road. US331 dumps you out onto 98 about 10-15 miles from Destin. Where are you staying in Destin?

[pmahoney]

staying at a Camp Gulf... Very expensive place but it was a family gift. I saw on some forum / bulletin board that some of the areas on 331 were small towns with lower speed limits and some speed traps.... When I looked via Google Earth,,, seemed much like a typical 2 lane state road, cruising through some small towns here and there... I can deal with the 2-3 lanes, but Im leaning towards staying on the interstates as long as it makes sense.