<p>I know this has been discussed before, but can't seem to find the thread.</p>
<p>My daughter has just applied for the Class of 2018! She's been invited to spend the night this weekend with a friend who is a freshman. I am indulging her and am driving her down there Saturday morning. We are driving from the Phila area. Any advice on the quickest route back and forth - leaving early Saturday morning and returning Sunday late morning? Took her down to see Richmond this Summer and experienced the heavy traffic south of DC. This was during a Summer weekday and don't know if it would be the same this weekend. </p>
<p>Google Maps lists 95 to 85 as the fastest route, but want to know if that is truly the fastest given normal weekend traffic.</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice! Hopefully, I'll be making many more future trips down to Elon!!</p>
<p>Hi, We live in NJ and go to DC a lot (one son at GWU and lots of friends in No. Va.) and occasionally south of DC. I have always found the Beltway to be very fast and driveable on the weekends. I thought the same would be true on 95 south of the Beltway, so maybe the traffic you encountered was because of people going to the Va. Beach or something. I’d be really surprised if you hit it again unless there is construction or an accident. We took 95 to Elon, but honestly cannot remember if it was a post-rush weekday hour or a weekend, but we did not have a problem. Good luck.</p>
<p>Hi - 95 to 85 is the fastest route if there is no traffic build up in northern VA - but we have generally found horrible traffic on 95 in VA all the way down through the Springfield area and down to Richmond - so we generally won’t take that route.</p>
<p>We prefer taking the Beltway to 66 west to 29 south instead.</p>
<p>We have done the Philly to Elon drive numerous times over the past 3 years (S is a soph.) You should be fine with traffic for this trip. Summer weekends can be brutal with all the beach traffic from DE to OBX (coming or going, Sat or Sun.) NoVa traffic should be fine at this time of year on the weekend. On week-days you want to get past DC before 2 pm. We have found our drive time to be pretty consistent at 7 hours 20 minutes (from Montgomery County) including 2-3 stops including lunch at WaWa and some minor traffic slowdowns along the way. The route 85 portion of the trip is a breeze. If we have to leave on a day/at a time when we know there will be traffic in DC/VA, we take the turnpike to 81 south instead - which takes an hour or so longer, but is a much less stressful (and prettier) drive.</p>
<p>This summer we were traveling south on 95 and had to take the beltway from I-70 south to 95 to Richmond. The new express lanes were just opened at the I-66 interchange area and we were able to run for at least 15 to 20 miles south at the speed limit plus with virtually no traffic. This was at about 3 PM on a Monday as I recall.</p>
<p>NOTE ! The lanes are only usable if you have an EZ-Pass electronic toll module.</p>
<p>This new express lane beltway bypass saved us at least 30 - 45 minutes and possibly more as we often looked over and saw the regular lanes at a standstill. I would agree that once you are on 85 its clear sailing west to Elon.</p>
<p>From NJ we always go west to PA and take 81 south. A straight non-traffic drive. I really hate driving in traffic. However AvonHSdad’s info about the new express lane on the beltway sounds promising.</p>
<p>Wow! Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Nice to know there are some choices. Just drove north on 95 last weekend all the way up to Maine for family weekend at Colby where my other daughter is a Junior. (I like to avoid the GW and will drive Garden State to Tappan Zee to 684 and 84 thru CT). We have so many great schools in PA; don’t know why my girls want to be so far away! LOL! Hope my youngest does end up at Elon --it’s her #1 and there are others on her list further away.</p>
<p>So while my daughter is visiting with friends, any suggestions for dinner Saturday night for me and my husband? Any good NC BBQ nearby? Also, my husband would like to get in a long run (10 miles or so). He’ll run anywhere but if anyone knows of a nice place to run, I’m sure he would appreciate any suggestions.</p>
<p>I’m hoping we will get good news on 12/1 and I’ll be asking a lot more questions about Elon! :)</p>
<p>I drove down this past Saturday on my way south, starting in MA. I stopped to visit my son, a very happy junior. I also usually will go through PA and take 81, always avoiding the GW bridge. However, I figured it was a Saturday so traffic would be nonexistent. I sailed through CT, NJ, DE, MD and DC(the express lane is awesome). Once it spit me out onto 95 south from the beltway it was bumper to bumper all the way to Richmond! I think it is just a total crap shoot–there was no rhyme or reason–no major accident, no lane closures due to construction…ugh! If you can leave really early, and maybe see if you can check traffic with google maps before you have to commit to that stretch of road you should be fine. Safe travels!</p>
<p>Forgot to add–we ate at the Root, a little local place around the corner from the Acorn coffee shop and the bookstore. Nice place with lots of choices. There will be students and their parents etc and they serve wine and beer. Not sure abt BBQ but Greensboro has everything you can think of. </p>
<p>As for running, maybe you can ask in the student center or the rec if there are trails around campus? Just a thought. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>I 2nd the suggestion for The Root! We enjoyed our meal there, interesting menu and its on campus. For BBQ, Hursey’s in Burlington is the mainstay, but my S’s best friend who is from Elon is now recommending a place next to the Food Lion grocery store on Church Street and Williamson Ave. Not sure of the name, but it is new ownership this year and our local friends now claim it is the best in town. We have not been there yet but plan to try it out on our next trip. Don’t forget to save some room for ice cream from Smitty’s!</p>
<p>Thanks again to everyone for the driving and restaurant suggestions.</p>
<p>We decided to go the 95/85 route and we were fine on the drive down Saturday. Left home at 8:00 am from western suburbs of Philly and hit only a couple short slow spots in the expected DC to NoVa sections. We stopped for a lunch/gas/bathroom break and another short break less than an hour to go (that would be my daughter!) and arrived on campus I believe a little after 3:30pm We got a later start back yesterday, not leaving until almost noon from Elon, and we hit a couple accidents and traffic south of DC. Got home around 7:30pm, making only two very short stops.</p>
<p>My daughter had a good time and was able to learn more about the school–social life, dorms, etc. Since she already applied ED, I am happy that the visit only emphasized that Elon is her favorite by a lot!</p>
<p>We ended up going to dinner at The Root. It was the same place my daughter and I went to lunch in August when we visited. It was also the same place she went to dinner with her friends. Fortunately we were not seated close by! I did surprise them by arranging to pick up their bill as a thank-you for hosting my daughter. My husband and I enjoyed dinner and I can see why it is a popular choice for students. Hopefully we will be back down again and maybe we will try one of the BBQ places. Stockey’s is the new one next to the Food Lion. Some good reviews in Yelp.</p>