Martha's Vineyard

Anybody have a super secret route to drive up to Martha's Vineyard on a Saturday? Just slog up 95 or go west?

 

Depart your home around 9 or 10 at night! That's what I do when I drive up to Boston or the Cape. I usually leave work early on Friday, take a long nap when I get home, and then drive through the night. Speedpass fully loaded and 95 North all the way!

 

I have to agree with the driving Friday night...Saturday north from NYC to the Cape is a nightmare! We used to do the same thing (driving all night)when the kids were little, now that they are older we usually drive up Friday night...check in somewhere between Mystic and Providence (depending on how bad traffic was) in the middle of the night. Then get up early to get onto the Cape before everyone else does. 95 is really the best way..only thing we vary on is if we do the Tappan zee Bridge or George Washington (top or bottom). We have been going every summer for my whole 40 years...the only thing I know for sure is that there is no ryhme or reason for traffic and time for that trip. We have made it to Orleans in 9 hours...and it has also taken 16. Have a great time!

 

I-95 North into Delaware, then exit to the Delaware Memorial Bridge and NJ Turnpike.

I-95 will rejoin you at the end of the NJ Turnpike and take you over the George Washington Bridge. If there is any risk of heavy NYC traffic (1010 AM-WINS is like WTOP, traffic every 10 minutes), I like to take a wide berth, taking Exit 10, I-287 from the New Jersey Turnpike. It will add a few miles, but it's mostly 65 mph and a more more relaxing route. This will take you into NY, take the Tappan Zee over the Hudson, continue on I-287 through White Plains and it will dump you back onto I-95 near the CT border.

Remain on I-95 to Providence, RI, and take I-195 toward the Cape.

FYI, there is a fast ferry service out of New Bedford, MA if you are NOT planning to take your car onto the Vinyard. Otherwise, you'll need to take I-195 to the end, head over the Bourne Bridge (Cape Cod Canal) and take Route 28 down to the ferry at Woods Hole [make sure you have tickets first]. If you have time to kill in Woods Hole, there's a small, but nice aquarium at Albatross & Water Streets.

 

I always to 81 north and then 84 across. Doesn't get rid of all the traffic but you miss out on a portion. I also only rent houses that go from Sunday to Sunday. No matter what route you take to get there, if you show up heading to the cape between 6am-6pm on Saturday you will be in a world of traffic........

 

I don't really have anything new to add. Traffic has always been really great or horribly bad in my annual summer journeys from the DC area my whole life (38 years in a row). We have almost always taken 95N to the Del. mem. bridge to the NJ turnpike to the Garden St. Pkwy and back up 95N. The only thing that has changed is choosing the Tappan Zee bridge vs. the GW about 20 years ago.

We have tried a few different routes but they add WAY too much time, so instead we drive at night. We've gone north up 15 and across PA both on 84 as well as a route that put us in NJ and onto the TZ bridge.

Now, we usually leave Fri. night after dinner, try to make it across the TZ and stay at a Sheraton right there before Conn. Depending on when we leave, we'll either do Merritt or 95 through the southern part of CT. And on up to the Cape, landing in Falmouth after a total 8-9 hours. It's worked well the past 2 summers. Coming home sometimes we'll leave at the crack of dawn, other times we'll do the opposite trip and stay in NJ.

Good luck with the drive! I'm now anxious for our Cape trip!

 

The worst part of the drive for me has always been Connecticut. Maybe its because I can never make up my mind: do I stay on 95 all the way to Boston or do I cut up through central CT and catch the Mass Pike?!?!? Since most of my family lives in Boston, I tended to stick to 95 all the way.

This year, I was dreading the drive up to the Cape so much that I decided to rent in the OBX instead. I've been in VA for 20 years now and this will be our first time venturing to the OBX. I'm excited and really looking forward to it. I hope that the OBX is everything the Cape is and more. If the OBX works out, I may never return to the Cape again! Now...I've heard about the traffic nightmares heading to the NC Coast....just hope it isn't as bad as driving on 95 North through NYC!

 

I would think if the timing/traffic is bad, to get to Boston, cut up on the NY thruway to 84 or up 91 in CT to 84.

I've heard traffic can be bad to OBX as well but we've avoided some of it in the past by shooting down 17. And it is nice that OBX is a given 5-6 hour trip whereas the Cape (on the western part) is at least 8 hours driving at night. But the OBX is not the Cape IMHO. Duck is close but it's just not the same....... maybe I'm spoiled. We will always do the Cape and love the summers where we can do both. Have fun!

 

I personally LOVE OBX, but we've always gone there, however, quite a few of our friends who always go to the Cape, don't like OBX as well. We always try to either leave in the middle of the night to get to OBX or really much later in the day to avoid the horrible traffic there. When we first started going in 1989, it would take 4 or 5 hours, now it's a whole different story....worst has been 8 hours due to an accident, best is 6, depending on when you leave.

 

The cape is our preference as well. Did OBX once and just didn't scratch the itch.....

 

We go back to Massachusetts a couple times a year to see family, and I gotta agree with the night time driving suggestion. Your internal clock will be messed up for a couple of days, but it beats sitting in traffic for 10-12 hours (I made the mistake of leaving here on Weds before Thanksgiving at 8 AM. I arrived in Worcester at 7 PM. I'm still scarred).

Man, I miss the Cape.