Any VOI-X Caravans?

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Hey Guys,

I will be in STL for a job/visit right before VOI, so I will be leaving from that neck of the woods and heading right to Detroit. I'll be leaving from St. Louis on Tuesday, is anyone leaving from that area at the same time I will be, or anyone I can meet up with on the way?
 

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Here are Bob's driving trips:

Directions for Driving to Detroit:
Having made this trip personally over 30 times, and most recently yesterday, I think I can provide some useful information. Here’s what I’ve found:
By far the best way do drive it is:
I-70 East to
I-465 South in Indy to
I-69 North to
I-94 East to Detroit

This way will get you there in 8-9 hrs. depending on your stops.
Warning: If you believe Mapquest or a GPS and take either the I-55 route up near Chicago or I-57, add at least an hour to your driving time and figure on hitting 3 or 4 toll booths. Sometimes the traffic lines up at those tolls for over seven miles on I-80/90. If you try to avoid the toll highways, it gets worse. Besides, the speed limit in Indiana is higher than in Illinois (70 mph instead of 65 mph), the drive is far more scenic, there are better places to eat along the way, and there are some pretty cool places to visit. I’ve also tried I-75 up from Dayton OH and that sux too.
I know it’ll seem weird when you approach Indy on I-70 (around the 70 mile marker) to get off I-70, turn right, and take the Southern route of I-465, but it’s 15 minutes shorter than any other way to get to I-69 and there’s a really good place there to gas up (see below). I-465 only goes a mile or two south, then heads directly East before turning north and intersecting I-69.
DO NOT SPEED IN ILLINOIS OR INDIANA. They’ll give you 5 to maybe 8 over, but Indiana is really cracking down on speeders. You will go through at least 2 radar traps in Illinois and at least 4 in Indiana regardless of the time or day you travel. They patrol it 24/7. Right now, all the highways are totally littered with dead animal carcasses—it appears that it’s mating season. If it’ll still be that way when you travel, I dunno. The highways are in pretty good shape that way and there are very few construction zones.
Eating/Driving Tips:
Illinois is culinary oblivion until you get to Effingham IL. I recommend Niemergs Family Dining, Exit 159 (I-70 momentarily becomes I-57 North, thus the strange number). Niemergs is a nice, very popular, and large family-owned restaurant with very good “comfort” food and low prices. Other than that, it’s pretty much chains in Effingham.
If you can hold off lunch until you get to Indiana, I highly recommend Cheeseburger in Paradise (thanks Bob Palmer!), Exit 7 on I-70 in Terre Haute, IN. It’s a block or two south on the left side. There’s also one when you get to I-69 North at Exit 7 on the west side.
When you get near mile marker 70 and head South on I-465 near Indy, Exit 4 is a good place to stop if you need gas and a ***** stop. Make a right (south) then turn right at the next light and go to the Flying J Truckstop. It has the best gas prices in Indiana, a big lot, and large convenience store.
You’ll swing around I-465 then take I-69 North toward Ft. Wayne, IN. It’s a double-right exit—be in the left lane of the two for easier merging onto I-69. Traffic will be thick. There are lots of chain restaurants at Exit 3 (96th street) if you haven’t already eaten. That other Cheeseburger in Paradise is to the left off the next Exit 7.
The next possible stopping point is Anderson IN. The first Exit 26 has chain restaurants including the Olive Garden about 2 miles West. Once you get north of Anderson IN, you won’t find any good places to stop for food or gas until you get to Ft. Wayne, starting at Exit 102. At this point, you’ll have driven for six hours. If you want to hole-up in Ft. Wayne, I recommend the Comfort Suites at Exit 102. Let me know and I can get you our $69/night rate—and this is an award-winning hotel in the Choice Hotels Chain. There’s a good restaurant/bar easy walking distance called “Tavern at Coventry” and the Comfort Suites will give you discount coupons for it.
Non-Eating Tip:
If you can work it in, I highly recommend that you take Exit 129 off I-69 and follow the signs through town in Auburn, IN to the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Musuem. This is a great museum for classic car enthusiasts in a spectacular art-deco building. The museum also has a lot of other cars and is well worth it. Allow a minimum of 2 hours for that excursion if you decide to do it.
More Eating/Driving Tips:
In another 30 miles heading north on I-69, you’ll enter Michigan. If you’re hungry, I recommend getting off at Exit 13 in Coldwater, MI. The right exit makes a 180° swing, so you’ll need to turn right to head West. A few blocks down on the left is Coldwater Garden, a family-owned restaurant with the most expansive menu I’ve ever seen. All the food is really good and reasonable, but the bathrooms could be a tad cleaner.
Back on I-69 north, you’ll exit onto I-94 East toward Detroit. For about 50 miles, the highway will be really rough, or at least the right lane will be bad. It seems that up there in Michigan, they have no gross weight limit on trucks, just an axle load limit. You’ll see trucks with up to 42 (count ‘em) wheels. Between those monster trucks and the freezing weather up there, the roads all crumble. At least the speed limit is mostly 75 mph, and well patrolled with little tolerance. Once you get through that rough stretch, it’ll get a lot better. The bad news is, you’re in Michigan and things are not exactly deluxe anywhere—I really cannot recommend any stops along the way. When you finally head into Detroit (probably by going south a few miles on I-75), you’ll need very good directions—one wrong turn, and suddenly you may feel very uncomfortable.
The exact area you’re staying in isn’t bad at all… Greek Town. I’ve eaten at three Greek restaurants there and none were much to brag about. There was one decent Mexican restaurant—you may want to find it and do a few pitchers of marg’s while there.
Hope this helps!

Bob
 

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