Question:

Info on I-81, from New york to Florida?
I'm driving to florida from new york, i'm thinking of taking i-81 for the first time, any recommendations on places to see and stay for a night, off i-81 is appreciated. Also, Gas stations and places to eat off i-81? Thanks

Answers:

A-Best: I used to live in Syracuse and drove to the office in Panama City Beach, Florida sometimes. One place that I particularly liked to take a break was at the Dragon museum in Chattanooga since I collect them too. http://www.dragonvet.com/home.html It isn't far off the road, so it was convenient to take a few minutes from driving. Another place I really liked a lot was Jonesborough, TN. It's a very nice old town that's worth a visit if you're going by in the fall when the national storytelling festival is going on. There was also a very good restaurant in an old church that is no longer open. I wouldn't go out of the way for Jonesborough at other times of the year though. Pigeon Forge was a lot more interesting than I expected too - very touristy, but not a bad place. These days you might be better off picking up I77 south in Virginia though. A good site for finding interesting things en route is: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ There are thousands of strange and wonderful things to see when you're on the road in the US and this site has most of them. Winchester, VA is a nice town with some good restaurants and the world's largest apple. There are other decorated apples around the town. As for places to stay, it depends a lot on how many days you want to take for the trip and exactly what route you take. Somewhere in the Roanoke - Blacksburg area would be a pretty good drive for the first day depending on exactly where you're coming from. The signs for the upcoming exits will have some places to eat and gas stations indicated.  

A: plenty of stations and places to eat off 81. i don't stop on the drive, but i would say southern virginia would be a good place to stop for the night.  

A: Lots of good places to eat. We like Cracker Barrel. Food is good & reasonable. Stop at a welcome station & get motel discount books. You can even book from there & they will hold your room till midnight. The Slyline Drive is an excellent side trip that runs parallel to 81 & is very scenic. The only problem is that the maximum speed is 25mph