So how bad is Houston traffic??

Cool, we live 2 hours north of Ontario. We were thinking 2 days but with a 4 year old we decided to go to 3 days just to be safe. What route are you taking? I will be interested in how it goes for you guys when you go!!

We are still debating the route down as we have lots of time and might do some sightseeing. Route home will be the fastest one possible (lol).

Will let you know how things go.

I am finding we can rent a car for the week less then getting shuttle to Galveston, my question again, would it be better we drive down the afternoon before our cruise or will we be alright leaving Houston around 9 AM or 9:30 the morning of the cruise.

Another question please:

After embarkation on Sunday morning (Sept 4th), we were thinking about taking the ferry across to Goat Island and making our way home from there. We thought it would be something different instead of driving back through Houston. We have a long drive back to Ontario but aren't in that much of a hurry.

Is this feasible? I heard the that the ferry runs 24-hours - would it be a long wait on a Sunday morning?

Just curious!

Thanks!

Another question please:

 

After embarkation on Sunday morning (Sept 4th), we were thinking about taking the ferry across to Goat Island and making our way home from there. We thought it would be something different instead of driving back through Houston. We have a long drive back to Ontario but aren't in that much of a hurry.

 

Is this feasible? I heard the that the ferry runs 24-hours - would it be a long wait on a Sunday morning?

 

Just curious!

Thanks!

Why not another free short term cruise and yes 24/7 open.

Why not another free short term cruise and yes 24/7 open.

Enjoy a little of Louisiana .

Thank you for your opinions!! I am not sure how we will do it. It might depend on where we can find a hotel for 6 the night before our cruise

Just got back from our cruise out of Galveston. We took 2 days to drive down staying the first night just outside of Memphis. Our ship had troubles coming back into port which put us about 3 hours behind. We opted to drive straight home which took us 27 hours. This allowed us to avoid all the labour day traffic.

The route heading down to Galveston was through Detroit, Cincinnati, Nashville, Memphis, and then the I59. There was so much construction the entire way down and our GPS was just going crazy with all the road changes. Make sure you update your GPS before you go if you can.

We stayed in Webster Texas for 3 nights before the cruise which was about a 35 minute drive to the pier. Great location with lots of shopping and close to NASA and 30 minutes to downtown Houston where we visited the Museum.

Heading home we did the same route to Memphis and then headed North to Indianapolis crossing at Detroit again. Friends of ours took a wrong turn and ended up on the same route we took down and we both seemed to be making the same travel times.

I would pick the route that you'd most like to travel as timing wise it all seemed to be pretty close.

Did not enjoy the drive in/out of Houston to/from Texarkana. A lot of stop and go with lights/traffic.

On a small positive note, the only toll we paid was at the border crossing in Detroit. Typically on our drive to Florida we pay over $20 in tolls. Small things lol.

Just got back from our cruise out of Galveston. We took 2 days to drive down staying the first night just outside of Memphis. Our ship had troubles coming back into port which put us about 3 hours behind. We opted to drive straight home which took us 27 hours. This allowed us to avoid all the labour day traffic.

 

The route heading down to Galveston was through Detroit, Cincinnati, Nashville, Memphis, and then the I59. There was so much construction the entire way down and our GPS was just going crazy with all the road changes. Make sure you update your GPS before you go if you can.

 

We stayed in Webster Texas for 3 nights before the cruise which was about a 35 minute drive to the pier. Great location with lots of shopping and close to NASA and 30 minutes to downtown Houston where we visited the Museum.

 

Heading home we did the same route to Memphis and then headed North to Indianapolis crossing at Detroit again. Friends of ours took a wrong turn and ended up on the same route we took down and we both seemed to be making the same travel times.

 

I would pick the route that you'd most like to travel as timing wise it all seemed to be pretty close.

 

Did not enjoy the drive in/out of Houston to/from Texarkana. A lot of stop and go with lights/traffic.

 

On a small positive note, the only toll we paid was at the border crossing in Detroit. Typically on our drive to Florida we pay over $20 in tolls. Small things lol.

Thank you so much for getting back to me with this. Glad you made it ok. I have been street viewing the drive. It appears to be pretty boring. What did you think?

Thank you so much for getting back to me with this. Glad you made it ok. I have been street viewing the drive. It appears to be pretty boring. What did you think?

Outside of the city's it was pretty boring but it was a good drive. Hopefully there will be less construction when you go. ;) Outside of the construction areas, traffic moved really well and at a good speed.

Outside of the city's it was pretty boring but it was a good drive. Hopefully there will be less construction when you go. ;) Outside of the construction areas, traffic moved really well and at a good speed.

I am hoping that in February there will be less construction do to the time of year.

Did you drive right into downtown Houston? Or did you take the 610 loop?

As a recent transplant to Houston from Detroit, MI I think I can also give a little insight on this journey as I just made it myself back in March. I traveled the same route as ACNCON. I believe Google Maps originally had me taking 94 West out of Detroit into Illinois before making the southbound trek. However, I wanted to avoid Illinois so I worked on other routes. The best I came up with was Detroit -> Cinci -> Louisville -> Nashville -> Memphis -> Texarkana -> Houston. Also, that time of year, you are more likely to get lake effect snow the closer you get to Lake Michigan which is another reason for avoiding 94 into Illinois. We drove straight through while hauling a 5' x 8' (You don't need me to do a metric conversion do you? ;) ) Uhaul trailer and made it to our new home (About 45 minutes SW of Downtown Houston) in less than 20 hours. We only stopped to get gas and once to get a quick bite to eat. We arrived into the Houston area right around rush hour. Traffic did get a bit heavy once we hit the Beltway (Hwy 8) but thinned out once we got through downtown. The drive between Texarkana and Houston is the only stretch you'll encounter that is not an expressway. However, much of it is highway (traffic lights can be very far apart) and speed limits can be as high as 75MPH on this stretch. We drove this stretch in the very early morning (like between 3-6AM) so traffic was very light for us. So, even coming from Hannover, with the additional 4 hour drive to Detroit, you should be able to make this trip in 24 hours. If we hadn't been pulling a trailer, I am curious how quickly we could have made the trip :)

On another note, I think you should be more concerned about the traffic in Galveston. :) My girlfriend spends a lot of time in Galveston for work, and of all the major roads in Houston, 45 is the one she complains about the most. She says 45 tends to always have a lot of traffic on it, especially heading into Galveston. She says it doesn't matter which say of the week it is, you can almost always count on there being traffic. So just keep that in mind so you are not surprised if you are sitting a while in traffic trying to get to the port. :)

I am hoping that in February there will be less construction do to the time of year.

 

Did you drive right into downtown Houston? Or did you take the 610 loop?

I posted this in another thread about construction on I45:

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2016/09/06/166675/officials-widening-of-i-45-from-greater-houston-to-galveston-county-set-to-begin/

Like you, I'm hoping it is done by February.....