Good Morning
I was hoping to gather some advice from those on the board that have made this trip or close to it. I purchased a car from a good friend ( whom i haven't met yet!) WHISKEY DAN .I wanted to fly to Dallas and drive it back.
I have 3 days , the wife (she - reluctantly ) is coming with me and I wanted to see some land marks - We 're not much for the tourist type places . We prefer some hiking areas and historical places Thanks in advance
anything of interest you might recommend would be welcomed

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are the attached photos the car you are purchasing? if so, you might want to have it checked out by a mercedes mechanic for road worthiness. nothing worse than getting out on the road and having mechanical problems.

Texas experiences extreme weather and there has been a lot of flooding in the Tennessee area. you might want to check coordinates and weather conditions along the route you plan to take. a Mercedes does not make a very good boat.

of course, there are many routes from the big D to Baltimore. there is a lot of road construction in and around the Dallas area, you might want to check that out prior to planning a route. as far as historical places, there are a lot of options to pursue and your taste may vary as to the types of places you and your wife like to visit.

I drove most of that route - if you're following Map quest or a navigation unit - twice. I drove here from northern NJ in October 2007 in the '83 300SD and drove from here to NJ and back in 2008 in the Sentra. Maybe it was too much caffeine & nicotine but the only thing I noticed was Nashville lol.

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???

Nashville is under water with massive power outages. one might consider a different route. you can lose a starter due to driving through high water, it never works out too well. also, nothing like staying in a hotel with no electricity. fun.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36891589/ns/weather/

I don't know of any "Dallas construction areas" between either DFW airport / Dallas Love Field - heading to east Texas. If you have a smart phone - that's all you need to navigate Interstate highway slowdown areas anyway.

I would stop at historic Hot Springs, Arkansas for the night - exiting I-30 at Hwy 7 - Arkadelphia, AR. heading north to Hot Springs. There is also the Rockefeller auto collection on Petit Jean mountain near Morrilton, AR. to see. Just continue north out of Hot Springs toward !-40. You could then continue on eastward after seeing. A very scenic drive from Arkadelphia north to Hot Springs and beyond.

In Memphis, Tennessee there is historic Beale Street just on downtown Memphis' near south side. Further south is the Lorraine Motel - where MLK was assasinated. Worth a drive-by. Further south several miles is Elvis Presley's home. Those things might be worth seeing. I would stay at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. Very historic hotel. We used to have trade shows there in the '60s - early '70s when I lived in Memphis.

The attraction of The Grand Ol Opry in Nashville is out because of the flooding. However, continuing north from Nashville on I-65 to Bowling Green, KY., there is the GM Corvette plant, as well as the National Corvette Museum at that same exit - definitely worth the admission price.

Memphis is a town that is rife with crime. when the sun goes down, they like to mug tourists. this information comes from a native.

huskyman
thanks for that last point ....
Memphis - off the list

The car should be fine ..... that said , WHISKEY DAN is not making any promises , yet he has gone over and given its a thumbs up. It has a General Motors drive train - crate motor and trans - it is a conversion done some time ago, and has 18-20k miles on since the conversion.

good luck on the trip, sounds like it will be fun. the need to stay in hotels/motels with plenty of parking lot lighting and security cameras might be a consideration as well. unfortunately, this world is not improving......

x2

You don't wanna be on the southwest side of Memphis any time of day or night.

I travel to Memphis all the time. I stay on the east side. I don't go inside the loop after dark.

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2004 C240 Wagon 203.261 Baby Benz
2008 ML320 CDI Highway Cruiser
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TRUMP .......... WHITEHOUSE
HILLARY .........JAILHOUSE
BERNIE .......... NUTHOUSE
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What is your Interstate/highway route back to Baltimore?

Thanks for all your collective input / responses
Thats what I like about this board, the range of knowledge /insight makes us better informed /smarter . Time saver as well
Turns out looks like the idea may not work ,
limited time / family issues - (wife hates driving) ,she prefers to have the a/c on
( i want widows down) car doesn't have a/c -
( wife hates driving ), i m thinking its a great idea ,( wife hates driving) , I work all week , some saturdays ,turning 50 end of the month - thought it would be something different to do,( wife hates driving)
Thought it would be fun to see parts of the county haven't seen before
( wife hates driving)
The unit is 40 years old - its possible there could be a issue mechanically -
( I 'm sure its all under warranty .....)
( wife would hate me and the driving)

So I 'll wait for delivery - pay the truck driver his cash ( $600 +-)and spend the memorial day weekend putzn around cleaning and tinkering
with it - maybe a car show in Ocean City Md ?

Thanks fellas

man, that's too bad. I love road trips, get to see parts of the country you've never seen, new places, etc. get out of the four walls you stare at every day. and Texas, well, Texas is Texas. a great state, great people, some of the best Tex-mex and authentic Mexican food you'll find anywhere. as a matter of fact, makes me want to post a song that highlights the Lone Star State.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbH60wCO-Yw

You're a brave man Joe.

The car may do better than the wife. You'd be better off the other way around. Especially when it comes to the cost of repairs should there be a problem.

If you can get it delivered for $600 - that's basically a wash or a savings of out-of-pocket travel for two.

Agree with SRJ -- $600 is very reasonable for a delivery. That said, if you wind up making the trip, you might do what I did when I drove from TX back to IL after USAF tech school. I bought a '71 VW Westy camper, and drove it home, very gently, on 2-lane blacktop pretty much the whole way. Once I made it to OK City, I hopped on old Route 66 and took a nice, leisurely drive back home via St Louis. It was the best North American road trip I have ever taken. Seeing the remnants of the old route and its roadside attractions was magical. It was almost a spiritual event!

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1992 300D 2.5T
1980 Euro 300D (sadly, sold)
1998 Jetta TDI, 132K "Rudy"
1974 Triumph TR6
1999 Saab 9-5 wagon (wife's)