How would you go to Birmingham?

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junebug

junebug

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I am thinking of visiting my daughter in Birmingham, Alabama. I know, right? ;) I think she's the only Jew in the whole town. Just kidding ;)

What is the quickest and/or most economical way to go visit her if I go part way on Amtrak, starting from Chicago? No bus. Would you rent a car from some town in Mississippi or what?
 
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All-Amtrak routes would be either the Capitol Limited (changing trains in Washington) or Cardinal (changing trains in Charlottesville) to the Crescent.

I would imagine you'd have the best luck with renting a car in either Memphis or Jackson, if you took the City of New Orleans. Of course, you'd need to find a way from the train stations to wherever the rental car agencies are. Getting off the train in Memphis in the morning would give you plenty of daylight to get to the rental car and drive to Birmingham. With Jackson, you might run out of daylight before getting to Birmingham (if that matters).

EDIT TO ADD: It looks like Avis, Enterprise, and Hertz have downtown Memphis locations, so the cab ride from train station would not be very far.
 
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Daylight does matter, that's a good thing, unless I am driving west late afternoon with the sun in my eyes. Memphis is kind of meh to me, though, nothing there to do. I guess I could go visit Elvis's house, never did that ;)
 
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The train times work pretty well at Memphis - coming from Chicago, you'd get there in the morning, so you could just go get your car and then drive to Birmingham (no need to spend time in Memphis if you don't want to); similarly, on the way back to Chicago, the train leaves Memphis at night, so you could drive from Birmingham that day (also no need to spend a night in Memphis).

Also, as a major city, you have plenty of rental car options in Memphis, as opposed to one of the smaller stations in Mississippi (other than Jackson), where you'd probably be limited to a single rental car agency and perhaps not have a good way (few taxis) to get there.
 
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Story for you about Memphis:

Back in the days when I was a Chicago chauffeur, one of our clients was from India, and his parents didn't like to fly. His sister was in Marion, Arkansas. Marion is right across the bridge from Memphis. So my friend and I drove them all the way to Marion, in a big stretch. I kind of liked the Indian food they prepared for us, but truthfully, I don't really like spicy food ;) . We stopped in Memphis on the way back, but I wasn't really that impressed.
 
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So where between Memphis and Birmingham would be fun to stop?
 
FWIW, my sister lives in suburban Memphis, so I've been there a number of times. And can certainly understand why some people would like Memphis while other people most definitely would not.

As far as what's between Memphis and Birmingham - eh, that's getting outside my knowledge base. Not sure if Elvis's birthplace (Tupelo) is worth a stop. Or any Civil War battlefields, if that's your thing.
 
I'd recommend getting off and renting car in Jackson, MS. Definitely not Memphis. Why? From Jackson, Birmingham is a direct drive via Interstate 20 through Meridian, MS. Any route to Birmingham is more than twice as long if Interstates via Nashville or Jackson, MS. The direct route is a US Primary road and not an interstate but still much longer than Jackson, MS to Birmingham via I-20. Arrival time in Jackson is around lunch time southbound and departure time northbound is around 5:30 PM. which would be all daylight driving.
 
US 78 is 4 hours from Memphis to Birmingham. Get off the CONO in Memphis before 7AM and have breakfast at the Arcade Restaurant (Elvis hangout) across Main Street from the station.

There is only one car rental close to downtown (north and then east) via Beale St. I think they open at 9AM.

If you get out of Memphis by 10AM you can be in Birmingham by 2PM. Lunch could be in Tupelo where Elvis was born.

I did the research on this when I was planning the trip that I took last month. Ultimately I chose to get off the CZ in Galesburg IL and rented the car for a week from there.
 
Hmm, the first one looks like fun...but expensive. :D

EB - CS - SL - Crescent $2334 for roomettes

The other two are CL - Crescent and Card - Crescent
 
US 78 now known as I-22 in a lot of places is fully upgraded to interstate standards through all of Mississippi and most of Alabama. It's a 3.5 hour drive from Memphis to B'ham. My college buddy is a Memphis native who lives in that area and does the drive a few times a month for work.
 
Memphis to Birmingham - a little over 3.5 hours via US-78/I-22, all freeway except in metro Memphis and metro Birmingham

Jackson to Birmingham - about 3.5 hours via I-20, all freeway
 
me_little_me said:
AmtrakBlue said:
Hmm, the first one looks like fun...but expensive. :D

EB - CS - SL - Crescent $2334 for roomettes

The other two are CL - Crescent and Card - Crescent
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Huh? Wouldn't CONO to NOL with overnight there then Crescent to Birmingham be quicker and cheaper?
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Perhaps. I didn't do a multi-city. Was just seeing what "direct" routes there were.
 
CONO? NOL??? The other option would be to get my daughter to meet me in New Orleans but she keeps saying she doesn't want to :(
 
junebug said:
CONO? NOL??? The other option would be to get my daughter to meet me in New Orleans but she keeps saying she doesn't want to :(
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No offense to anyone, but New Orleans is just a tad bit better place for ANYTHING than Birmingham! To answer the Question: How would you go to Birmingham? I'd pass through on the Crescent but wouldn't get off!!! LOL!!
Seriously; if you don't want to drive from Memphis or Jackson, the CONO to NOL, overnight and then the Crescent to Birmingham is the way to roll!!!
 
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Capitol Limited/Crescent combination

Day 1 - Depart CHI 6:40pm

Day 2 - Arrive WAS 1:05pm, depart WAS 6:30pm

Day 3 - Arrive BHM 11:50am

or

City of New Orleans/Crescent combination

Day 1 - Depart CHI 8:05pm

Day 2 - Arrive NOL 3:32pm, stay overnight in hotel

Day 3 - Depart NOL 7:00am, arrive BHM 2:15pm
 
1. If you don't want to drive at night in the return direction, it has to be Jackson MS, not Memphis.

2. US 78 is still labeled as such in Mississippi. It is labeled I-22 in Alabama only. However, from the Tennessee line US 78 is built to Interstate highway standards its entire distance in Mississippi. The only thing that appears to be lacking to fully qualify as an Interstate is complete fencing. There are no at-grade intersections. The Tennessee portion?, well, best find a way around.
 
Guest said:
1. If you don't want to drive at night in the return direction, it has to be Jackson MS, not Memphis.

2. US 78 is still labeled as such in Mississippi. It is labeled I-22 in Alabama only. However, from the Tennessee line US 78 is built to Interstate highway standards its entire distance in Mississippi. The only thing that appears to be lacking to fully qualify as an Interstate is complete fencing. There are no at-grade intersections. The Tennessee portion?, well, best find a way around.
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Not sure I understand Point 1. Southbound the train arrives Memphis at 6:27am, giving you all day to get a car and drive to Birmingham. Northbound the train departs Memphis at 10:40pm, giving you all day to drive to Memphis (in the daylight).
 
junebug said:
CONO? NOL??? The other option would be to get my daughter to meet me in New Orleans but she keeps saying she doesn't want to :(
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If it was me I would go to NOL and spend a night and leave on the Crescent first thing in the morning. It'll be much cheaper than a rental car plus you'll get to enjoy breakfast while crossing Lake Ponchartrain on a 6 mile bridge.
 
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