I need some advice to travel to the Portsmouth area for our summer get-together.

S&T tells me to drive down through Philly and head south on 1 and 13, over the bridge/tunnel to the Portsmouth area. The distance is about 514 miles.

I can also go down around Baltimore and DC, through the Richmond area and over to Portsmouth that way. The distance is about 580 miles.

It is clearly shorter on 1 and 13, but the roads seem to be more local. By going around DC, it appears that I would be on super-highways for the entire trip and it might be much quicker.

Any advice from our Southern travelers?