I drove last February. Left on a Saturday Morning at 4 am. There was no other cars heading west on the Mass Pike. LOL Went around NYC around 8 am. We made great time. Only traffic around Washington DC, accident, extra 20 minutes. Stopped every 2 hours in rest areas (had our dog with us too!!!) First night stayed in Mount Royal, NC or was it Royal Mount - something like that. Then we had a shorter drive on Sunday, arrived the AsMo at 3 PM. We had great weather driving down. Same on the way home. I drive a SUV so snow didn't really worry me, but we had padded extra days on the beginning and end of the trip "in case" we had to stop. Plenty of cheap hotels right of of I-95. My parents drive down to Marco Island FL every year, for the past 10 years, the week after Presidents Day week, havent' had any trouble. They just take 3 days to drive. They stop in Fredricksburg VA, and then around Myrtle Beach SC.
As a family we really enjoyed the drive. My son was 5 at the time and we listened to the Harry Potter books on tape, which I rented from the library. I also had the FunTV video player. Plus he had coloring books etc. And Bonnie - my 11 yo poodle mix, just loved being with us, and enjoyed her stay at the AK Kennel.