 Prior to filming, director Peter Faiman (qv) and writer/producer  John Hughes (I) (qv) and producer Richard Vane (qv) took a road  trip throughout the Georgia, The Carolinas (North and South),  Mississippi and Tennessee to scout the route the films characters,  Dutch Dooley and Doyle would take to drive back home to Chicago for  Thanksgiving. Faiman liked most of the places that hed seen during  the trip and they ended up in final film.