My thoughts on Road Tripping

Disclaimer: This post is not meant to offend any North-dwellers. Remember, it's from a Southerner's point of view.

Driving through the Northeast: a sortable list.

In the course of our 21-day road trip, we had the privilege of driving through Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

Here are some issues we noted during this sojourn.

Signage: We in the South are so proud of our chain restaurants that we display a blue sign at each exit, telling you what foods are available there- you know, Hardees, Chick-Fil-A, or McDonald’s. Occasionally a Wendy’s, or in upscale areas, a Chili’s or Applebees. However, in the North we found an appalling lack of signage, which limited our coffee stops significantly. (because you can’t exit I-83 on a blind search for a Starbucks. You might never find one.)
However, in the North they kind of make up for it by conveniently placing a Dunkin Donuts at ½ mile intervals.

Speed Limit: In Georgia we are able to drive up to 70 mph on Interstates (and really, that possibly means 79 if luck is on your side). However, we found that the North holds strictly to 65, and even (gasp!) 55 in some areas. Furthermore, in the grand state of Connecticut, the residents don’t even deign to speed. They hold at a firm 65 mph the whole way through their tiny state. And while I’m on the subject of Connecticut, for such a tiny state, there are many, many of you plodding along on I-95 (at the aforementioned 65 mph MAX) that it took me almost two hours to travel your measly 93 miles. Where are you all going? And if it’s so important, why won’t you drive faster?

Signage, Pt 2: Really, the Northeast needs to get on board with the whole “mile markers match the exit signs” thing. It can really throw one for a loop in a place like Rhode Island. It’s only about 20 miles across to begin with, is it so tough to match the exits? There are only about 10 exits to change – shouldn’t be too hard, really.
We would like to give PA a holla for adapting, though.

Pros:
Connecticut: Steamed Cheeseburgers at Ted’s in Meriden. Totally worth the slow driving to get there. Also, all along the (slow) I-95 corridor, there are pull-off stops that resemble a “Rest Area” in the South, but they have a gas station and a McDonald’s each. Those are completely fabulous.

New York: We saw not one police officer on either of our trips through the Empire State. Thanks, guys. Would also like to add that the Hudson River Valley is beautiful.

Pennsylvania: Aside from the aforementioned ‘mile markers matching exit signs’, PA is beautiful from every vantage point that I laid eyes on. No wonder the Quakers snatched that place up.

All across the North: Friendly’s- an excellent way to blow 800 calories on a dessert.