Spring Roadtrip Part 2

Left the Motel 6 in Fayetteville, North Carolina at 9:15 AM after a short run and getting gas at $2.03 a gallon. We started on the road after passing 24 Cracker Barrels. Within miles, we spotted another.

We have passed another 5 in North Carolina before crossing to Virginia and seeing 6 others, 2 in Maryland, none in Delaware, and so far 3 in New Jersey. We are at a total of 40 Cracker Barrels.

Couple of insights or random thoughts:

1) Did you know that in North Carolina they still have smoking sections in restaurants? Unbelievable huh?

2) The Cracker Barrel count is getting high, but I think that return trip in a couple of years will need to be Waffle Houses. I swear they are like a bad penny.

3) I am actually starting to wonder how many fast food restaurants with the Southern theme of chicken and biscuits can service through the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, etc. There is Cracker Barrel, Chick-fil-a, BoJangles, Popeye's and countless others.

Favorite billboards on this stage of the trip:

1)  A Snickers billboard stating, "Pledge Sigma Nougat" instead of Cum Laude or something like that. I guess in my punch drunk state, it was rather funny.

2)  A Jim Beam billboard outside of Baltimore, "Columbus didn't ask for directions." In little type, it mentioned, "Guys never change." After now 20 hours in car with my husband, I was needing a little humor to hit my female funny bone.

We stopped at a wonderful, Mediterranean "Hole in the Wall" restaurant outside of Alexandria and ate Chicken Shawarma with Tahini (see picture above)  It certainly beat the other options on the typical roadtrip.  So far it has been the highlight of the culinary trip, as I was recently on a business trip, which means I had buffet after buffet after continental breakfast, which all under perform one's appetite.

Well, just moments ago, we stopped in New Brunswick, NJ for the evening.  We were hoping to make it to Poughkeepsie today, but 4 traffic hiccups in the D.C. and Baltimore area made things interesting. However, I would like to note that 511 is a helpful little tool.

Stay tuned for the final leg of the driving trip in Spring Roadtrip Part 3

Spring Roadtrip Up I-95-Part 1

Most of my posts thus far have been of memories of past trips.  This week, I wanted to give you a story in “real time” of a journey from Fort Lauderdale, Fl up I-95 1,800 miles to Poughkeepsie, NY. Stay tuned for play by play pit-stops, unique insights, and more.

Day one: Start from Plantation, Fl in a packed to the brim Honda. Gas tank full (paying $2.15 per gallon), radio station a mixture of 97.3, 97.9, and 104.3. I-95 heading North after a good night’s sleep. Left at 9:30 AM to drive through at least 4 states including Florida, Georgia (gas at $1.86), South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Things to note:

There are a tremendous amount of Cracker Barrels.  We counted 14 from Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville, another 4 in Georgia, 3 in South Carolina, and so far 2 in North Carolina.  After seeing so many signs, in Brunswick, Georgia (Exit 36A) we stopped for a taste of Cracker Barrel. (See picture in the rocking chair.)

Additionally a couple funny things of interest, in Georgia we saw a billboard for Chick-fil-a that read, “Stop in the Name of Chikin.” This was being painted on the billboard by two Holstein cows, one sitting on top of the other (Get it, cows trying to get people to eat chicken?).  Also, we saw a motorhome pulling an SUV (see picture) that stated, “Be Patient I am Pushing this Big Motorhome.” Upon passing the SUV being pulled, we noticed that there was a female dummy in the driver’s seat.  Honestly, people have too much time on there hands.

As far as interesting bummer stickers, here are my two favorites, both we saw on the same car:

Swamp life (on a Florida Gator student’s car)

Got ink? (referring if you have any tattoos)

Day one is about to finish with a couple of hours in North Carolina.  Follow me on Twitter. My name is MsTravelingPant (yes they have a limit of characters).

Until Part 2....