Homeward bound

[fbhjr]

Thursday morning we got up fairly early, packed up and got ready to leave.
We did take one last look out our balcony.


It was a cool and foggy morning.


We got the stuff to the car and headed out before 7AM.


One of the things that surprises me is how many rest areas in Florida make a point of their security.

I am not against security in any way. But, shouldn’t they all be secure?

We did see the start of route 10 that runs from Florida to California. But, we didn’t take it.


When we hit Georgia, we did stop for a breakfast at Waffle House.


But, we got stuck behind a house for doing it.


I guess the air force scared it away as we got past it.


There is this “South of the Boarder” place that has signs for hundreds of miles in all directions. We had never stopped there before.
This time we did. I used their men’s room and then we left.

Somehow, I doubt that paid for the billboards.

We tried to get lunch in North Carolina, but the McDonald’s had burnt down.


So, we stopped in Virginia at nightfall instead.


The buildings in Richmond have nice lights.


We went under the harbor at Baltimore about 9:30. We knew it was about 6 hours home then. But, we decided to go for it anyhow.


It hit freezing right at the southern New Jersey border. The ice and snow didn’t start until Connecticut.
We did finally get home about 3:30 in the morning.
We probably should have stopped and finished later this morning.
But, we wanted to get to our own bed.
And, we did.

It was a good trip.
Driving saved us a lot of money. Even with the fancy hotel we saved $600 or so off our usual trip.
And had a chance to see our god kids and friends on the way down. And, that was really cool.
But, we had less time down there than we have because of the travel each way.
And, it felt a bit rushed because of that.

We’ll have to think a good bit about which way is best for next year.
But, my wife really liked that fancy hotel. And, it is out of our price range if we pay for plane fare and rental cars.
We’ll see.

Either way, seeing our friends and spending Christmas with family was really good for us. We don’t get to see them often. Any time with them is good.

Comments

[endlessblush.livejournal.com]

Interesting - we have lots of rest areas on our roads too but no security at all. You just pull up and rest or picnic or sleep or whatever you need to do.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the normal thing here too...

[blue-eye.livejournal.com]

Wow...can't believe you did that trip in one shot. I am impressed. i know we just barely do it from Orlando to Staten Island. Those last three hours are impossible.

We actually take 10 out of Florida. From where we are, we get on 75N to 10, then 275 to 95.

I never stopped at South of the Border either. They really should try to advertise more though...it's kind of tucked away ;-).

I hate that tunnel in Baltimore. The start of all the tolls.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

And big tolls too! They keep going up in price!

[circumspectly.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you had a great time.

I love a roadtrip, so I'll drive anytime I have a chance. But...that's just me.

[postingwhore.livejournal.com]

What kind of place is South of the Boarder?

Glad you guys had a good time :)

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

It is a bit hard to explain what it is.
I guess the best way to describe it is a tourist attraction.

It is on one of the main roads to Florida where people have been going for vacation for many years.
So, they try and get people to stop and spend their money on the way there, or what is left of their money on the way back.

http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com

[hotclaws.livejournal.com]

It's the gangs of armed alligators doing stick ups you have to watch out for down there.

[perrin-o-ravnos.livejournal.com]

At least the house was smiling at you.

[hindustar.livejournal.com]

It really looked like a great time. =)