I thought it would be highly useful to people planning road-trips anywhere along the East Coast of the U.S. if people would post the best and worst places to stop along the way for lodging, food and restrooms.

It could also make for interesting and even entertaining reading.

(Perhaps others will start similar threads for other routes)

The rest stops on the Merritt Parkway in CT are convienient (literally on the side of the road), very clean and have good coffee. There's a grassy area to walk my dog(I always pick up after him and so must others..no dog duty to be seen). But, the gas is expensive and you can't really get a meal....just snacks.

Swaying Palms, the problem with your thread and any of this type is most people want specific and timely advice. For instance, I have no desire right now to know this information, but if I am going to make the trip, then I would ask for advice at the time of my trip.

If you've traveling on Route 68 in Washington County, Maryland, look for the rest stop/Exhibit Center at Sideling Hill where the highway cuts through about 800 ft of stratified rock. Along with Exhibit Center, the MD Dept of Natural Resources manages a 3,000-acre Wildlife Management Area at Sideling Hill. The Exhibit Center is accessible from either side of the highway. It's also a nice place to stop for a picnic - very pretty mountain views.

Specific and timely. We are going to Florida from the NYC area. We've gotten stuck at those bulletproof glass outside entrance motels in NC/SC.

Basically, to be useful for people in our situation, we would need something close to 95 or 81. Figure we have to eat in VA somewhere, and stop over in NC/SC.

It would be nice to know if there are people who make the trip yearly have their favorite spots to rest, eat, and/or stay a night.

In my experience it is best to avoid any place that has discount coupons in the guides you get at rest stops. Others have much better luck. I like ma-and-pa motels off the interstate that I find in AAA guides. Others want the uniformity of Hampton Inn.

We did part of the S.E coast and stayed at:Kill Devil hillsays inn;fine on the beach ,nice breakfast incl.
-Wilmington: Motel6 nice neighbourhood not far from the river.
-Savannah: Quality inn heart of Savannah:great location, nice breakfast,walking distance to the sites.
Paul

Interesting replies so far, thanks.

Just to reply to two of them now:

1. iceeu2, I do see your point and I actually had thought myself along similar lines, namely, I was concerned it might be too broad and general a topic for one thread and hence, just overwhelming. However, nothing should stop anyone from posting and/or searching for more specific inquiries of this type. Likewise, nothing should stop anyone wishing to simply ignore this thread from doing so.

2. mei, you wrote "no dog duty to be seen" but from the context, what you must have meant was that there was no dog _"doody"_ because dog owners did their _duty_ in picking-up after their pets.

Also, am I the only one who got a kick out of how you covered the "bathroom" facilities for dogs but made no mention of such facilities for humans?


(Actually, this one: comes out looking like a dog)

"In my experience it is best to avoid any place that has discount coupons in the guides you get at rest stops."

That's the thing, we really don't use the discount coupons, but if it's driving rain in NC and you need to stop, the first place off the interstate (when you don't know where the next place is) looks very good.

We should bring the discount guides, so we know what to avoid!

We always stop at the Charcoal Pit just north of Wilmington, DE when we drive up or down the coast. You need to stay on I-95 proper (not the I-495 by-pass).

2600 Concord Pike (less than 5 minutes off the highway).

http://www.charcoalpit.com/home.php

OK, it's just burgers and shakes but they are so, SO good.

"In my experience it is best to avoid any place that has discount coupons in the guides you get at rest stops"

I have to disagree! We bring along AAA guides and with cellphones, call the hotels in the coupon book to see how old they are. If you stick to those that are very new, they're usually a good deal, and you'd be surprised at how many ARE brand new, lots of the Holiday Inn Expresses, plus you can get a free continental breakfast which helps get an early start on your way out the next morning.

We usually take a long cartrip down 95 every summer and usually don't know where we'll be when we'e had enough driving, so I find those coupon books to be very helpful.

Oh and if you hate Fast Food as much as I do, I find the Panera franchises to be great places for a good sandwich or breakfast to go.

I don't take long road trips where I stay in motels, but it seems to me that you either need a rest stop or you don't. I stop based on when I need one, and wouldn't go hours past one when I needed it to get to another that I saved from a post on Fodors as promising gold-plated toilets or whatever.

I find rest stops tend to have about the same quality based on the state they are in, as the state funds them and has the standards. Ohio's are pretty good, for example, but they aren't on the east coast.

I never expected to see The Charcoal Pit recommended on this thread! It is really good, and although it is probably 30 minutes from my house I don't go there often enough.

Concord Pike is also known as Route 202, by the way.

Back again.

Two things: it has been our experience that gasoline in New Jersey is cheaper than in any of the surrounding states. Driving from Massachusetts, we used to stop on the Parkway, just over the border from NY for toilet and fillup. Typical rest stop. But between East Brunswick and Trenton, southbound on the Turnpike, there is a rest stop with Starbucks espresso. Worth driving an extra hour.

I will no doubt think of other things as we drive Boston-Richmond frequently.

A new hotel on I-95 near Savannah is Inn at Mulberry Grove (www.innatmulberrygrove.com), with a hot breakfast buffet, upscale comforts, and budget rates. Easy in/out convenience, plus nearby is the area's cheapest gas. The hotel will arrange an historic Savannah tour, with pick up in the lobby, so you can miss the parking issues in downtown Savannah.

I used a discount coupon I found at a rest stop for the Residence Inn in Naples, Florida. That certainly didn't have bulletproof glass.

<< I don't take long road trips where I stay in motels, but it seems to me that you either need a rest stop or you don't. I stop based on when I need one, and wouldn't go hours past one when I needed it to get to another that I saved from a post on Fodors as promising gold-plated toilets or whatever.>>

Your first statement may explain the rest of your post. Most people with extensive road-trip experience have encountered toilet facilities so atrocious that finding a wooded area off the road seemed more appealing.

I have traveled by car to 45 US states, and have never found a bathroom so disgusting that I wouldn't use it.

A rest stop is a rest stop is a rest stop.

As a Virginian I'm ashamed to say we have the worst rest stop restrooms. The nicest are in South Carolina.

ronkala - TX ones used to be the worst in the country, but we started building some nice ones now.