Travel

Sykotyk

Sykotyk

Well-known member
It's about time this one gets started. This isn't going to be about rental cars, airlines, cruises, etc. This will be about travel. Not the destinations. The places along the way that you may see while traveling.

Since no one has put this one out there, I'll be the flag bearer unless and until someone more versed in travel minutia comes along.

My first, and foremost, recommendation for anyone who is traveling for a vacation: STAY OFF THE INTERSTATES. I know you want to get from A to B because B is where your 'vacation' is supposed to start. But the trip itself is part of your vacation. And unless you're REALLY used to driving long distances, and on very repetitive interstate highways, you're going to quickly bore of the drive and hate it. It becomes an endurance test rather than the relaxation you had originally anticipated. Especially if, after your 'vacation' you have to make the same trip in reverse before returning to your day job.

I say to stay off the Interstates, because the small towns are where you see the most Americana. The weird roadside attractions. The mom-n-pop diners, motels, etc. Where you see the actual scenery where 'the other half' live. You don't experience Kansas on I-70. You experience Kansas on US36 or US 24. If you're heading to the Rockies. You experience North Dakota and South Dakota on US12, not I-94 or I-90. You experience Colorado on US40 or US50, not I-70 (though, I will say Glenwood Canyon and the San Rafael Swell are well worth the drives on I-70 in CO and UT).

And it doesn't take nearly as much extra time as you think it does. The roads are far less crowded. The gas stations, restaurants, etc are all less traveled than those dotting highway exits. Repetitive and nauseating. The same thing again and again. The same national and regional chains.

And, as I said earlier, you get to experience a much more leisurely drive. Too many people back east (basically from the Mississippi River & East), see two-lane roads on a map (or GPS/Google Maps) as some type of slow slog through suburbia. Light after light. Impatient and distracted drivers reeking havoc on your drive. So, they figure the interstates and other freeways so much 'easier' to make time.

Out west, especially, and in a lot of rural parts of the country, those two-lane roads might have hours without a stop light.

Route 200 through Montana has one stop sign (near Grass Range) and three lights (in Lewiston) from Malstrom AFB east of Great Falls to Sydney. And only once do you have to turn (by Circle). With a few roundabouts... for nearly 369 total miles. Sure, I-94 isn't that busy of a road. But it's not indicative of the rest of Montana. But if you really want to see Montana, go explore the hinterlands of Montana on MT200 through Garfield, Petroleum, and Fergus Counties. There is really no other place in America quite like it. Garfield County is where the first ever Tyrannosaurus Rex was discovered. The skull is located at the museum in Jordan, Montana. It's miles and miles of rolling hills and endless skies.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1238098758166028289

Just shy of Canada, Literally:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1672376438023139328

Though not saying the interstates are a bad thing, sometimes there just isn't any other road. Such as I-90 from Wyoming to Crow Agency. This is it for ground transportation.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1622007956484288512

I'll leave it with this idea:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507034559207989255

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507034813844258818
 
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For long-distance trips that are limited on time, I have to take the highways. One of these days with more time, I look forward to taking all the sidetrips we've talked about on the way down I77.

When it is a shorter trip in state and have a few extra hours, I always like to take the trips on the backroads and see the rest of the state. Being involved in travel baseball and softball, I've seen many parts of the state that I wouldn't have likely seen any other way. Always enjoy stopping in the Mom & Pop type of stores along the way. Feels like stepping back in time rather than the same businesses at every exit off the highway.
 
Friends did the route 66 thing just a few years ago. They enjoyed it.

Too slow for me. I like highway driving. A traveler can putter when they get to a place as well as they can putter getting there. I do what instinct tells me to do. I'm not adverse to taking a side road if my instincts say to take it. Almost everyplace can be an exploration, giving warning signs their due so that people with shot guns or really official looking uniforms and funny accents don't come out wondering why you're snooping around or taking photos or tell you they could have shot you for driving under a WAY too high gate at the border when it wouldn't lift and... uh, ... got distracted there.

But mostly, I like driving and looking out the window. Then finding someplace where I can sit at the same cafe everyday and wonder what it's be like to live there.
 
Yappi said:
When it is a shorter trip in state and have a few extra hours, I always like to take the trips on the backroads and see the rest of the state. Being involved in travel baseball and softball, I've seen many parts of the state that I wouldn't have likely seen any other way. Always enjoy stopping in the Mom & Pop type of stores along the way.
Click to expand...
Ah there's a thing we can do on Syko's thread? I don't have too many to contribut

Carey, Ohio Saum's market sells homemade BBQ stuff and sides from their deli counter.

Willing to cross the border? Michigan the muslims put everything in one gas station building. Well middle easterners because Eureka Eatery in Monroe has quite teh booze supply, so not Muslim. The chicken you order by thermometer. Anywhere's I usually go for the spicy, which I did here, once. Here, I don't recommend first timer above mid-temp or it may be awhile before you actually taste the chicken.

Lot's of mom and pop or iconic restaurants but that's all I got for mom and pop stores.
 
I would include the Mom & Pop restaurants with the stores. When I'm in another area, it is what I enjoy the most.
 
We went to Wheelersburg a few years ago and heard of a diner in Portsmouth that we all enjoyed. It was called Hickie's Hamburger Inn. Good food and interesting establishment. Another that I enjoyed was Southside Diner in Fredericktown...actually might have been Mount Vernon but the tournament was in Fredericktown.

One place that checks both store and restaurant was a place in the Orrville area. The store was up top and the restaurant was down below. Fun place to look around but felt out of place like they weren't sure we belonged.
 
Sykotyk said:
It's about time this one gets started. This isn't going to be about rental cars, airlines, cruises, etc. This will be about travel. Not the destinations. The places along the way that you may see while traveling.

Since no one has put this one out there, I'll be the flag bearer unless and until someone more versed in travel minutia comes along.

My first, and foremost, recommendation for anyone who is traveling for a vacation: STAY OFF THE INTERSTATES. I know you want to get from A to B because B is where your 'vacation' is supposed to start. But the trip itself is part of your vacation. And unless you're REALLY used to driving long distances, and on very repetitive interstate highways, you're going to quickly bore of the drive and hate it. It becomes an endurance test rather than the relaxation you had originally anticipated. Especially if, after your 'vacation' you have to make the same trip in reverse before returning to your day job.

I say to stay off the Interstates, because the small towns are where you see the most Americana. The weird roadside attractions. The mom-n-pop diners, motels, etc. Where you see the actual scenery where 'the other half' live. You don't experience Kansas on I-70. You experience Kansas on US36 or US 24. If you're heading to the Rockies. You experience North Dakota and South Dakota on US12, not I-94 or I-90. You experience Colorado on US40 or US50, not I-70 (though, I will say Glenwood Canyon and the San Rafael Swell are well worth the drives on I-70 in CO and UT).

And it doesn't take nearly as much extra time as you think it does. The roads are far less crowded. The gas stations, restaurants, etc are all less traveled than those dotting highway exits. Repetitive and nauseating. The same thing again and again. The same national and regional chains.

And, as I said earlier, you get to experience a much more leisurely drive. Too many people back east (basically from the Mississippi River & East), see two-lane roads on a map (or GPS/Google Maps) as some type of slow slog through suburbia. Light after light. Impatient and distracted drivers reeking havoc on your drive. So, they figure the interstates and other freeways so much 'easier' to make time.

Out west, especially, and in a lot of rural parts of the country, those two-lane roads might have hours without a stop light.

Route 200 through Montana has one stop sign (near Grass Range) and three lights (in Lewiston) from Malstrom AFB east of Great Falls to Sydney. And only once do you have to turn (by Circle). With a few roundabouts... for nearly 369 total miles. Sure, I-94 isn't that busy of a road. But it's not indicative of the rest of Montana. But if you really want to see Montana, go explore the hinterlands of Montana on MT200 through Garfield, Petroleum, and Fergus Counties. There is really no other place in America quite like it. Garfield County is where the first ever Tyrannosaurus Rex was discovered. The skull is located at the museum in Jordan, Montana. It's miles and miles of rolling hills and endless skies.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1238098758166028289

Just shy of Canada, Literally:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1672376438023139328

Though not saying the interstates are a bad thing, sometimes there just isn't any other road. Such as I-90 from Wyoming to Crow Agency. This is it for ground transportation.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1622007956484288512

I'll leave it with this idea:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507034559207989255

https://twitter.com/x/status/1507034813844258818
Click to expand...
I've lived long enough for the same route to go from a 12 hour drive through Americana as a kid to a 7 hour drive via interstate as an adult. I prefer the 5 hour shave.

Now one day when I get old and retire, and the grandkids are no longer needing us to get there as fast as possible, I will take those backroads.
 
You brought Kansas up. We left the interstate just west of Kansas City a few years back and drove 24 most all the way to Colorado. Somewhere we dropped south back towards 40/70 but do not recall where that was now. I believe 70 is a turnpike through some of that rugged area just west of KC. Anyway, I would not suggest the Dairy Queen in Quinter, unless you have a strong stomachache and like flies so thick you literally squish a few just trying to sit down. That was the oddest place I ever recall.
 
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Yappi said:
For long-distance trips that are limited on time, I have to take the highways. One of these days with more time, I look forward to taking all the sidetrips we've talked about on the way down I77.

When it is a shorter trip in state and have a few extra hours, I always like to take the trips on the backroads and see the rest of the state. Being involved in travel baseball and softball, I've seen many parts of the state that I wouldn't have likely seen any other way. Always enjoy stopping in the Mom & Pop type of stores along the way. Feels like stepping back in time rather than the same businesses at every exit off the highway.
Click to expand...

But that's the thing. By limiting your time to a breakneck pace. You generally are doing the same trip back. So, between the end of your 'vacation' and returning to your regular schedule... You have one more long, monotonous drive to do. Because people schedule their time that way for vacations. You need a vacation from your vacation then, as the old lament goes.

I'm not really suggesting slow, meandering country roads snaking up and over hills like US250 from Cadiz to Bridgeport. But fast, two-lanes out west can be signed at 65-70mph and other than a small town every half hour or so, you aren't really impeded for times' sake.

D4fan said:
I've lived long enough for the same route to go from a 12 hour drive through Americana as a kid to a 7 hour drive via interstate as an adult. I prefer the 5 hour shave.

Now one day when I get old and retire, and the grandkids are no longer needing us to get there as fast as possible, I will take those backroads.
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To me, those 5 hours make the trip. And as a kid, a lot of it was you were just staring out the window because you were a kid. My daughter is seven, and wants a Happy Meal for every meal on a trip if I'd let her. But then again, I can't think of a single trip out west where the same rough routes would see a nearly 40% drop in drive time. Unless you're counting stopping as well.

eastisbest said:
Friends did the route 66 thing just a few years ago. They enjoyed it.

Too slow for me. I like highway driving. A traveler can putter when they get to a place as well as they can putter getting there. I do what instinct tells me to do. I'm not adverse to taking a side road if my instincts say to take it. Almost everyplace can be an exploration, giving warning signs their due so that people with shot guns or really official looking uniforms and funny accents don't come out wondering why you're snooping around or taking photos or tell you they could have shot you for driving under a WAY too high gate at the border when it wouldn't lift and... uh, ... got distracted there.

But mostly, I like driving and looking out the window. Then finding someplace where I can sit at the same cafe everyday and wonder what it's be like to live there.
Click to expand...
Route 66 is a slog from Chicago to Oklahoma. If you're really trying to follow the route. Plus, many places the original route has been realigned so many times as traffic volumes increased, that it is really based on how true you want to be to the mother road. Once you get to Oklahoma City, most of the road was overlaid by I-40. There is no 'other route'. Really, in New Mexico you can follow the original route which snaked up toward Santa Fe and then down to Albuquerque to avoid the Sandia Mountains at the time. Shortly after, US66 was routed across the Sandia Mountains in a straight line through Albuqueruque. There's some cool stops, but most of the interstate is it. The Seligman to Kingman original route is worth the side trip, though. As I-40 cuts a straight path through some rough terrain to Kingman.
D4fan said:
You brought Kansas up. We left the interstate just west of Kansas City a few years back and drove 24 most all the way to Colorado. Somewhere we dropped south back towards 40/70 but do not recall where that was now. I believe 70 is a turnpike through some of that rugged area just west of KC. Anyway, I would not suggest the Dairy Queen in Quinter, unless you have a strong stomachache and like flies so thick you literally squish a few just trying to sit down. That was the oddest place I ever recall.
Click to expand...
I-70 doglegs north two big steps to Denver from Kansas City. Straight west from Kansas City to Topeka is the Kansas Turnpike. The turnpike turns southwest to Emporia, while I-70 goes right through Topeka and continues straight to Junction City. Over by Oakley on the western part of the state, the road turns northwest to Colby. That's where US24 runs into I-70 again. It turns straight west again until Limon, and makes another turn northwest where it intersects with US36. And then turns due west again to Denver.

Prior to the interstate system, that trip would really depend on your starting point which of the many east-west roads you'd take.

As for the DQ, that's part of the flaw of stopping at the chain restaurants in the middle of nowhere. Quality control is not nearly as good as near cities where corporate may get more complaints and easily have them checked out.

Though, DQ is king in Texas. Every small town worth their Welcome Sign has a DQ.
 
Montana has come to be my favorite state to visit (in the summer time) I usually try to avoid large cities and towns. I also found my favorite town to visit and you have to get off the interstate to get to it, in fact you have to get off the state routes to get to it . Pole Bridge is north of Glacier National Park. and to get there you must drive over 25 miles on dirt roads. A town with only two business and no cell service and no electricity. Bought some of the best bake goods ever and got to have a Elk burger while we were there. The only reason I have not been back is my wife does not know if she is up to the road trip. Go in the summer the town closes up for the winter.
 
19AL63 said:
Montana has come to be my favorite state to visit (in the summer time) I usually try to avoid large cities and towns. I also found my favorite town to visit and you have to get off the interstate to get to it, in fact you have to get off the state routes to get to it . Pole Bridge is north of Glacier National Park. and to get there you must drive over 25 miles on dirt roads. A town with only two business and no cell service and no electricity. Bought some of the best bake goods ever and got to have a Elk burger while we were there. The only reason I have not been back is my wife does not know if she is up to the road trip. Go in the summer the town closes up for the winter.
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One of the best steaks, certainly the best i ever cooked I got from a meat counter at a small local grocery at Glacier. Old days butcher shop of hanging montana meat. Chop, brown paper, take it to the hostel, butter, salt, pepper, cast iron fry pan. Park season wasn't even open yet, had the place to myself.

I can only imagine what a real cook would have done with it.
 
One of the issues I have with the scenic rural highways is folks don't know how to drive them; need to pass with the dashed yellow lines when behind slow moving vehicles. Nothing more frustrating than a couple of cars behind a semi and the first car doesn't have the balls to make that pass. Then you get to a hill and before you know it there are a dozen cars all going under 30 in a 55 because the loaded semi cannot get up to speed and it is now a solid yellow line. Then when you hit town and it drops to 35 idiots try speeding through a place where it's unsafe. Generally speaking this country needs to give out adult driving lessons.
 
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eastisbest said:
Willing to cross the border? Michigan the muslims put everything in one gas station building. Well middle easterners because Eureka Eatery in Monroe has quite teh booze supply, so not Muslim. The chicken you order by thermometer. Anywhere's I usually go for the spicy, which I did here, once. Here, I don't recommend first timer above mid-temp or it may be awhile before you actually taste the chicken.

Lot's of mom and pop or iconic restaurants but that's all I got for mom and pop stores.
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In Cleveland there is such a thing as gas station hummus.

clevelandmagazine.com

Best Of Cleveland: Gas Station Hummus

Mama Mary's Hummus can only be found at this Sunoco gas station in Olmsted Falls.
clevelandmagazine.com clevelandmagazine.com

I can attest that Mama Mary’s is arguably the best hummus I have ever had and that includes places in Dearborn, NYC, and Chicago. A guy from Olmsted Falls brings it in and my ethnically diverse employees gobble the stuff up.
 
Yappi said:
We went to Wheelersburg a few years ago and heard of a diner in Portsmouth that we all enjoyed. It was called Hickie's Hamburger Inn. Good food and interesting establishment. Another that I enjoyed was Southside Diner in Fredericktown...actually might have been Mount Vernon but the tournament was in Fredericktown.

One place that checks both store and restaurant was a place in the Orrville area. The store was up top and the restaurant was down below. Fun place to look around but felt out of place like they weren't sure we belonged.
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That sounds like the Town and Country Store in Kidron. I think that's the place in Kidron that has a lunch counter in the basement. Kidron is home to the famed Lehman Hardware which sells a wide variety of non-electrical appliances. The place made a killing years ago when Y2K was on everyone's mind.
 
Auggie said:
One of the issues I have with the scenic rural highways is folks don't know how to drive them; need to pass with the dashed yellow lines when behind slow moving vehicles. Nothing more frustrating than a couple of cars behind a semi and the first car doesn't have the balls to make that pass. Then you get to a hill and before you know it there are a dozen cars all going under 30 in a 55 because the loaded semi cannot get up to speed and it is now a solid yellow line. Then when you hit town and it drops to 35 idiots try speeding through a place where it's unsafe. Generally speaking this country needs to give out adult driving lessons.
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We hit on some of this today in a driving class I was taking for work. Talked about the proliferation of roundabouts with a driving populace that has no clue how to negotiate them. Also talked about the odds of motorists on both sides of the road knowing what to do when a school bus stops on a 4-lane road.
 
Mr. Slippery said:
We hit on some of this today in a driving class I was taking for work. Talked about the proliferation of roundabouts with a driving populace that has no clue how to negotiate them. Also talked about the odds of motorists on both sides of the road knowing what to do when a school bus stops on a 4-lane road.
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The rule in Ohio is, if the traffic on the opposing two lanes stops, you're not allowed to run into the back of it.

😀
 
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10-1/2 hour drive to Myrtle Beach vs. 1-1/2 hour direct flight on Allegiant. No contest. Two extra days on the beach. Can’t even imagine driving back roads from Ohio to the SC coast.
 
yj_runfan said:
10-1/2 hour drive to Myrtle Beach vs. 1-1/2 hour direct flight on Allegiant. No contest. Two extra days on the beach. Can’t even imagine driving back roads from Ohio to the SC coast.
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But then you have to rent a car and you cannot schlep down all that beach gear needed for the week. For anyone that has made the trek the back roads of the Carolinas are nothing compared to the VA/WV boarder on a Saturday in July & August. The back up through the tunnels is insane and if you get off of I-77 you are going through the heart of "Deliverance" land. The wife felt more afraid for her life with OH plates in this place then in the ghettos of Cleveland.
 
Auggie said:
But then you have to rent a car and you cannot schlep down all that beach gear needed for the week. For anyone that has made the trek the back roads of the Carolinas are nothing compared to the VA/WV boarder on a Saturday in July & August. The back up through the tunnels is insane and if you get off of I-77 you are going through the heart of "Deliverance" land. The wife felt more afraid for her life with OH plates in this place then in the ghettos of Cleveland.
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That's hilarious.
 
Plenty of other beach along the grand strand plus you have Hilton Head, Charleston, etc... We have started to go to Holden Beach. Nice quite residential type community.
 
Auggie said:
But then you have to rent a car and you cannot schlep down all that beach gear needed for the week. For anyone that has made the trek the back roads of the Carolinas are nothing compared to the VA/WV boarder on a Saturday in July & August. The back up through the tunnels is insane and if you get off of I-77 you are going through the heart of "Deliverance" land. The wife felt more afraid for her life with OH plates in this place then in the ghettos of Cleveland.
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Making it through Wytheville on the way down or back up I-77 is the goal for us on each trip. Try to time it early in the morning or late at night. Getting stuck there just before the tunnels is miserable.

Also, if you happen to get off the highway for lunch, I-77 and I-81 go in the "opposite" direction. Going South on I-81 means you are going North on I-77. Our relatives found out about that recently when they added 30 minutes to their trip by going the wrong way...just assumed I-81 South was the same as I-77 South.

Watched a YouTube video that said this is the only instance in which two Interstate Highways merge but their directions are opposite of each other.
 
Auggie said:
But then you have to rent a car and you cannot schlep down all that beach gear needed for the week. For anyone that has made the trek the back roads of the Carolinas are nothing compared to the VA/WV boarder on a Saturday in July & August. The back up through the tunnels is insane and if you get off of I-77 you are going through the heart of "Deliverance" land. The wife felt more afraid for her life with OH plates in this place then in the ghettos of Cleveland.
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Cincinnati—- I-75 to I-40 East into the Carolinas. Piece of cake. I would still trade the driving time for a car rental and not lugging tons of beach gear. No way would I drive back roads across the mountains.
 
irish_buffalo said:
People still go to Myrtle Beach?
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Visited for my first time two weeks ago. It was much nicer then I had heard. Don’t know where all the bad comments come from. Decent crowds on the weekend but then cleared out because school had started. What is your experience there?
 
yj_runfan said:
Visited for my first time two weeks ago. It was much nicer then I had heard. Don’t know where all the bad comments come from. Decent crowds on the weekend but then cleared out because school had started. What is your experience there?
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Was there last in 2009(?) for a Cal Ripken baseball tournament. Been there roughly 3 times before that. Was never impressed. Myrtle Beach proper is not very nice. Old and run down. The beach towns North and South not so bad. Was disappointed with the food, sea food especially. Found one place (Flo's) in Murrells Inlet that was decent, otherwise all calabash buffet style or chains. I believe there are better seaside destinations in the U.S. Just my opinion and a lot can change in 14 years.
 
irish_buffalo said:
Was there last in 2009(?) for a Cal Ripken baseball tournament. Been there roughly 3 times before that. Was never impressed. Myrtle Beach proper is not very nice. Old and run down. The beach towns North and South not so bad. Was disappointed with the food, sea food especially. Found one place (Flo's) in Murrells Inlet that was decent, otherwise all calabash buffet style or chains. I believe there are better seaside destinations in the U.S. Just my opinion and a lot can change in 14 years.
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There’s no doubt there are better beach communities but I thought the negative comments I always heard were exaggerated. We found plenty of nice, quality local restaurants, tho we are not seafood fans. The Myrtle Beach state park was a pleasant surprise. Nice natural forest right up to the beach with lots of picnic areas spread around.
 
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