Intrepid Travelers

We were both kind of dreading the trip home cause that is one long drive from Orlando to Cape Cod.  We're talking about 1,200 miles!!  We left about 7:00 AM to head north.

White palmetto tree as seen on the flags and state symbols.

I thought this was unusual for a major highway, to have the trees so close.

This rest stop is about 3 miles north of South of the Border.  I was so creeped out that I wouldn't use their bathroom so Russell stopped here for me!!!

Very blurry cause it was about 6:00 but we made it to Virginia the first day, and stayed in Emporia.  After a delicious meal at Cracker Barrel we checked into a hotel and crashed for the night.

 Up real early in the morning to continue on.

Got to the Capital Beltway around DC right at rush hour so it was definitely slow going.

 Loved this truck.  I lived for Scholastic Book Fairs in elementary school!

Maryland by mid morning....more traffic around Baltimore.

 I didn't realize we were going to pass through Delaware too...I was lucky to grab my camera in time!

We could have branched off to avoid the DC/Baltimore metro area but we had one more stop to make on the way home, in South Plainfield, NJ.

Russell got antipasto salads from this place called Pizza Stop that would deliver to the Halls Warehouse a few blocks away.  He hasn't had one in well over a year since his forced retirement.  He was so excited to stop here on the way home.  We got here about 2:30. 

I got a really good pie.  I miss NY/NJ style pizza!

He was so very happy to see that they hadn't changed anything with the salad.  He got two.

Aw look how happy!!!!!

The rest of the trip home was uneventful and we were in the house and relaxing by about 8:00 pm.  This was easily one of the best vacations ever....from seeing the boys and doing Halloween with them to living out my dream of seeing Harry Potter World, it was a perfect trip.  Made a lot of memories and had a lot of laughs. 

South of the Border, SC

Back in 1976 when we drove home from Florida, my dad stopped at South of the Border, a super kitschy souvenir complex which is right on the South Carolina/North Carolina line.  I remembered it being colourful, crowded, somewhat dazzling, and of course all the funny billboards on the way.  I asked Russell if he minded stopping on the way home.  The billboards were plentiful and amusing.

However when we got there, I found it so run down that the first thought in my head was 'what a dump'.  I'd assumed we were going to be here at least an hour with me looking around and probably eating at the restaurant.  Nope.  I wasn't going near that restaurant.  The whole place was just so hinky and creepy.

I achieved my goals of souvenirs and a pressed penny but the store was just too weird.  The whole vibe there was weird.

I wanted to walk around outside a bit and get more pics despite it being so tacky and Russell didn't let me out of his sight, slowly driving along close by where I was walking.

Glad I stopped this time cause I won't be back.