June Roadtrip Days 21-26, The Rest of the Journey

Day 21

Monday, June 21

     I rolled out of Trenton around 8A, headed south to Mom’s house in Maryland.  But first, I had two stops to make.  For the first, I let the GPS do the heavy lifting.  It took me south on I-295 towards Delaware.  Since I was headed to a spot in the northern part the state, it took me over the Commodore Barry Bridge, or as the GPS called it The Commodore Barry Branch.  It’s never a good sign when traffic grinds to a halt even before the toll plaza.  

     There was no visible construction vehicles or workers.  However, three lanes were squeezed down to one.  

     Eventually, I made it into Delaware and Ebright Street.  All in all, it’s a pretty typical suburban residential road.  At the crest of the hill, hidden under some tree branches, you’ll find the marker for Ebright Azimuth.  Clocking in at four hundred and forty-seven feet, it’s the highest point in the state of Delaware, and the second lowest high point.  For those of you keeping score, this makes highpoint #26.

     What a view...

      There was one more stop in Delaware to make and this one would turn out to be a trial of patience.  It seemed like a simple thing to find the corner of Park Street and West North Street in downtown Wilmington.  Of course there was construction and plenty of it. 

     Then I got caught in a narrow side road waiting for these guys to work their way up the street. 

      Toss in a series of one way streets that always seemed to be headed in the wrong direction and an easy task took much longer.

     Eventually, I did work my way down to Park Street.  Yes, I did find the memorial.  I saw it as I was frantically being waved through the intersection by a guy in a hard hat.

     So, what brought me to this intersection?  The year was 1862.   The place was the Antietam battlefield, one hundred and forty miles away.  A young commissary officer and future president William McKinley is said to have raised the morale of the front line Union troops by bringing them hot coffee under fire.  The story took on a life of its own during his political campaigns.  This memorial commemorates it.  

     I drove out of Wilmington and headed south.  One construction delay after another and I was ready for a break.  How bad was it?  I started studying the perfect arc the leather strap had formed on the back of this guy's truck.

     At a gas stop, I did my favorite google search and found a brewery just north of Baltimore that was actually open on Mondays.  A quick pint at Oliver Brewing and I was back on my way.

Day 22-25

      Just chillin' with Mom.  While it's always good to spend quality time with Mom, I did take my phone out in the evenings to shoot sunsets.

     Making a new friend...

Day 26

Saturday, June 26

      When I drove home from Mom’s the last time, there was the usual slowdown in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  No seriously, it happens there every time.  Otherwise, it was speed limit conditions the entire way.

      For whatever reason, I didn’t bother to check the current conditions before leaving Mom’s this time.  If I had, the day would have been very different.

      It started with traffic grinding to a crawl on the Capital Beltway.  A tractor trailer was disabled in the center lane.  Once past, traffic picked up.  Then I hit I-95 South.

      If I had checked ahead of time, I would have seen backups from DC all the way to Richmond and beyond.  Instead, I was in the thick of it, even resorting to spending a few bucks to drive the express lanes for a few miles.   Once past the first blockage, I got back on I-95.  

      Things went from bad to worse.  Imagine if you can, three travel lanes barely moving.  The express lanes coming to and end and all those cars are trying to feed into the left lane.  Off to the right is an on ramp, also clogged with cars.  They're all trying to feed into the right hand lane.  

      Up ahead, a sign declaring another sixty miles to Richmond.  I can usually make Richmond in a little over two and a half hours.  It had already been close to three.  With no end in sign, the voice in my head said something akin to "oh hell no."  

      I had no idea what I was getting myself in for, but I bailed out, taking the next exit.  With no clue where I was headed, I kept turning randomly so the car was headed vaguely south west.  At least I was moving.

      After doing this for a while, I came to Hwy 17 and a conveniently placed Walmart parking lot.  A quick look at the Virginia map and I had a few choices to make.  If I turned right, it would take me back to I-95 perhaps a mile away.  Sitting there I could see traffic lights cycle but almost no movement in the right lanes.  If I turned left and drove thirty miles north on Hwy 17 to the town of Opal,  I could pick up Hwy 29 south through the middle of Virginia.  Two hundred and forty miles later, I'd be on I-85 in Greensboro, North Carolina.    

      Feeling fried and frustrated, I did my favorite google search for “brewery near me.”  Just a few miles south of Opal sits the town of Brandy Station, About a mile and a half off the road you’ll find the Old Trade Brewery.  I decompressed over a pint, chatting with the regulars.  But, I still had a long way to go. 

   

    Seen in the parking lot...

      Fortunately, Hwy 29 wasn't very busy and traffic flowed nicely.  Late in the afternoon, I finally started seeing I-85 signs.  At a rest stop, I pulled out the phone and started looking for dinner options.  Concord, NC was another twenty minutes ahead.  How could I pass up a place called Buzzed Viking Brewery.

      Good food and a nice Irish Red Ale to chill for a bit.  Up front, a guy playing country songs.  He was pretty good, too.  Add to that, they're dog friendly, even inside.

      Ordinarily, I would have simply driven back out to the interstate.  But, with a sky like this, that could wait.

     The plan from here was simply to grind out the miles and at least get past Charlotte.  But, there comes that point in the drive when you really want nothing more than to be done.  In the end, I had made the right decision to press on and keep going.  

     The first thirty miles of South Carolina was a construction zone.  The two southbound lanes were split.  One had access to the exits.  The other peeled off.  Imagine thirty miles of interstate, one lane with concrete barriers on both sides.  Now imagine the barriers making that lane feel a bit narrow.  I could only imagine what this would be like with the day traffic.  

     In the end, a trip that usually takes twelve hours took seventeen.  You can imagine my relief when I finally pulled into the garage at 2A.  

     Once home, I did take a look at what's in that swath of Virginia.  Perhaps next time I'll take an extra day and explore a bit.  

David

7/2021

PS:  I have nothing booked and am still trying to get vacation time approved for September.  If I get all the time I put in for, it's long past time for a revisit to New England.  There are people I haven't seen in a long time.