Interstate 95 Road Trip

I mentioned recently that we passed a funeral procession while driving on Interstate 95 near Cape Canaveral National Cemetery in Mims, Florida. I also wrote that this was part of our first family vacation in two years. (The passing of a funeral procession was an unexpected part of the trip.) What I didn't include is that we spent a lot of time driving on I-95. And by a lot, I mean A LOT.

I think it's really easy to forget sometimes just how big the United States is. I mean, sure, if you look at a map, California is far away from New York, but it's one thing to fly from the East Coast to the West Coast and quite another to drive hundreds of miles...especially with three kids. Here are some observations from driving from Northern Virginia to Hilton Head, South Carolina to South Florida and back to Virginia.

* Until this trip, I was unfamiliar with Law Tigers, America's Motorcycle Lawyers. I passed plenty of their billboards on the drive, and all I thought of every time I saw one was Tony the Tiger being a lawyer. 

Tony The Tiger in a courtroom: Your honor, if you rule in favor of my client, that would be grrrrrreat!

* We passed a billboard in Richmond for The Joel Bieber Law Firm. I wonder how many clients ask if he's related to Justin Bieber.  

* If they could, my kids would eat chicken tenders/nuggets at every meal. No matter where we stopped, they had chicken tenders. While I'm on the topic of chicken, I don't think Zaxby's gets enough credit for being a terrific restaurant. It's probably because most locations are in the southeastern US and you only tend to see commercials while watching the ACC Network. I just learned that there is a Zaxby's about 20 minutes from me, and I don't know why I'm not a regular customer.

* Speaking of fast food restaurants, we passed hundreds during the trip, but there were no Long John Silver's. That is the reason why this country is falling apart!

Well, that or maybe the guy driving this van, who I'm sure is a kind and reasonable person.

* There are a group of truck stops in North Carolina called Big Boy's. Based on the location of the apostrophe, I guess there is one big boy and not a group of big boys.  

* Much of the drive is the same. Miles and miles of tree-lined highways. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, you go over beautiful Lake Marion in South Carolina. It's such a shocking and unexpected difference in scenery. And then, it's back to tree-lined highways.

* If you're driving on 95 through North Carolina and have an extra 45-60 minutes, I recommend visiting the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park in Wilson, NC. While the entire story is on the Whirligig website, the late Simpson created dozens of "Whirligigs" out of recycled metals. The city created a downtown park and pavilion for these sculptures, and it's a cool little area to walk around. Unfortunately, the air was completely still when we visited, so we didn't see the sculptures move with the wind. 

* We also didn't get to visit the "Treat Yo' Self Bakery" just down the street from Whirligig Park since they were closed for the day. I hope that Michael Schur and the folks at Parks & Recreation are okay with the bakery name. 

* I have never been to Savannah, so I had a brilliant plan to break up the Florida to Virginia drive by staying overnight in the "Hostess City of the South." The day before leaving, I looked up hotels in the Savannah area and found that just about everything was sold out. The only exception was what appeared to be a really nice hotel in downtown Savannah which cost about $500 or 60,000 Hilton Honors points. That wasn't going to happen. I ended up booking a hotel in Manning, SC instead. This turned out to be a fantastic move. By the time we arrived in Savannah, we definitely wouldn't have had time to enjoy the city or the hotel. When we got to Manning after 9:00PM, the hotel and others in the area were sold out. Making the reservation worked out very well. 

* Can we talk about South of the Border? This cornucopia of activities is located just south of the North Carolina border in South Carolina. South of the Border bills itself as "America's Favorite Highway Oasis."  I'll admit that I have never stopped, but the countless signs on 95 promoting the venue are unavoidable. I truly appreciate the name, the idea, and the fact that it's been around for over 70 years. Now the negative. Some of the ads, which were probably created about 70 years ago, are just racist. Keep the premise, but get rid of the stereotypical Mexican cartoon and images.

* I was really disappointed that the musical group Florida Georgia Line wasn't just hanging out and playing on the Florida-Georgia line. We crossed this border twice, and they weren't there either time. (And in case you think this is just a Florida-Georgia Line thing, I fully expect to see Boston in Boston, Chicago in Chicago, etc. Europe in Europe or Asia in Asia might be a stretch though.)

* I'm fascinated by the Roanoke Rapids Theatre about 15 minutes south of Virginia-North Carolina border. It's just a beautiful building seemingly in the middle of no where. I'd love to see a show there someday. 

Total mileage driven on this 15-day trip: 2336.2 miles

Total miles driven in the car in the 15 months prior to the trip: 3939 miles

Cape Canaveral National Cemetery Funerals

At some point in the next few weeks, I plan on writing about our first family vacation in two years. Today, though, I'm writing about just a few minutes of the trip. On our drive from south Florida to Northern Virginia, we passed a funeral procession on interstate 95. The procession was presumably heading for the Cape Canaveral National Cemetery located in Mims, Florida. Without knowing anything about the cemetery, I wondered who was being buried. Was it an astronaut? Someone involved with the space program?

When I got home, I thought about this a little more. I tried to see if there was information online, but was unsuccessful. I then contacted the National Cemetery Administration, a division of the Department of Veterans Affairs. They were extremely helpful and provided a quick response. With multiple interments, they could not say for certain which service it would have been. Instead, they gave me the names of four veterans and the spouse of a veteran who were buried on the day we passed the procession. 

While I generally like to keep things light here, I wanted to share what I found about these individuals. 

Stanley ("Chip") Wessel

Chip was born in Orlando, attended University of Central Florida, and reached the rank of corporal in the Army. More importantly, he was a father of three and had a huge impact on the Brevard County, Florida lacrosse community. This Facebook post really sums out how much he meant to so many people. He passed away at only 51.

Rubin Ervin III

Rubin, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant, passed away in Orlando at the age of 77. He was survived by three children, five grandsons, and a large extended family. His obituary included this, "We will always remember him saying "I'm a Baaaad man!!!" and "Never give up on yourself, you have to be your biggest fan."

Ruben performed duties as a Duplicating Devices Operator Supervisor and during his time in service, awarded the Commendation Medal w/3 Devices, Overseas Short Tour Ribbon, Overseas Long Tour Ribbon w/1 OLC, Longevity Service Award w/1 Silver OLC, NCO Professional Education Graduate Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Outstanding Unit Award w/1 OLC, Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Military Ribbon, and the Good Conduct Medal w/1 Silver OLC and 2 Bronze OLC. 

I don’t know what all of this means, but it seems impressive.

Felix Rodriguez

Felix was born in the Domincan Republic and moved to Puerto Rico at around ten. He traveled all over in the Air Force and met his wife while stationed in Panama. They raised two children and settled in Orlando after Felix retired as a decorated Master Sergeant from the Air Force.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and later earned his teacher certification in mathematics from the University of Central Florida. He worked 20 years at Orange County Public Schools teaching mathematics at Westridge Middle School and Roberto Clemente Middle School. He was also a gardener. Felix passed away at the age of 62.

It definitely got a little dusty reading this comment on his obituary page:

Thanks Daddy for showing us how to be a husband, father, professional and a good person with your everyday behavior and conduct. If I get to be half of the person you were I would consider myself satisfied in life. Love you everyday. Thanks for being the best husband for mommy and the world #1 father to my sister and brother. Will always remember you as what you were, one of the most amazing persons I have the honor to meet. 

Gregory Olive

Greg was from Auburndale, Florida and went to Auburndale High School and East Florida State College. He served in the Air Force, reaching the rank of Senior Airman. Greg also worked on the Space Shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center, and I saw one former colleague noted that "he was always smiling, happy, and one of the nicest co-workers." Greg passed away at 54. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find much more about him.

Barbara O’Donnell

I found even less about Barbara O’Donnell, who I believe passed away in Altamonte Springs, Florida at 81.

My condolences to the family and friends of these individuals. Thanks to all of them for serving our country. RIP.

Photos by Malcolm Denemark / Florida Today and Space Coast Daily.

Delaware

I’m calling you out Delaware! Well, note the entire state, just the small portion on Interstate 95. Even though the highway only goes through the state for about 10 miles, why is there always traffic and construction? Plus, why are the prices in the Delaware House Travel Plaza so high? Over the weekend, I bought a 7 oz. bag of Combos plus a 25 oz. bottled water. While the $1.79 price for the water is not too bad, the $3.99 cost for Combos is extravagant. Even worse is the fact that the store didn’t label the Combos price, so I didn’t know the cost until check out. With a line of a dozen people behind me, I really couldn’t exchange the Combos for a $2.50 small bad of Cool Ranch Doritos, which I already decided against because of the high price. As a comparison, an 8.8 oz bag of Combos cost $1.99 at CVS.

I’m heading back through Delaware on 95 in a few weeks, so I’m going to give the state a chance to redeem itself.

As a side note, how many millions of dollars does Delaware earn through tolls on 95? It seems like that could be a significant part of the state’s economy.