Thursday May 28, 2009
Today was primarily a travel day. We arose and departed the Plaza by the crack of noon and ate lunch at the sketchiest and creepiest McDonald's any of us had ever visited. In a single half hour, we ordered food from someone who didn't speak English, saw a wiley-bearded schizophrenic mumbling to himself while circling the booth, and watched as a dude started feeding some woman's kids whom he had never met before. Needless to say, we got out of there as fast as we reasonably could and set sail for Baltimore.
To make a long story short, the best part about Baltimore was leaving Baltimore. A quick trip from DC, the fabled home of Cal Ripken Jr. and LeRon McClain exposed these seasoned travelers to their first toll booth experience...and also to their second, third, fourth, and fifth toll booth experiences. They really pack those things in up here. We stopped by Johns Hopkins University to walk around and tour the facilities and again came away unimpressed. Although we did rank the campus above Auburn and Tennessee, it left a lot to be desired when compared to Duke and Alabama. Camden Yards and Ravens Stadium looked really good from the interstate, but even they couldn't salvage things.
Our next stop was world famous Dover, Delaware. Lucky for us, the whole town was busy
gearing up for a big race weekend, which meant we got a rare inside glimpse of NASCAR country at its finest. Big trucks, race teams, and RV's were the order of the day in Dover, and we took a couple of great pictures in front of the equipment truck of our friend Kegs' very favorite race team: Tony Stewart. Let's turn 'em and burn 'em this weekend, Tony!
Atlantic City, home of Monopoly, was our final stop of the day. Getting here involved hours of backroads exploring through a medley of rural sights and smells, not to mention about five more toll booths. We really need to invest in an EZ Pass. After checking in to the hotel, we drove into AC to visit the casinos and the Boardwalk. Two hours, $25, and a toll booth later, we returned to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow's big plans.
Gasoline Purchased Today: 16 gallons
Sleeping Accomodations: Holiday Inn Express- West Atlantic City
Tomorrow's Destination: Somewhere, Connecticut
Potential Stops en Route: Philadelphia, New York City
Potential Problems: Navigating the pathfinder through downtown Manhattan
How did you manage to hit so many toll booths? I didn't pay a cent to drive up from NC. Also that picture of Hopkins that you took is pretty much directly across the street from where I now live.
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