So, naturally, he wanted to know what we would do this year. I hadn't thought about doing a side trip adventure but I'm always up for checking out someplace new and started digging in. Right now Wesley is really into baseball so I looked the teams in the area, Nationals, Phillies, & Orioles, all three ballparks at about 2 hours 45 minutes away, which is the same distance as Fenway Park is from home. Selfishly I didn't want to go see the Nationals or the Orioles because I've been to those parks, and the Phillies only had night names so we wouldn't get back to the condo until after midnight. If any team had been playing the Red Sox we would have gone. Also we are going to a Delmarva Shorebirds game again this year, only 40 minutes away in Salisbury.
I looked at places in Pennsylvania like Gettysburg and attractions in the Virginia Beach area. Then for fun I looked at how far away the closest Buc-ee's is from the condo, 278 miles in Mount Crawford, Virginia.
I mean that is a drive that's for sure. So I mentioned it to Wesley and he got excited about the prospect but I was on the fence. After Addison decided not to go and we invited AJ, Wesley mentioned to AJ about us going to Buc-ee's and he was all in, so it was decided that would be where we would go. I started researching what was along the route so we could have something else to do that day as well, more on that later.
We drove down to Ocean City on June 27th and after checking the weather we picked Monday the 29th as Side Trip Adventure day. I told the boys I wanted to be on the road by 5am so we would have plenty of time for the day. I woke up at 430 and when I came out of the room at 445am I found AJ was all showered and ready to go, Wesley was ready as well just laying on his bed. We were on the road by 450am! I guess these boys were excited!
As you can see from the map there are no interstates on the Eastern Shore, but there are state routes where the speed limit is consistently 55 mph with long flat stretches and the drive really isn't that bad for the bulk of it.
Not too far from the condo is Fenwick Island Light, we took the road that runs right by it and I snagged this photo of the lighthouse, I always love seeing the lens on.
Once we got over the Bay Bridge we eventually hooked up with the interstate and took the Interstate 495 loop north of Washington DC to Intestate 66 west over to Intestate 81 south.
We powered through and didn't stop from when we left the condo until we arrived at Buc-ee's 278 miles later, first place we all hit was the restroom! This Buc-ee's is 70,000 square feet with 120 gas pumps, the boys were both initially very overwhelmed with the size and scale of the store. They got over that rather quickly though and explored. Buc-ee's is known for their beaver nuggets, jerky, and hot goods like their brisket. They sell standard snacks and what not, however they have their own line of products for almost everything.
I bought some nuggets, my mom some mints and BBQ sauce, I got Canaan & Addison a couple things as well and I got their version of various snacks. A big haul overall. We fueled up the van before we left spending just over an hour at the place.
We went up the road to the Shenandoah Heritage Market because I read it was cool on line, it was okay but not what I anticipated.
There was a store dedicated to confederate or rebel merchandise and books that what a sight to see. We checked out the toy store and got some kettle korn on the way out, we were not there long.
It was near lunch time and I wanted to go Sam's Hot Dog Stand about 15 minutes up the road in Harrisonburg, however there was also a Waffle House in town and AJ had never been to a waffle house, and Wesley wanted to go back to one again.
I will say I did grab myself one chili cheese dog and it was terrific!! You can read my post about Sam's on my Hot Dog Blog here: Sam's Hot Dog Stand - Harrisonburg, Virginia
We drove over the the Waffle House, we had to wait a bit before we got seated and served but the boys were not impatient about it.
They both got a waffle with chocolate chips, Wesley a side of bacon and AJ hash browns. I myself got the two egg plate with hashbrowns, toast, and bacon, delicious!
We headed through a section of the Blue Ridge Mountains to Luray, Virginia to go to Cooter's Place a Dukes of Hazzard museum opened by Ben Jones who played Cooter on the show. I watched Dukes of Hazzard all the time as a kid, cool car chases, the General Lee jumping everything in sight with it's signature horn. I mean what was not to like as a kid!?! Granted, watching it back now it's not the greatest show in the world.
They have opened multiple locations in Tennessee and Virginia. I thought it was cool to see the vehicles, memorabilia and old merchandise in person. The gift shop also features a lot of merchandise with that flag that was on the roof of that iconic Orange1969 Dodge Charger, but I didn't get a magnet that looks like an election sign for Rosco P. Coltrane for work and a key chain. The boys have never seen Dukes before, but they thought pars of the museum were cool.
We hit the road traveling through more of the Blue Ridge Mountain range working our way back to Interstate 66. As we approached the Interstate 495 portion the GPS alerted us to a crash and to avoid a 25 minute back up it diverted us off the interstate and through Washington DC. We saw several of the monuments from afar including the Washington monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the White House.
The Bay Bridge is two separate spans across the bay. What is now the eastbound section was opened in 1952 and is two lanes the westbound section was opened in 1973 and is higher, longer, and wider than the eastbound. To handle the commuting traffic in the evening, one of the 3 lanes on the westbound span sends traffic eastbound, essentially two way traffic. That is the way we were sent coming back, I can't image what a crash would do to tie up traffic!
It was an uneventful drive after that as we got back to the condo right at 7pm, driving 567.1 miles in just over 14 hours of travel. Both boys said it was worth it and that they had a blast!
Back in the room they asked Kate to take them swimming, which she kindly obliged!
Until Next Time!
