Collateral Damage

So I don’t really feel any pressing need to explain the why in my going to Florida (if you really desire to know, refer to the locked post- email or text me for the password if you haven’t read it already) so instead I’ll give you some tidbits in driving from northern Virginia to north Florida & back. State- by- state:

Going down:

I went by way of I- 95 since I left at 10pm & taking a “scenic route” was basically out of the question.
Virginia has a lot of rest stops. Very handy when drinking mass amounts of Red Bull (& taking a lot of Adderall).
North Carolina has fewer rest stops. Near the border of North & South Carolina there’s this place called “On the Border” & you see signs starting as far away as about 30 miles demanding you visit. It’s kind of creepy.
South Carolina definitely has palm trees. They grow closer to the ocean so you don’t see that many on 95. (Take route 17 if that’s what you want to see.) Also note that there are about 2- 3 rest stops. Better hold your bladder.
Georgia smells like rotten eggs all the way down 95. Absolutely horrific. Not much to see except construction. Especially near the Floridian border.
North Florida is well… Florida. I got off at the route 17 exit so I wasn’t on 95 for very long but in the past I have taken it down to Jacksonville. I think that’s about as far south as I’ve been. (Aside from Neptune Beach which isn’t really near 95.)

There are a lot of toothless people in north Florida. Sometimes you don’t know what they’re saying. It’s also really humid and most people seem to abhor their jobs.
The area around the airport (JAX) is getting really built up. There’s some nice shopping centers and such.

Coming Home:

I came back from Floridizzle by way of route 17. I wanted to take the scenic route to see what off- the- road Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina looked like. My plan was to hop back on 95 once I got into Virginia.

North Florida was pretty. I couldn’t have been on 17 more than about 20 or so miles before I crossed over into Georgia.
Georgia has a lot of really small, cute towns on 17. I wish I had at least one camera (besides my phone) with me to take pictures. There’s a lot of plantations (some of which are still running), too. It was interesting to see- I just wish I had stopped to look but I wanted to get back at a decent hour (“decent” being before sunrise). It doesn’t smell like rotten eggs, so that’s a plus.
South Carolina is also very pretty going up 17. You stop in quite a few suburban towns (unlike GA which just has random houses and 1 or 2 “olde towns”). There are quite a few more palm trees and those trees with moss hanging off of them. It was especially sweet for me to see those because we don’t have them around here. I remember at one point (around Switzerland) there was a huge canopy of trees covered in moss. It was so beautiful!
Watch out for once you get around Myrtle Beach, though. I would get back on 95 before then because then you’re just driving through beach towns. There’s loads of traffic & it’s really not worth it. Especially seeing as how many people are not of the knowledge of basic driving skillz. Traffic was horrible- even at 10pm.
I got on I- 40 once I hit around Wilmington, North Carolina. I didn’t feel like getting caught in more traffic at ungodly hours. I took it west towards 95 and from there hopped on 95 north. Drove through NC up to southern VA via 95. Stopped overnight in Richmond (aka “rva”) at my aunt’s house. Arrived roughly around 3.15am which means I was on the road for around 12 hours.

In conclusion? Take 17 once you hit South Carolina past Myrtle Beach because it’s really pretty and definitely worth it. If you have time, stop at little farmer’s markets and antique shops. Especially if you’re a nerd like me and that kind of thing stokes you out.
Also, take it for the amazing photography that is available.

Now, for some interesting tidbits I saved as drafts in my phone on the way back to VA:

Sign in Georgia that read “DEAD PEOPLE’S THINGS FOR SALE”
There are like a zillion bridges over water in GA. I was really scared.
A store called “Bad Antiques” in Ravenel, South Carolina (ok, I’m looking at Google Maps & as you’ll see if you click on the city link, route 17 splits! C’est très bizarre, non? )
A school called “National Blue Ribbon School” in/ around Charleston, South Carolina (Disturbing Behavior, anyone?)
A town I thought was called “Chickentree” in South Carolina but was, in reality, called “Crickentree.” I think Chickentree would’ve been hella cooler. (whoa, so small it’s not on any maps I’ve checked. )

Interested in the pictures I did take? Here’s a list from my Flickr:
Little palms
Palms
Kitten01
Kitten02
Walrus (with his bukkit)
Clouds
Glamorama
Sun behind me
Random Green Building

Deja Entendu by Brand New.