Trip Reports

• Time of Year: Spring
• Travel Method: Personal Car
• Resort: Offsite
• Accommodations: Suite
• Ages Represented in Group: Teen, Adult
• WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
• Comments: Richard and his family stayed at the Doubletree Suites in the WDW hotel plaza during their May 1996 trip.

This is my journal report of the sixth annual trip my family has taken to DisneyWorld. For information, Amy is 13, and Michelle and her friend Chris are 15. I, well, I am over the hill and the only way I can remember anything is by taking these notes. Here goes:

May 18 - Saturday

7:25 am 0 miles

We left Frederick MD heading south on Interstate 270 in the fifth trip (sixth overall) to Orlando, Florida in the 1992 Oldsmobile Silhouette Van which now had over 72,000 miles registered. We left the house only slightly behind schedule as I wanted to leave at seven. It took longer than expected to load the luggage and put on the car top carrier, but we were in no hurry. We had just bought four larger soft suitcases - I could now only fit four instead of five or six on top of the car. Today was supposed to be very hot on the Eastern seaboard - probably the hottest day of the year so far. The skies were clear and temperature in the low 70s when we left Frederick.

8:07 am 40 miles

We crossed the Cabin John Bridge into Virginia taking I495 to I95. We considered this to be the place where we would all now be cured and we could leave our illnesses back in Maryland.

9:00 am 95 miles

We had made up time as we arrived at the Fredericksburg VA rest stop on I95 at the same time as I had scheduled for a 7:00 am departure this morning. This is our usual in and out in less than 10 minutes bathroom stop. Traffic had been light, but the temperature was now up to the low 80's. With the light traffic we drove on I95 through Richmond instead of taking the longer bypass around the city.

11:08 am 226 miles

We stopped for lunch at the North Carolina Welcome Center just over the border from Virginia. We have had our picnic lunch here on every trip south.

The Welcome Center had been substantially remodeled since our last visit and there was a new pavilion at our former lunch area. We ate ham, turkey, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and drank sodas from the iced cooler in the car. The temperature was now approaching 90 degrees and becoming very humid.

11:38 am

We left the NC Welcome Center and continued south on I95. The many patches of color from the wild flower plantings along the highway in North Carolina were very pretty at this time of the year.

1:05 pm

We made the first gas stop at Dunn, NC at 351.7 miles (trip odometer reading)(14.5 gallons) into the trip. I noted about a 20 mile difference in the odometer mileage reading from the mileage shown on the left which was obtained from maps and previous trip records. I possibly forgot to reset to zero when we started or else the odometer was skipping.

2:30-2:45 406 miles

We paused at the South Carolina Welcome Center rest stop just over the border from North Carolina. The temperature was now 98 degrees. Obviously, we bypassed South of the Border about two miles back. The many advertising signs for that place only sparked a passing interest although we still like to look for and read any new ones.

South Carolina was hot and noticeably dry with occasional brown stretches along the road in contracts to North Carolina's flower patches. Michelle and Chris slept through this portion. Amy busied herself with her school homework for most of the day.

4:15 pm 506 miles

We arrived at Santee, South Carolina at exit 98 on I95. The trip odometer on the van showed the distance to be 535 miles - off about 30 miles now.

The air was so hot that it felt like we were in an oven when we left the car to register for the room. The reservations were waiting at the Holiday Inn, Santee, reservation # 64432043. Phone (803) 854-2121. Our room number was 131. Instead of a roll away bed in the room for Chris there was a crib which we had to get exchanged. Since it was very hot, all but Amy cooled down in the pool before supper. We decided to eat at the restaurant in the Holiday Inn instead of dressing up and going to supper at the Veranda Restaurant at the Best Western down the street where we had eaten several times previously. The supper - I had the buffet - was just OK. We drove after supper to the nearby Santee Outlet stores. The kids found their worm balloon again and Barbara bought a pair of sandals.

I wondered how this mall remains in business as the crowds were again light. Also, more than a few of the stores were now vacant. On the short distance back to the room we stopped at a convenience store where I bought a toothbrush for Amy who had forgotten hers.

8:00 pm

We had returned to the motel room so Barbara could see the year ending episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women in which she finally had her baby. I re-iced the cooler from the ice machine which required a key to operate and dispensed only a several cubes at a time. We went to bed not long after 9 pm since with all the suitcases and extra bed there was not much else that could be done in the room.

May 19 - Sunday

5:30 am
We had set the alarm for 6 am; however, Michelle and Chris were wide awake and could not sleep anymore. We got up, maneuvered around the cramped room with five bodies, re-iced the cooler, and repacked the van. Barbara and I walked to the lobby to get some coffee, but none was yet available. We walked to the nearby Waffle House (scene of a breakfast on trip Number 2) and obtained some. I then checked out in the motel lobby ($47.08). We drove across the street to Denny's for breakfast. This was a nice clean, new looking place. We ate the $1.99 specials which were quite good and filling.

6:45 am

We left Santee, South Carolina on I95 South starting about 45 minutes ahead of the planned schedule for today. The weather was again expected to be hot as there was a heat wave across the South. Traffic was light, but I did not travel fast as we had plenty of time to get to the Disney World hotel where check-in wasn't until 4 pm. Again, Michelle and Chris slept a lot and Amy did homework.

8:10 am 604 miles

We made a very brief bathroom stop at the Georgia Welcome Center just across the South Carolina border.

9:25 am

We stopped for the second time for gas just north of Brunswick, GA. Gas was the cheapest of any state on the trip and I wanted to fill up before Florida. The van odometer showed 703.7 miles, still about 30 more than it probably should have. I filled up with 15.7 gallons.

10:10 am 717 miles

We made a longer 20 minute stop at the Florida Welcome Center just across the Georgia border. We, as on previous trips, drank the free juice and selected many brochures on activities in the Orlando area. The rest stop, formerly one of the prettiest was undergoing considerable expansion and construction activity. Therefore, it did not look attractive in its present condition. I had wanted to get pictures in front of the Welcome to Florida sign, but it was nowhere to be seen.

11:30-12 794 miles

We stopped for lunch at a fairly new, clean Burger King near St. Augustine. FL at Exit 95 on Interstate 95. There were many restaurants in the area as well as a large, modern outlet center to the West side of I95 which needs to be explored sometime. Whoppers were still on special for $0.99.

1:00 pm 838 miles

At an hour and 45 minutes ahead of the original itinerary (we somehow picked up an hour driving today plus the 45 minute earlier start) we turned onto I 4 at Daytona Beach, FL for the home stretch drive to Orlando. Traffic increased considerably from what was a very light morning. I had rarely exceeded the speed limit by more than 5 mph so far.

2:15 pm 917 miles

We arrived at the DoubleTree Guests Suites Resort in the Walt Disney World Village, phone 407-934-1000. Reservation number 574. This was easy to spot being an attractive pink and purple colored building. We parked near the entrance and immediately noticed the heat which was oppressive upon leaving the air conditioned van. We went into the nice clean lobby which was decorated with murals showing Disney scenes and contained a small glass enclosed aviary with small birds. We rejected our first room which reeked with tobacco smoke and were assigned to room 234 at the quiet end of a long corridor, but near a back fire exit.

The room was a suite with one bedroom (two full size beds), a spacious dining area, separate living room with convertible sofa bed, three color televisions (one in the bathroom), vanity area, refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave oven etc. The room was beautiful and spacious.

I got a bellman to bring up the suitcases. Then I parked the car near the back exit and used that to bring in the cartons of food, cooler, and the car top carrier. I needed to call housekeeping to turn on the refrigerator and they responded right away.

Since it would take a while for the refrigerator to cool down we decided to wait until later in the evening to go to the store to do the grocery shopping. Instead, we all went to the pretty hotel pool for awhile. I rented a rubber raft for Chris and Michelle. Amy, Barbara, and I just goofed around in the water and cooled off.

6:30 pm

We drove to the Disney Village Marketplace which was about one mile from the hotel. Traffic patterns there had been realigned from our previous visits with the bus parking relocated and new entrances into the marketplace parking lots. After parking we made a quick walk to the back of the marketplace for supper at Cap'n Jacks Seafood Restaurant. We had eaten there once previously with Amy and Sarah. That was the time the Michelle and Lisa rested back in the room and ordered carry out pizza. The restaurant was located near the new Rainforest Restaurant (formerly Chief Mickey's). which we saw under construction behind a barrier. We were disappointed in the very limited menu this time. It focused more on raw bar items. I ordered spare ribs which did prove to be outstanding and Barbara and Amy shared Alaskan crab legs. Michelle ordered an appetizer salad. Chris did not care for seafood and wanted a hamburger (apparently his favorite food). The waitress said that one could walk to a nearby stand and bring it back to eat with the rest of us. Chris and Michelle left to get the burger and were gone for such a long time that we started to worry whether they would find their way back. They did, but had paused for Michelle to get a small sapphire-like ring plus a long wait for the burger. After supper we took pictures outside the restaurant. We noted that the Empress Lily, the formal, classy paddle boat restaurant in the harbor, was now renamed Fultons Crab House and no longer under Disney management. We walked through several of the village shops with no really major purchases outside of Minnie pasta before returning to the van. From the Marketplace we drove to the near-by Goodings Supermarket to stock up on perishable food/groceries that we didn't bring in the van. Amy and I went together on a Marvin the Martian hat for me to wear.

May 20 - Monday

7:30 am

We ate breakfast in our room choosing from our supplies such as cold cereals, rolls, frozen waffles, juices, cereal bars, instant breakfast, and toast. The room microwave was handy to heat water for tea.

8:15 am

We boarded Disney Village bus #5 which made stops at about 4 hotels in the area and headed to EPCOT. Our hotel stop was the last for pick-ups in the mornings before heading to the park areas, but only found one time that we had to stand. During the day there were two other hotel pickups before heading to the parks. All park pick-ups were from bus stop number 21 Each shuttle bus was clearly identified by its theme park destination.

We passed the new Planet Hollywood which had opened several months previously and saw the construction underway for an expanded multiple theater complex. We also noted a new Disney style Exxon gas station which had just opened several weeks previously.

8:30 am

We arrived at EPCOT which was already open prior to its posted 9 am opening schedule. This was our first experience with the recently started magnet strip tickets at Disney World. While they worked fine and obviously needed less staff to process at each gate entrance, they left no imprint on days remaining on the ticket. Epcot was beautiful this time of year. A Better Homes and Gardens presentation theme was in place during this May and flowers and topiary decorations and plantings were everywhere. Our first was to Spaceship Earth. This had been revamped since our previous visits. The ride to the top had several scene changes and the narration was no longer spoken by Walter Cronkite. The space scene at the top was completely revised as was the return trip down. We all missed the familiar return theme of "Tomorrow's Child". The exit area was also new and had several interesting visual and virtual reality rides and exhibits which held our interest for a while.

We next went to Imagination where we went together on the Figment ride and the new Honey I shrunk the Audience Show (which replaced Michael Jackson's Capt EO). The latter 3-D show and special effects were great especially the feeling of mice running among the feet of the audience. Than we walked to the Land pavilion and went on the ride through The Land which normally has very long lines, but which were still short at this very early hour. This slow boat ride where we sat in the very first seat next to the narrator was interesting in its views of new methods of growing produce. Next, we walked across Future World to Horizons. Several of us like this old attraction which had been closed for several months because of lack of a sponsor. However, Disney has reopened it temporarily because the World of Energy was closed for revamping as well as another of our old favorites, the World of Motion, which was undergoing total reconstruction as an entirely new thrill ride. This was, I am sure, our last trip on horizons as it will probably be closed permanently shortly.

Noon

We walked to the World Showcase area. I took some pictures of the floral arrangements. We shopped at Mexico for a time - this is a favorite shopping area for us. Amy bought a small leather purse. The Rio de Tiempo was closed for cleaning this week and not operating. We walked next to Norway and went on the Maelstrom ride. The crowds were increasing and we had about a 30 minutes wait here. Than we stopped for lunch at Norway's Kringla Bakeri og Kafe, another of our old favorite lunch stops for their open faced sandwiches and unusual desserts. Chris had ordered a ring from a ring carver's stand in front of Mexico and, with Michelle, walked back to pick it up after lunch. Then we looked at the merchandise while we walked through the Germany shops. Barbara did some wine tasting there and got a souvenir glass. Then we strolled through the China pavilion.

Michelle and Chris were getting tired from the sun and the effects of their medication and we believed that it best for them and us to return to the hotel for some rest. We took the boat back across the bay to Future World and walked through it to the bus stop. After a short wait we were picked up and taken back to the hotel.

3:15 pm

We arrived at the hotel. Some napped, Barbara and I relaxed around the pool.

6:00 pm

Barbara cooked an excellent chicken dinner in our suite.

7:30 pm

We drove to Pleasure Island near the Disney Village

Marketplace for the evening. This was our first visit to this nightspot. We shopped in a memorabilia music store for awhile and than hit the swinging streets. We stopped at the Adventurer's Club briefly, but I was the only one interested in the dry comedy there so we just looked down on the library from the railing and did not go into the show area. Maybe next time. We visited several music clubs (Beach Club, Trax) as well as listened to music in the streets from the outdoor stages. We all had a good time in this noisy arena.

11:00 pm

We returned back to the hotel and went to bed.

May 21 - Tuesday

7:00 am

We ate breakfast in the hotel room from our supplies. We had planned to go to the new Blizzard Beach water park today. However, the weather forecast predicted showers all day, so we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom instead.

8:45 am

We arrived at the TTC at the Magic Kingdom after a stand-up ride on a crowded bus. We rode the Monorail around the Lagoon into the park which was already open at this time. We separated. We sent Michelle and Chris racing toward Space Mountain. Amy, Barbara and I strolled toward Tomorrowland. We expected the longest line later on at Alien Encounters which was new since our last visit so we went there first. After reading the warning signs, Barbara decided to sit this one out and Amy and I ventured onward. I was undecided about this one. Technically it was great, but I didn't see the fright factor as great as some had publicized.

Then the three of us went on Dreamflight an old, quiet favorite with hardly ever any wait line. From here we walked directly into the Haunted Mansion followed by Its a Small World and Splash Mountain (Amy and I only). Big Thunder Mountain, one of Barbara's favorite had a long line so we passed this attraction up.

11:30 am

We met Michelle and Chris as planned in the central tunnel through Cinderella's Castle. They had several trips on Space Mountain followed by DreamFlight and Alien Encounters. We ate lunch (good Burgers) at Pecos Bill's Bar and Saloon in FrontierLand while the rains came - reminiscent of an earlier trip when we did the same thing during the rain. Amy and I ordered and picked-up the food. It took us some time to find where the rest got a table in order to get the food to them.

12:30 pm

All of us went onto the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction where we had a moderate wait. Then walked back through Main Street toward the park exit.

1:30 pm

We left the Park and took the bus back to the hotel, arriving there about 2:15.

We rested awhile and did the laundry at a facility on the top floor of the hotel. Barbara, Amy and I went to the pool where we rented a large inner tube and played around.

6:00 pm

We arrived for our reservations made earlier in the afternoon at the Benihana Japanese restaurant in the close-by Hilton Hotel. We enjoyed a very entertaining, expensive meal similar, but cleaner, to the Kobi where we had eaten on two previous visits to Orlando. The cook was very good with his skill and table side antics.

8:30 pm

We were back at the room and just watched TV for a while before going to bed.

May 22 - Wednesday

7:00 am

We ate breakfast in our hotel room. Today was forecast to be another day of scattered showers so we decided on a park instead of one of the water attractions.

8:15 am

We arrive via bus at the Disney MGM Studios which was already open at this time. We immediately headed for the Twilight Tower of Terror where, after a very short wait in a shower and except for Barbara who waited at the exit, were on the attraction. Since we were last here they have gone from the single long drop to a short and than two long drops with a quick zoom back to the top between the long drops. The crowd built up rapidly and we bypassed the Great Movie Ride with its extremely long line. Michelle, Amy and Chris then went on Star Tours while Barbara and I waited. While waiting we visited the costume shop and made lunch reservations for 12:55 pm at the SciFi Drive-in Restaurant. We had previously made reservations for tomorrow, but the weather had rearranged our daily schedule. Next we went to see the Muppet 3-D show, always cute. The weather became hot and very humid. Barbara and I waited about 20 minutes for an Ace Ventura show on New York Avenue while the kids went to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. The Ace Ventura show, while the look alike was great, didn't do anything but sign autographs - maybe because of the threatening weather. We met up with the kids and after walking around we ended up in the line for the Great Movie Ride. This took a long time. After this we walked through several small stores and the costume shop (again) until it was time for our lunch reservation.

12:55 pm

We ate Lunch in the SciFi Restaurant. We enjoyed sitting in the cars and watching the movies as if we were at a Drive-in theater. We are certain we were in the same car as when we visited this place when the girls brought their friends Lisa and Sarah along several years ago.

2:15 pm

Barbara headed back to the room with Michelle and Chris for them to get their rest as they were tiring and she could get some sun at the pool. Amy and I went to the Twilight Tower of Terror and rode it four more times as the crowds had thinned out after the early afternoon parade and the following showers. (Like Michelle on Space Mountain, Amy is a TTOT freak). Amy and I then walked through the stores, including some time in the memorabilia store, near the main entrance.

4:00 pm

Amy and I left the park as the bus was pulling away and we had to wait the maximum 30 minutes until the next one came. The sun was very hot and humidity quite high making the wait very unbearable.

5:00 pm

Amy and I went to the pool until our turns to shower and get dressed in our good clothes for our Dinner tonight.

8:00 pm

Our dinner was at a "fancy" restaurant, one of the "State's" finest. We had made reservations from home for Arthur's 27. The dress code required sport jacket and tie for men. This was a top floor restaurant in the nearby Buena Vista Palace Hotel. The meal was very good, classy, and expensive. I had duck, Michelle ate salmon, Barbara dined on Lamb, and Amy and Chris had Chicken. There was almost no one else in the restaurant. We had a very good time with a very attentive waiter who amused the kids with the presentation of the "cleansing our palate" sherbet. (Dessert before the main course?) We got to see the fireworks and laser "illuminations" show from nearby EPCOT at 9 pm during dinner.

10:30 pm

We drove back to our hotel and went to bed.

May 23 - Thursday

7:30 am

We slept a little later in our room because the weather today was expected to be perfect and we would finally visit a water park. We ate breakfast in the room. Barbara packed sandwiches, snacks, and sodas for the park.

9:30 am

After a brief drive we arrived at the Disney Blizzard Beach water park - our first visit to this park which opened last year. There was already a long line in advance of the 10 am opening. Inside, we found a nice shady spot and immediately got on the sky lift to the top of the mountain for the family raft ride. Afterwards, the rest of the group ventured onto the more daring rides while I rested in the shade and took pictures. Later we all made several trips floating around the park on the lazy river, frequently getting drenched by cold, melting snow water. Amy and I spent some time in the lagoon battling the miniature waves. While this park was newer and had a great theme, I still think Typhoon Lagoon with its tropical vegetation is prettier.

2:30 pm

We drove back to the hotel and rested and relaxed.

4:00 pm

Michelle and Chris stayed at the hotel and swam and made their own hot dog supper. Barbara, Amy and I took the bus to EPCOT and continued the items not visited the other day. First I bought a new camera battery at the photo shop at the Epcot entrance. Then we walked through Future World to the World Showcase where we ate an early supper at Canada's Le Cellier cafeteria. I had a roast turkey dinner and the others had chicken caesar salads. We spent the evening walking around the World Showcase including Canada, France, United Kingdom, Morocco, Japan, and Italy. We did another ride on the Dreamfinder/Figment ride at Imagination (straight walk-on) and shopped through the Emporium on the way out of EPCOT.

8:30 pm

We left EPCOT by bus back to the hotel.

9:30 pm

Except for Amy and me, the rest walked to the ice cream shop by the hotel pool for some dessert before returning to the room. There we tended to the mild sunburn from the water park before going to bed.

May 24 - Friday

7:00 am

Again we ate breakfast in our room before boarding the bus for the Magic Kingdom.

9:00 am

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom. The park was very crowded for the start of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Signs at the entrance stated that the Park would remain open later in the evening then previously announced. We stopped at the ATM machine at the bank inside the main gate. From there we immediately went to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and rode that attraction with only a 20 minute wait before the crowds would build up with even longer wait time. We then separated. The three kids went their way together starting with Splash Mountain and in no particular order the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and the Haunted Castle. Barbara and I spent time looking in the shops of Frontierland, Adventureland, and Liberty Town Square (new location of the Christmas shop and our usual trip ornament purchase) before walking to Tomorrowland and riding the former Wedway People Mover, now the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.

12:00

We joined up at our previous meeting place in the tunnel under the Castle. From here we walked to TomorrowLand were we ate lunch (hamburgers) at Cosmic Ray's.

1:00 pm

We walked through the shops on Main Street, particularly the Emporium.

1:30

We left the park. Barbara left with Michelle and Chris to return to the hotel for their some rest and for her to have some quiet time at the pool. Amy and I took the shuttle boat to Discovery Island which we got to see for the first time. We had a very nice stroll on the pathways throughout the island observing various birds, animals, and reptiles in their natural habitats.

4:30 pm

After the water shuttle back to the Magic Kingdom, monorail to the TTC, and bus, Amy and I got back to our hotel. We snacked on junk food before we all started out again.

5:00 pm

We rode the bus to the Disney Studios. Here the kids rode the Tower of Terror again while Barbara and I waited at the exit for them. Then we walked to the far end of the park where, after a long wait for a tram, we completed the Backlot Tour with its Disaster Canyon. Finally, Barbara and I made another visit to the Great Movie Ride while the kids again had a go on their own to the Twilight Tower of Terror.

8:00 pm

We met up near the entrance at the park closing time.

8:30 pm

We arrived back at the hotel and ordered room service pizza and a shrimp cocktail and salad for Barbara. We began packing for the trip home. This took awhile. We decided that instead of taking five suitcases into the motel on the way home, since only four would fit in the carrier we would use those for dirty clothes only and have just one suitcase with everybody's change of clothes to unload in the car without opening up the car roof carrier and cramping the expected small motel room.

May 25 - Saturday

7:30 am

We again ate breakfast in the hotel room. It took some time to strap on the van roof carrier and bring the suitcases and boxes down to the car. We did not use a bellhop this time. We wore our bathing suits under our clothes because we would be stopping at the Typhoon Lagoon water park before starting for home. This was something new. Instead of starting for home early in the morning and stopping for the night in South Carolina, we would stay half a day here and only go as far as Savannah. We would still reach our final destination of Frederick the following evening and as a bonus get to spend several more hours at DisneyWorld.

9:30 am

We checked out of hotel. There was an error on the bill where someone's dining room tab was included. Since we never ate in the hotel dining room this was easily corrected.

10:00

We arrived in the van at the Disney Typhoon Lagoon Water Park. We again brought a picnic lunch of sandwiches, snacks and sodas along. It took some time for the line to get into the park, but we got a nice spot at a covered table very close to where we usually staked out our spots on our previous visits here. The park actually turned out to be not very crowded this morning.

This contrasted to the Magic Kingdom which was closed to incoming people about this time because of the influx of the holiday weekend crowd. Except for me, the rest did many of the slides and water rides. I rested. However, I did join the rest of the group for two trips around the park on the lazy river and a little time in the big waves in the wave pool with Amy. One thing unique this time was the fact that no longer were there tube rentals available. This was also true of Blizzard Beach. The tubes were expensive and hard to carry as well as being in everyone's way.

1:45 pm

Storm clouds were gathering and we left Typhoon Lagoon just a few minutes ahead of our planned 2 pm departure. The starting car mileage was not taken, but we got gas in about 30 miles near Sanford with the mileage at 1008. It took 14.3 gallons to fill the van. Until Sanford, travel was very slow as we were in a continuous torrential thunderstorm.

3:20 pm

We passed the I4/I95 junction near Daytona Beach. Later we were slowed somewhat in Jacksonville with an open drawbridge.

5:20 pm

We made a brief stop at the rest area inside Georgia just across the Florida border.

6:45 pm

We arrived at the motel near Savannah - only 30 minutes behind schedule considering we left Orlando 15 minutes early and arrived here 15 minutes later than anticipated. The motel is the Best Western - Savannah Gateway at Exit 16 on I95. Reservation number was 233446548. (912-925-2420). Room number was 141. We had stayed several times previously at this exit; however, the names of motels have changed. The Howard Johnson is now called the Days Inn and the former Days Inn is now a Hampton Inn.

7:30 pm

We ate supper at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant a short distance away. We had eaten here on two previous occasions.

May 26 - Sunday

7:00 am

We were up and ate breakfast at the Denny's Restaurant, which was the restaurant in the motel.

8:00 am

We left Savannah at the planned time after getting gas at a close-by station. The mileage was 1260 and gallons were 11.6.

9:45 am

We made a quick bathroom stop at the Santee, SC rest area.

12:40-1:20 pm

After making the wrong exit at NC 72, I made the correct one at NC Exit 73 and we stopped for lunch at the Western Steer. We had eaten here on trip number two. Our memory seemed to tell us that there was a larger and better variety of items on the previous visit.

1:45-2:30 pm

We stopped at JRs at NC Exit 97 for some shopping and to pick up the cheap cigarettes for back home gifts. Oliver's Restaurant where we had a nice Mothers Day lunch on a previous trip is also located at this exit. Before leaving here I filled the van with gas (1583 miles and 14.0 gallons) at the Texaco here in Selma, NC at the intersection of US 70 and I95.

3:45 pm

We made a 15 minute stop at the Virginia Welcome Center after leaving North Carolina. We bought their cheap sodas and walked around a bit to loosen up our legs.

5:30 pm

We made a brief bathroom stop at the Fredericksburg rest stop which on the northbound trip is located about 15 miles south of the town. As we neared Washington travel became very heavy with numerous slow downs and even a short pause for an accident near the junction with I495.

7:45 pm

We arrived at our house in Frederick, Maryland. The trip odometer showed 1895 miles. I estimate that this was about 30 miles too long to account for the 30 mile error that appeared early in the trip down to Orlando.

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