My parents just got back from a road-trip from Toronto to Florida, and used Dave Hunter's venerable Along Interstate-75 to find food and lodgings, pass the hours, and beat the speed-traps and civil forfeiture nightmares of America's great roadways.
My mother Roz Doctorow writes:
Along Interstate 75 was our bible on the road. Dave has been producing and updating this guide for the past 18 years. It not only contains extensive information about what restaurants, gas stations and hotels/motels are available at each exit point along the way, there's also a "mile-by-mile travelog" with anecdotes to help make the miles pass more quickly. Dave also notes areas where traffic cops are likely to hang out, with warnings such as "Caution – Speed Trap – police hide on Rest Area exit ramp using a hand held Ka band Stalker gun beamed on northbound traffic".
The narrative pages of the book are sandwiched between the strip maps that guide you on the route to Florida (at the front of the book) and home (at the back of the book). Each map provides full information about what to expect for the next 25 miles, including insider's tips about restaurants (lunch at the Smokin' Pig) and the page number in the narrative that describes these places.
We took Dave's advice about restaurants and hotels/motels and had a thoroughly enjoyable ride. We ate lunch at the 24 hour Marietta diner in Georgia and stayed at the historic Boone Tavern in Berea Kentucky – and were able to avoid all the fast food stops and chain hotels on the route. The journey became part of the holiday and helped make something that can be very tedious and boring a fun adventure. I'd highly recommend this to anyone planning to make the trip.
Along Interstate-75 [Dave Hunter/Amazon]
