Best state rest areas

[jdb1234]

Florida used to give away orange juice at their rest areas.  Not sure if they still do or not.

They do at all of the state welcome centers, at least the ones along the interstates. They do not at regular rest areas or Turnpike service plazas.

And at the Welcome Center on US 231 entering Florida, I have stopped there plenty of times and gotten a cup of orange juice.

[SSOWorld]

^^^

Well, I didn't get a chance to see because if was after 6pm when we hit the Florida welcome center on I-75 back in early July.

One of my pet peeves is that most "Welcome Centers" only keep "business" hours like 8am - 5pm.  I don't expect 24x7 but maybe 9 or 10pm folks?

I noticed this a few months ago when going into the Welcome Center for Illinois right at 5pm. The people were rolling away the shelves with all of the brochures and maps for the state and when I asked to get one I was refused. Apparently after 5pm no one deserves any of that information.

Well its government operation - they don't cater to the customer

Most of the Welcome centers in Wisconsin (not directly called that) have been taken down.  All that's there at those points now is a rest area.

[usends]

I nominate rest areas that offer more than simply a place to, um, "rest" and/or get travel info.  For example, I once stopped at every rest area along I-80 in Nebraska, whether I needed to "rest" or not, simply so I could view each of the roadside sculptures.  Or another example is along I-70 through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado: each of those rest areas also function as hiking trailheads. 

[agentsteel53]

Or another example is along I-70 through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado: each of those rest areas also function as hiking trailheads. 

does this imply there are no parking time restrictions in Colorado?

that, to me, is the sign of a good rest area.  Not having to get up and go after 2, 4, 8, 16 hours.  I can start to understand, maybe, a one week restriction so that people don't abandon their vehicles, but anything shorter than that seems like overmonitoring.

(which is, again, why I think Alaska's got the best rest areas in the country.)

[Scott5114]

Show up at the welcome center after 5? NOT WELCOME

[mightyace]

The absolute worst is in Georgia.  (at least the Welcome center on I-75 South coming from Tennessee.)

Not only do the close the welcome center at 5pm but the whole doggone building!  No restrooms here after 5!

Every other state welcome center I've been to at least works like a standard rest area 24x7.

[tdindy88]

Tennessee I've noticed does leave their's open all day, and if I'm not correct, they leave someone there 24/7 to aid motorist, and I to had the same problem with Georgia, arriving there in the early morning hoping for a map, never got one. As someone pointed out earlier, even if you can't do 24/7, maybe 7am to 9pm or something like that would work, with at least some maps out after hours.

[mightyace]

Tennessee I've noticed does leave their's open all day, and if I'm not correct, they leave someone there 24/7 to aid motorist,

Not surprisingly, I've stopped at Tennessee's welcome centers quite often.  And, you are correct there is often someone there 24x7 but outside of "normal" hours the person is often a caretaker.  But, that is still better than nothing.

Also, the maps, tourist brochures, and weather information are available at all times.

[Michael in Philly]

Last time I was on I-81 in West Virginia ('08), there was a little box attached to the outside of the building at the northbound welcome center, with maps in it.  That's a nice touch.  In defense of the states, how many of them are in budget crises?  Although I'd guess - without having the figures to back it up - tourism brings in more than enough revenue to fund decent efforts to welcome tourists.
Slightly off-topic, Pennsylvania has ceased publishing the glossy state tour guide.  Idiots.

[PAHighways]

When I stopped at the West Virginia Welcome Center on 68 back in 2001, they had tables full of maps.

The PTC has also stopped issuing a separate map which is unfortunate since they have a lot to promote with the opening of sections of 43 and 576 which have been taking place since the 2004.

[Ian]

The absolute worst is in Georgia.  (at least the Welcome center on I-75 South coming from Tennessee.)

Not only do the close the welcome center at 5pm but the whole doggone building!  No restrooms here after 5!

Every other state welcome center I've been to at least works like a standard rest area 24x7.

The ones on I-95 (at both the Florida and South Carolina borders) have the rest area open from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM but the rest rooms are open 24 hours.

[agentsteel53]

as for worst rest areas, let's just go with Arizona.  Seriously, closing them and coning them off?  Utterly ridiculous.  Just because you can't keep the visitor center open doesn't mean the parking area is obsolete too!

[Michael in Philly]

When I stopped at the West Virginia Welcome Center on 68 back in 2001, they had tables full of maps.

What I neglected to say is that I was at this spot on 81 after hours (6 p.m. or so, in October) - so that box is a way of making maps available at all times.

[Ian]

I think the worst rest areas IMO are either the New Jersey Turnpike ones or the New Hampshire liquor stores on I-95 in Hampton Falls and I-93 in Hooksett. Both get crowded easily and the bathrooms are horrible.

[Michael in Philly]

Closing the restrooms?  No.  That's practically third-world.  I've spent a bit of time in Europe and - at the risk of being called unpatriotic - the lack of public bathrooms in this country is just uncivilized.  It's a lot better than it used to be, when road-tripping, with larger convenience stores now having them.  But European cities have public facilities, whereas ours would require you to find a restaurant or some sort of shopping center or department store or (again this is a post-1990 option) large book store....  I'm a shy enough person that I won't ask a restaurant where I'm not a paying customer to use their bathroom unless I'm truly desperate.
Does the state of Georgia think nature doesn't call after 5 p.m.?  I realize enough Americans are allergic to public spending, to government providing anything at all for people, that politicians will think it's a good idea to close rest areas.  But this is just basic civilization.  [steps off soap box, slightly sheepish]

[agentsteel53]

I do agree that having closed restrooms is a major pain in the appropriate anatomical structures, but I have learned that the outdoors is one big restroom!

[corco]

I do agree that having closed restrooms is a major pain in the appropriate anatomical structures, but I have learned that the outdoors is one big restroom!

This can pose problems for women as they have to go a bit deeper into the forest for proper privacy (this can be very difficult in the high Wyoming desert). As a male, though, it's quite easy to just pull right off the side of the road, aim towards your car and slightly away from traffic, and get er done.

I've also become quite good at using a 1-2 liter bottle so I don't even have to stop! That, of course, is a non-option if there's anyone in the car with you, so it's not ideal.

But yeah, easiest usually to find a box store because those are really easy to sneak in and out of without being seen. Fast food restaurants can be doable too, but you have to be a bit more careful. Gas stations are almost impossible- you pretty much have to buy something and they watch for that sort of thing.

Fortunately the really rural states like Wyoming have frequent off-interstate rest areas with constantly open restrooms (every hundred miles or so), so there's never a situation where you're going more than 100 miles without seeing some sort of bathroom-containing structure, no matter how desolate of a route you take.

[rickmastfan67]

WV has been upgrading thier Rest Areas on I-79.  The new ones are 10x better than the old ones (but the parking is the same setup as before, but never have I seen them fully packed).  They still need to upgrade the two @ Clarksburg (one for each dirrection).  They did have plans going for an upgrade (even had it closed to start the process last year (2009), but something happened and the upgrade has been stop.  Thankfully, WVDOT has a brain and reopened them instead of keeping them closed till they got the upgrade started again and finished.

[mightyace]

Last time I was on I-81 in West Virginia ('08), there was a little box attached to the outside of the building at the northbound welcome center, with maps in it.  That's a nice touch.  In defense of the states, how many of them are in budget crises?  Although I'd guess - without having the figures to back it up - tourism brings in more than enough revenue to fund decent efforts to welcome tourists.
Slightly off-topic, Pennsylvania has ceased publishing the glossy state tour guide.  Idiots.

Well, the hours for state welcome centers have been as they are now as far back as I can remember.  (mid-80s)

The budget angle might fly now, but there have certainly been some good economic times in the last 25 years and even in the good times, the hours were still something like 8-5.

[Duke87]

I think the worst rest areas IMO are either the New Jersey Turnpike ones or the New Hampshire liquor stores on I-95 in Hampton Falls and I-93 in Hooksett. Both get crowded easily and the bathrooms are horrible.

Can't speak for New Hampshire, but I'm going to have to disagree about the Jersey Turnpike bathrooms. They are designed so as to not have doors, which is nothing but a good thing. No picking up germs off the dirty door handle!


The award for most interesting overconvenient rest area feature in my experience goes to the Maine Turnpike: vending machines that accept credit cards. I can honestly say I've never seen that anywhere else!

[Eth]

The absolute worst is in Georgia.  (at least the Welcome center on I-75 South coming from Tennessee.)

Not only do the close the welcome center at 5pm but the whole doggone building!  No restrooms here after 5!

Every other state welcome center I've been to at least works like a standard rest area 24x7.

I found the same at the one on I-20 (entering from South Carolina) a few months back, much to my chagrin (at about 2:30 AM, so not a whole lot else open either).

[D-Dey65]

Florida used to give away orange juice at their rest areas.  Not sure if they still do or not.

At the Welcome Centers, yes. Especially at the one on southbound I-95.

[D-Dey65]

The absolute worst is in Georgia.  (at least the Welcome center on I-75 South coming from Tennessee.)

Not only do the close the welcome center at 5pm but the whole doggone building!  No restrooms here after 5!

Every other state welcome center I've been to at least works like a standard rest area 24x7.

The ones on I-95 (at both the Florida and South Carolina borders) have the rest area open from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM but the rest rooms are open 24 hours.

They also have some unorthodox entrance and exit configurations, which makes them cool. The northbound I-95 welcome center can be entered from Exit 1 and exited from an on-ramp beneath the northbound off-ramp for Exit 1. The southbound welcome center has a separate entrance for trucks with a weigh station, and they both re-enter I-95 from the same ramp.

[rickmastfan67]

The northbound I-95 welcome center can be entered from Exit 1 and exited from an on-ramp beneath the northbound off-ramp for Exit 1.

Or you can still get off @ Exit #1 if you visit the Welcome Area first.

[deathtopumpkins]

Apparently the westbound rest area on I-84 after entering NY from CT gives out free coffee Saturdays and Sundays to encourage drivers to stop and take a break.