It’s not your father’s rest stop

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: It's not your father's rest stop

My family took a lot of road trips. Almost everywhere we traveled, we drove. With family in New Jersey and later Connecticut, we frequently beat a path up and down Interstate 95 between Richmond and the Northeast. I was always excited to think about what I'd do with my cousins once we got to their house, but many hours before that, I'd have to make what felt like an equally momentous decision: What would I eat at the Maryland House?

Stopping at the travel plaza near Aberdeen was almost a given on a Krystal family vacation. The only question was who would grab jumbo slices of pizza at Sbarro and who would go for a carton of fried chicken at Roy Rogers. We knew the place so well. We'd shake our heads at the clueless travelers queued up in long lines at the downstairs bathrooms: The ones upstairs had no crowds. I remember the seasonal ice cream shack out front, the somber murals depicting Maryland history, the time in the parking lot when my dad discovered that we had a flat tire.

[1995hoo]

That article tells you how young the writer is: Apparently she doesn't remember when the Maryland House was a sit-down white-tablecloth restaurant.

[cpzilliacus]

That article tells you how young the writer is: Apparently she doesn't remember when the Maryland House was a sit-down white-tablecloth restaurant.

Though I do. 

[1995hoo]

That article tells you how young the writer is: Apparently she doesn't remember when the Maryland House was a sit-down white-tablecloth restaurant.

Though I do. 

I turned my comment above into a submission to the Travel section staff's online chat today and she acknowledged she's in her 20s.

I suppose the old restaurant fell victim to the same sort of thing that doomed Howard Johnson's: People don't like to stop for a longer period of time.

[NE2]

I have generally avoided rest areas for the past 20 years since I saw that they are a cruising spot on 20/20 or one of those shows.  I dont want random guys propositioning me at a uninal.

Simple solution: use the other room. (Or stop being a paranoid homophobe.)

[hbelkins]

I have generally avoided rest areas for the past 20 years since I saw that they are a cruising spot on 20/20 or one of those shows.  I dont want random guys propositioning me at a uninal.

Simple solution: use the other room. (Or stop being a paranoid homophobe.)

I am not a Homophobe by any means...the guys lurking in public bathrooms are pretty creepy no matter their sexual orientation. I would think there are much better places to meet.

Interesting. If I just need to use the restroom and don't need gas or food, I prefer to stop at a rest area vs. getting off the freeway if the location of the freeway and the urges of my bladder and/or bowels are in sync. I have never run into anyone loitering in the restrooms, cruising for sex or for any other reason.

[kphoger]

Let's all just not worry about the teeny tiny possibility that something might happen in this or that location, and just get on with life.  I'm sure we're all more likely to run afoul of someone in the course of a normal day–by someone we know, even–than we are in stopping at a rest area on the highway.

[Brandon]

^^ Quite frankly, rest areas have never scared me.  Now, convenience stores and gas stations on the other hand...they do have a tendency to get robbed every so often, and, IMHO warrant being more cautious at.

[cpzilliacus]

I have generally avoided rest areas for the past 20 years since I saw that they are a cruising spot on 20/20 or one of those shows.  I dont want random guys propositioning me at a uninal.  However I think more and more states will start renting out concessions.

Never had a problem with this - even though I have stopped at some rest areas and service plazas in Maryland and Virginia that have gotten a bad reputation (according to news media) for inappropriate and illegal sexual activities.

[Alps]

I have generally avoided rest areas for the past 20 years since I saw that they are a cruising spot on 20/20 or one of those shows.  I dont want random guys propositioning me at a uninal.  However I think more and more states will start renting out concessions.

Never had a problem with this - even though I have stopped at some rest areas and service plazas in Maryland and Virginia that have gotten a bad reputation (according to news media) for inappropriate and illegal sexual activities.

Unless you're hanging out in those parts of the service areas where activities are offered (out back amongst the trucks, in the woods, loitering by the bathrooms instead of just doing your thing), you're probably not going to see anything.

[cpzilliacus]

I have generally avoided rest areas for the past 20 years since I saw that they are a cruising spot on 20/20 or one of those shows.  I dont want random guys propositioning me at a uninal.  However I think more and more states will start renting out concessions.

Never had a problem with this - even though I have stopped at some rest areas and service plazas in Maryland and Virginia that have gotten a bad reputation (according to news media) for inappropriate and illegal sexual activities.

Unless you're hanging out in those parts of the service areas where activities are offered (out back amongst the trucks, in the woods, loitering by the bathrooms instead of just doing your thing), you're probably not going to see anything.

Excellent insight.  Like most users of such places, I just want to do what I need to do and then get back on the road again. 

[Alex]

While on the road north to Delaware during the holidays, with five of us crammed in a two-door coupe, my brother clamored for us to stop at the Maryland House so he could hit the bathroom and smoke a cigarette. I had to tell him a number of times that the Maryland House was closed for renovation, but he insisted that I was wrong. "See the orange signs, its closed!" 

The place was well known, even for non-road people like my brother. It was always a stop for us on the ride north for the holidays or for trips to Baltimore for an evening. Plus us road guys who wanted the latest MD official could walk up stairs and snag a copy from the counter, even at 1 am. 



Ended up stopping at the Chesapeake House (shelled out the $6 for the toll just to get the drive overwith). Place was mobbed as you would imagine. I opted to skip the bathrooms and walked to a sign find instead:

[agentsteel53]

is that a Jeff Royston project??

[Alex]

is that a Jeff Royston project??

I looked at it up close, it was done with the diamond grade sheeting (whatever it is called), which was the same as the number. Also noted that the shield at the southbound Chesapeake House exit was a standard neutered job, so this state-named is the exception at the service area.

[cpzilliacus]

I looked at it up close, it was done with the diamond grade sheeting (whatever it is called), which was the same as the number. Also noted that the shield at the southbound Chesapeake House exit was a standard neutered job, so this state-named is the exception at the service area.

Though it looks like MARYLAND was squeezed-in on a standard neutered shield.  Never seen that anywhere else in the state.

Otherwise, the signage at Chesapeake House is rather similar to what was in place at Maryland House before it closed back in September 2012.

[Alex]

I looked at it up close, it was done with the diamond grade sheeting (whatever it is called), which was the same as the number. Also noted that the shield at the southbound Chesapeake House exit was a standard neutered job, so this state-named is the exception at the service area.

Though it looks like MARYLAND was squeezed-in on a standard neutered shield.  Never seen that anywhere else in the state.

Otherwise, the signage at Chesapeake House is rather similar to what was in place at Maryland House before it closed back in September 2012.

Indeed, same vintage and level of fading. I went ahead and photographed the signs leading into the Chesapeake House just to remember them once they are replaced with its overhaul. Always liked the diagrammatics used at both: