__________ is/are underrated.

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

Probably the most interesting road I ever found in the Green Swamp was Clay Sink Road.  About the only place in the entire state that has somewhat interesting hilly and curvy roads is on the Brooksville Ridge.

Florida's straight roads are underrated.

Florida is in a competition with Illinois over who has the most flat and boring roads (spoken as former Florida and Illinois resident).

Yeah but they have long straight sections and many of them are 3+ lanes wide in each directions for long stretches. Florida Turnpike is good without even being part of the interstate highway system!

Florida's Turnpike is about as boring as it gets.  When I went TD to Key West from Orlando I would go out of my way to avoid the bulk the Turnpike via:

-  County Road 15
-  US 441-US 192
-  US 192
-  FL 70
-  FL 710
-  SE 86th Blvd
-  US 98-US 441
-  FL 715
-  FL 80
-  US 27

The above route would get me down to the Turnpike Extension and would avoid almost all the tolls.  There was plenty of places to stop along the road and they cost less than the Turnpike Plazas.  Give me some back country peace and quiet any day over the Turnpike, even if it cost me an hour drive time.  Now that FL 997 is widened if I still lived in Orlando I could even cutoff the Turnpike Extension and have it be viable.

I'd usually wind up going through Okeechobee (the city) because we'd need gas/food/bathroom breaks.

Usually I would stop at Paul Rardin Park for a rest stop on FL 715.  My car had the fuel range to make it all the way between Orlando-Key West on a single tank. 

[skluth]

Fruitcake.

I'm seriously beginning to think that the majority of people who bash fruitcake have never actually eaten it.  Fruitcake–especially anything other than the ubiquitous Claxton brick–is awesome.

I've had some fruitcake.  There is some fruitcake that is not as awful as others.
None of it is worth eating on a good taste vs. calories and fat tradeoff.

That's basically my take on fruitcake. I don't hate it. I don't love it. It's like fudge in that I can eat about one cubic inch of it and that's all I want. That one bite is good but I really don't want another because it's just so dense.

[jeffandnicole]

Fruitcake.

I'm seriously beginning to think that the majority of people who bash fruitcake have never actually eaten it. 

This is true of most things people bash on the internet. 

How many times have people said "I don't live near/I have never had (name the issue), but if I did, I would never go there/have it".

[zachary_amaryllis]

Porn

This needs to be subcategorized.

Why?

You can name your specific fetish. Whereas others just want to see boobs.

That's why porn in general is underrated.  Imagine if you were living 100 years ago and the only thing that got you off was cakefarts.  Your undrained testicles would have killed you.

I am truly scared to google 'cakefarts'.

[zachary_amaryllis]

nose-boops from the cat.

*drops mic*

[kirbykart]

Black coffee

[MATraveler128]

Black coffee

Same. I always drink my coffee black after finding out that adding too much cream and sugar made it taste more watered down.

[kurumi]

nose-boops from the cat.

*drops mic*

Or the cat pushes the mic off the counter

[webny99]

Here's one:

When you pass a car on a roadtrip, then exit for a short food/fuel/restroom stop, then re-enter and pass that same car again within the next hour or two. Trips can feel long at times but at least then you know it could be worse. 

[MultiMillionMiler]

How would you know you passed the same car?

[webny99]

How would you know you passed the same car?

... by looking out the window?

[Big John]

How would you know you passed the same car?

I had something similar happen.  The car had a unique paint job.

[Rothman]

How would you know you passed the same car?

... by looking out the window?

Exactly.  On road trips, it's interesting what other vehicles you take notice of -- especially if you get into a game of leap frog with them.  They don't have to stick out of the crowd appearance-wise.

[1995hoo]

How would you know you passed the same car?

Personalized plate? Distinctive bumper stickers? Hot chick driving?

[GaryV]

One year driving to Florida, we passed the same VW bug several times. Being a family, our bathroom breaks were longer and more often than the single driver. The younger kids in the family made a sign to show out the back window of the station wagon, a "Florida or bust" kind of thing. He waited for us at his exit in GA with a sign of his own, telling us he was a GI going home for the holidays.

[MultiMillionMiler]

He must be going real slow if you can still manage to pass him after a half hour rest stop (unless he stopped at a different area around the same time).

[hotdogPi]

He must be going real slow if you can still manage to pass him after a half hour rest stop (unless he stopped at a different area around the same time).

I experienced this on Florida's Turnpike a few days ago. I'm pretty sure we both stopped at one rest area at different times.

[roadman65]

^^^

The alligators are amusingly not very threatening.  My wife was terrified of them when I took her to Everglades National Park last year.  They usually just sit around ignoring everyone and run away if disturbed (not a recommendation to attempt).

I like Florida roads cause you make great time on them. Unlike Vermont where to go one mile on VT 30 takes forever as the curves prevent you from seeing just how far a mile can be.

Don't knock the roads in Florida as they're highways and not numbers assigned to back roads like in Vermont.  The latter you have freeways and two lane winding roads where in Florida you have freeways and off freeway highways.

I don't know, I would be lying if I did say a lack of mountainous geography wasn't a major motivation to for me to get back to the west coast from Florida.  I also happen to be the kind of guy who would rather go see how fast a mountain grade could be driven than beeline through Alligator Alley.  In Florida even the dirt roads are generally as straight as can be (example: Everglades Loop Road).

At least California still makes highways out of mountain roads unlike Vermont that has all back roads. Then Connecticut has no off freeway highways, but suburban arterials. I don't even think the speed limit on US 1 exceeds 45 mph. If it reaches 45 it's most likely in Middlesex County as through Groton and Stoningham in New London County the maximum speed is 35 due to suburban residences the entire way. I'm a most certain too that from New York to New Haven the average speed limit on US 1 is 35 and most likely 40 is the max.

[kphoger]

We have the same situation with the turkey in my family. I have an aunt who Does The Turkey every year for Thanksgiving. I used to think that I didn't like turkey all that much because it was basically just dried-out chicken. One year my mom couldn't get ham for Christmas and just did turkey again, and it turns out her turkey is actually way better than my aunt's. So yeah, I like turkey, it's just that my aunt can't make it worth a damn.

For most families, a whole turkey is a once- or twice-a-year dish, which adds to the problem by making it harder to iron out deficiencies through practice.

I've had good luck rescuing dried-out turkey by slathering it with drippings, but as a general rule, it's better to have the bird moist out of the oven.

The first time my wife and I ever cooked a whole turkey, we weren't even married yet.  My roommate's family was in town from Mexico, and we decided to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for them.  Talk about pressure!  Fortunately, the turkey turned out perfectly.  I think we've only cooked a whole turkey once or twice since then.  I specifically remember cooking two of them in the church kitchen for a Thanksgiving fellowship for people in our age group.  That's when we bought a pair of meat thermometers, because the risk is just too great for big get-togethers.

[JayhawkCO]

The key to cooking a turkey properly is to either break it down and cook the different parts at different times, to sous vide the broken down bird, or to at least cook the whole thing "upside down" so that the breast meat is actually moist. I have zero idea why most people gravitate towards the white meat in a traditionally cooked turkey. The meat has the texture of slightly moist sawdust.

[Rothman]

The key to cooking a turkey properly is to either break it down and cook the different parts at different times, to sous vide the broken down bird, or to at least cook the whole thing "upside down" so that the breast meat is actually moist. I have zero idea why most people gravitate towards the white meat in a traditionally cooked turkey. The meat has the texture of slightly moist sawdust.

If the white meat has the texture of sawdust, you're doing it wrong.

[kphoger]

The key to cooking a turkey properly is to either break it down and cook the different parts at different times, to sous vide the broken down bird, or to at least cook the whole thing "upside down" so that the breast meat is actually moist. I have zero idea why most people gravitate towards the white meat in a traditionally cooked turkey. The meat has the texture of slightly moist sawdust.

If the white meat has the texture of sawdust, you're doing it wrong.

Or you waited 16 seconds too long before taking it out.

[JayhawkCO]

The key to cooking a turkey properly is to either break it down and cook the different parts at different times, to sous vide the broken down bird, or to at least cook the whole thing "upside down" so that the breast meat is actually moist. I have zero idea why most people gravitate towards the white meat in a traditionally cooked turkey. The meat has the texture of slightly moist sawdust.

If the white meat has the texture of sawdust, you're doing it wrong.

100% what I'm saying. If you cook a turkey breast side up in an oven, you're doing it wrong.

[CtrlAltDel]

One year driving to Florida, we passed the same VW bug several times. Being a family, our bathroom breaks were longer and more often than the single driver. The younger kids in the family made a sign to show out the back window of the station wagon, a "Florida or bust" kind of thing. He waited for us at his exit in GA with a sign of his own, telling us he was a GI going home for the holidays.

I usually enjoy repassing cars and trucks after a rest stop. It's like running across an old buddy.

What I don't like is when repassing cars and trucks during a continuous stretch of driving. Which happened, I remember, when I was driving to Knoxville during the eclipse of 2017. It was pretty early in the morning, so early it was still dark out, and there were few cars on the road. I had my cruise control set on 74 like I usually do, and I passed a car going about 52. Then, a few minutes later, it flew by me, going at least 90. And then up the road a bit, I passed it again only to get passed once more. This went on for a while, long enough for me to memorize the license plate, and it annoyed me to no end.

My theory is that the driver of this car was a "hypermiler," trying to get the absolute maximum gas mileage out of the car, although it could have just been someone with poor speed perception.

In any case, now that I think about it, it's perhaps curious that there's not really anyone on this forum who's into hypermiling. It seems to be it's own separate driving niche.

[MultiMillionMiler]

I hypermile. It actually works. I get up to 37 mpg vs my usual 27.5. I'm that guy who coasts up to red lights at 15 mph and taps the gas as lightly as possible to maintain speed and accelerate. My best run was 431 miles without getting gas and I still had 2 or 3 gallons left.