Drive I-95 Trip Tips - Crying Pirates eat fried green tomatos at the circus - May 2008 Driving North or South along the US East Coast? You are receiving the Drive I-95 Trip Tips because you are a fan of Drive I-95 or Sandra Phillips' Smart Shopping Montreal . If you wish to be taken off our newsletter list, please follow the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of this email. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you know who lives, works or plans to travel along the Eastern U.S. from Boston to Florida, so they too can learn how to have fun on the road. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please add info@drivei95.com to your address book so you'll be sure to receive every issue. Sp^m filters will place future editions of this newsletter in your delete file unless it is a recognized address. AOL 9.0 users, you have to permit mail or your newsletter will be placed in bulk sender or unknown sender list. Hello fellow road trippers: You can perk up any trip with the delicious food and many interesting activities happening on I-95. This Trip Tips newsletter will provide you with continuous info on what's happening and how to enjoy your pit stops on I-95. Road trips are still less expensive than flying, so use our guidebook, Drive I-95: Exit by Exit Info, Maps, History and Trivia (Florida Edition), for colorful easy-to-follow pictorial maps and fun stories. Get off an exit and enjoy some of these: 1 - Learn How to Cry 2 - Snooze 'n Cruise and Golfing Shoes 3 - Fried Green Tomatoes 4 - Ahoy Matey, Watch Out for Pirates 5 - Us on the Tube, the Airwaves or in Person 6 - Greatest Showman on Earth 1 - Learn How to Cry MD Exit 19 or 38: Annapolis, Maryland's capital city, is enjoying a year-long celebration commemorating the 300th Anniversary of the signing of a Royal Charter that gave it its city status in 1708. Visitors are invited to party like it's 1708 at events including the May 1-4 CharterFest celebration at City Dock. Highlights of the celebration include the May 2-4 Maryland Maritime Heritage Festival and a North American Towne Crier Championship on Saturday, May 3, at 1:00 p.m. More than 25 towne criers have registered to participate in the competition - including a female one! Kids who want to learn how to “cry” and those of you who might want to rub shoulders with the contestants can do so on Saturday morning from 8:30 a.m. -10. a.m. at the Family Breakfast with the Towne Criers being held at the historic William Paca House and Garden (186 Prince George St., Tel: 410-267-7619). Towne Crier Contest is FREE. Buffet breakfast is $5 for children and $7 for adults. www.annapolisalive.org Tel: 410-267-8146 2 - Snooze 'n Cruise and Golfing Shoes GA Exit 36: Comfort Inn - Ask at this motel about the option of sleeping here and hopping aboard the Emerald Princess at Exit 38 for a daily dinner/dancing/gaming cruise for only $45 (pp based on double occupancy). The cruise alone is $10. If that wasn't enough, this motel offers packages at at least 4 golf courses where you can sleep, golf (with cart) and enjoy breakfast for only $80 pp based on double occupancy. (Note that Days, Hampton, Clarion, and Red Roof Inns also offer pkgs. At Exit 38 Country Inn, Guest Cottages and Quality Inn have it and Exit 29 Microtel and Super 8). Try choicehotels.com/hotel/GA078 (Comfort Inn I-95 North) www.emeraldprincesscasino.com Tel: 800-842-0115 (ship) or 912-264-6540 (motel). 3 - Fried Green Tomatoes NC Exit 98: Clark's Inn and Restaurant - Fried green tomatoes, Really! Enjoy Southern family cooking: fall off the bone baked chicken or mango pecan roast pork. The deep fryer is busy with real Southern fried chicken, fried catfish and crunchy fried green tomatoes with apricot/pineapple chutney. For the less brave, there are pastas, roast beef, steaks and seafood, and the lowcountry plate (sausage, shrimp, chicken, veggies on savory rice) is high on our list. In 1946 Bubba Clark, fresh from WW II, "temporarily" set up his first restaurant near here in an old bus station and now, 59 years later, his kids run this gracious dining room, with Momma Helena still around to check the recipes. Don't forget to leave room for her apple crisp and homemade pecan pie. Hours: Daily 6 a.m.- 9 p.m. 114 Bradford Blvd. www.clarksinnandrestaurant.com Tel: 803-854-2101. 4 - Ahoy Matey, Watch Out for Pirates VA: Exit 75: From May 30th to June 1 Hampton’s waterfront comes alive with its 9th annual Blackbeard Pirate Festival, where about 100 pirate re-enactors led by Captain Edward Teach, Blackbeard the Pirate himself, help visitors step back in time to relive some legends from around 1718. The Festival offers a variety of children’s activities: jugglers, musicians, a Pirate procession, street entertainers, a puppet show, inflatable rides, hands-on crafts, contests and a treasure dig. Everyone can enjoy the replica of Blackbeard’s pirate camp, complete with living history interpreters teaching the skills of the sailor circa 1700 (and the trial and escape of William Howard, one of Blackbeard’s fellow pirates), live musical entertainment, fireworks, period vendors, arts and crafts and impromptu street skirmishes between pirates and the militia as well as full-scale sea battles in the Hampton Harbor, highlighted by Blackbeard’s final battle. You may want to take in the waterfront scene where you can view tall ships, including Schooner Virginia, and more than 50 private sail and powerboats all decked out in pirate gear. A presentation ceremony follows the sea battle, where Lt. Maynard presents Blackbeard's head and defeated crew to Virginia's Governor Spotswood, and then you can join Blackbeard’s funeral parade, which is Hampton’s version of Mardi Gras (and share in the booty from his treasure chest!). Dates and hours: Friday, May 30 from 12 p.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday, May 31 from 10 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Fireworks on Saturday evening starting at 9 p.m., Sunday, June 1 from 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. On Sunday, you can stroll through Blackbeard’s Pirate Camp where you can learn how to use a cutlass, load a cannon, or even sing a sea shanty. www.blackbeardpiratefestival.com 5 - Us on the Tube, the Airwaves or in Person May 17th : Those of you in the New Haven CT area can watch us on May 17th at 7:35 a.m. on WNTH. May 21st : Borders Fairfield CT Exit 21: If you want to meet us in person or ask questions about a summer vacation, plan on coming to the Borders at 1499 Post Rd., Fairfield, CT on May 21st at 7 pm. We will be participating in an authors’ round table discussion. It should be fun and educational. Tel: 203-256-1619. May 31 Saturday: If you are in the PA listening area of whp580.com, Sandy Fenton from "Let's Talk Travel with AAA" will be interviewing us for an hour from 3 to 4 p.m., so you can find out quite a bit about the new things we’ve discovered on exits. http://www.whp580.com/pages/LetsTalkTravel.html or www.aaa.com/aaa/195/web/ltt.html 6 - Greatest Showman on Earth CT: Exit 27: The Barnum Festival was created to salute P.T Barnum, “the greatest showman on earth”, who lived in Bridgeport (you can visit the Barnum Museum www.barnum-museum.org) and was its mayor. After the War, in 1948, the city needed a jolt of adrenaline, so concerts, circuses, parades, big bands and fireworks were planned leading up to America's Fourth of July (to Barnum every day was like the Fourth as all of his promotions had fireworks). You can stop on the road for the Wing Ding Children's Parade on June 21st, the spectacular fireworks display (June 27th at 9 p.m.) at Seaside Park, Champions on Parade (a drum and bugle corps competition on June 28th at 5:45 p.m) or for the People’s United Street Parade with the US Marine band and clowns, of course (June 29th ). The festival begins with the official kick-off at the Whip, Whistle & Watch Luncheon (May 23 $50) where the Mayor of Shelton, Mark Lauretti, who is the 60th Ringmaster, will receive his whip, whistle and P.T Barnum's pocket watch - his symbols of office. Tel: 203-367-8495 or www.barnumfestival.com What's inside Drive I-95 : Look ahead exit by exit to see which motels (with 800 numbers), gas stations, restaurants, campgrounds, 24-hour pharmacies, auto mechanics, radio stations or radar traps are there, and where you can stay with your pet. We share our stories of the road : history on I-95, museums, trivia, towns to explore or places to run the kids. These can be read for entertainment during the drive, and may entice you to stop, stretch your legs and discover someplace new. PS: Buy the book to plan your summer trip. Click [http://www.drivei95.com/order_now.htm] here To Contact us: Stan Posner and Sandra Phillips-Posner, Travelsmart email: [mailto:info@drivei95.com] info@drivei95.com Phone: 1-877-GUIDE95 P.O. Box 43527 CSP Roxboro, D.D.O., QC Canada H8Y 3P4[http://www.drivei95.com] www.drivei95.com[http://www.drivei95.com] [http://www.drivei95.com/]