The Interstate Highway System is 50 years old.

[IslandRed]

Charles Kuralt, or somebody, said something to the effect of "thanks to the Interstates, you can now drive from coast to coast without seeing anything or meeting anybody."

With the little ones, the loafing and sightseeing on long trips has been reduced, but we'll generally get off I-Whatever for at least a little while. Our road trips are generally between Tennessee and Florida, so we'll side-trip through the Georgia mountains or wait until we get to Florida and cut over to A1A. Or something like that.

Now that I think of it, it's a longstanding habit of mine to not come back exactly the way I went. Even if they're 95% the same roads, I'll vary it just a little. That's usually the case even for trips to the grocery store.

[pedro]

I drove 23 from Ohio to Georgia once.

It took a very long time.

[reds1869]

If you had grown up in West Virginia like me, you would love the interstate system. Try going somewhere in that state without an interstate sometime. Scenery and charm is great if you're a tourist, but not fun at all if you drive between Parkersburg and Huntington twice a week.

[Chip R]

The good thing now is that you have a choice. If you want to get there and back in the quickest time possible you can take the interstate. If you want to stop and smell the roses, you can take the back roads.

[Blimpie]

I drove 23 from Ohio to Georgia once.

It took a very long time.

My friend and I took his car on US 441 from central Florida to central Kentucky. Apparently, he had expired tags on his Accord and thought that it would be more discrete if we stayed off I-75....

[RedsBaron]

If you had grown up in West Virginia like me, you would love the interstate system. Try going somewhere in that state without an interstate sometime. Scenery and charm is great if you're a tourist, but not fun at all if you drive between Parkersburg and Huntington twice a week.

I generally agree with you about how the interstates have been great for WV, but I actually often take the non-interstate route from Huntington to Parkersburg. I take Route 2 out of Huntington, heading north towards Point Pleasant, and I usually don't pick up an interstate until I hit I-77 around Ripley. This lets me avoid Charleston and seems to be as quick and a whole lot more relaxing than going interstate the whole way. Much of Route 2 is a fun drive.

[RedsBaron]

The good thing now is that you have a choice. If you want to get there and back in the quickest time possible you can take the interstate. If you want to stop and smell the roses, you can take the back roads.

I was thinking the same thing................so, excellent post!

[KronoRed]

My friend and I took his car on US 441 from central Florida to central Kentucky. Apparently, he had expired tags on his Accord and thought that it would be more discrete if we stayed off I-75....

How long did that take? 441 takes 3 hours from Gainesville to Ocala sometimes

[cincinnati chili]

Interstates rule.

War 2400 calories of Grease and line cooks named Chancce.

[reds1869]

I generally agree with you about how the interstates have been great for WV, but I actually often take the non-interstate route from Huntington to Parkersburg. I take Route 2 out of Huntington, heading north towards Point Pleasant, and I usually don't pick up an interstate until I hit I-77 around Ripley. This lets me avoid Charleston and seems to be as quick and a whole lot more relaxing than going interstate the whole way. Much of Route 2 is a fun drive.

I take that route as well, but find the interstate a lot less stressful and actually like stopping a few places in Charleston.

[KronoRed]

The trouble (for me) with state highways is the stop lights really put a damper on cruise control use.

[919191]

I got impatient about halfway to Indy and turned off on State Route 46 which would take me to Terre Haute and I could catch 74 from there. Boy, was that a mistake. I barely went over 50 on that road. When I finally got to Terre Haute there was a huge traffic jam on I-70 and I had to take some more back roads in Illinois to finally get to I-74. I bet that detour added at least a couple of hours on to my trip. I blame myself for not being more patient but those back roads are not as romantic as people make them out to be.

I live in Terre Haute (did you notice the smell? The city has spent alot of money on studies trying to figure out exactly what it is and what to do about it) and I take 46 sometimes to in-laws near Bloomington. Since it is in-laws, I'm glad the travel is slow! Seriously, on 46, you can get to know joggers alongside the road as you drive.

About 20 years ago I was coming back here from Louisville and I got on I-64 by mistake instead of I-65. I decided to keep going. I got about halfway across Indiana and started on northbound routes to hit eventuallly 46 or 50. I got on some pretty backwoods roads. There was one place around Birdseye that had alot of rusted cars really old all over the yard. There were 7 of them lined up with one letter painted on each windshield, spelling KEEP OUT.

[WebScorpion]

I drove route 50 from Virginia to Ohio this weekend. Wow! There are a few mind-bending curves on that road in WV. Some beautiful scenery though. I took the Interstates on the return trip and got plenty of use out of the cruise control and DVD player (for the kids) I think the difference was about 2 hours...11 hours to Cincy and 9 to return. There's something to be said for both methods.

BTW, I used a Navigation system both ways and it was great for finding places to eat along the way and finding the way back when I took impulsive turns, etc. It gave me the peace of mind to stray from the path whenever I wanted...great investment.

[Roy Tucker]

Nobody has commented on how there can be interstates in Alaska and Hawaii.

Interstates are a bland and homogenized way to travel. But, with a car full of kids, they can sometimes help you retain your sanity.

Sometimes you don't care about the getting-there so interstates are handy. Sometimes the getting-there is the thing. I'm more of b.) than a.) these days.

[M2]

His "on the Road" book IMO might be one of the most overated pieces of literature ever written. I wasn't even able to finish it. I got 3/4 of the way there and decided I didn't really care what happened to him or his friends.

I believe the line I used to open my paper on the subject back in college was that Kerouac's "On the Road" presupposes that he's somehow interesting and not some century-late Thoreau wannabe who affects the manner of being some sort visionary far better than he demonstrates it.

The entire book is based on rote serialization - tell a pointless story, make sure to weave in at least one totally preposterous sentence that feigns intelligence and toss in a throw-away line about the actual place you went to (e.g. they've got the prettiest girls in the world in Iowa). Lather, rinse, repeat.

While I'm sympathetic to the notion of taking the less-travelled route and staying off the soulless concrete highways, I'm usually destination-oriented when I get into the car. The less time spent in the vehicle, the better I say.

Though I do like train travel quite a bit. Unfortunately Amtrak takes five-and-a-half hours to cross Massachusetts and doesn't run much in the way trains heading north from here. So basically your only option is to ride the northeast corridor down toward New York and Philly.