Featured Image Courtesy of I-95 Exit Guide
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a splendid New Year’s Eve ringing in 2022. My family had not planned a major getaway like we did last Christmas when we traveled to Utah, Nevada and Arizona. My son came home from work about a week before Christmas and said that he really needed to get away for a few days. I started licking my chops, because I love to travel. I was a bit worried about traveling on Christmas Day, however, one of our favorite places to visit while we travel really made our holiday travel quite delightful.
Christmas Day Travel: Stop #1
I knew that most convenience stores would be open as we made our way to Daytona Beach. What a pleasant surprise when we saw that Buc-ee’s was open for business. I was not quite sure how many Buc-ee’s we would pass along the route, but we counted 4, including the one in Daytona Beach. We stopped at the one in Warner Robins, Georgia on Christmas morning. We were sort of surprised that there were very few customers visiting at this time. Unleaded gas was $2.67 a gallon, which was about $0.25 cheaper than other stores that were open. We used the clean restrooms, filled up our Buc-ee’s mugs and grabbed some hot delicious biscuits for the road. As I have written before, the place was amazingly clean, friendly service and fresh food.
Yes, that’s a photo of toilet paper holders… only the best images here at That Park Place!
Christmas Day Travel: Stop #2
We traveled for several hours without stopping and we had finally hit a point where we had to stop. We stopped just a bit above St. Augustine. It was a Shell station. We filled up on gas that was $3.19 a gallon. We grabbed a few drinks and a small bite to eat and were on our way. I don’t know if we missed the signs, but 2 exits away was another Buc-ee’s. Needless to say, we were a little disappointed that we missed the opportunity to visit another one. Gas was listed at $2.78 a gallon. We got back on the road and we had a little more than an hour before we made our final stop at the Hampton Inn in Daytona Beach.
Christmas Day Travel: Stop #3
As we got back on I-95, about 2 miles down the road, we saw a sign that said the next Buc-ee’s was 56 miles away. We did make that stop before we made our way to the hotel. Ok, we are starting to develop an obsession with this mega-convenience store. Filled up on gas, $2.67 a gallon, filled up our Buc-ee’s mugs (for $0.69 cold refills) and it was on to the beach.
Final Destination
We finally made it to the Hampton Inn close to 10:30 a.m. The weather was fabulous. We changed into our swim gear and made our way to poolside and then eventually made our way to the beach. We were getting hungry and decided to grab a Christmas dinner at the Tiki Hut Bar and Grill on the Hampton Inn property. The food and service was fabulous!
Final Thank You!
I’d like to thank all of the folks that worked on Christmas Day to make it possible for folks like my family to travel. Needless to say, we would not have made it far if not for you. My family thanks you so much!
Be blessed and safe travels!!!
