June 2006 - Meet Us in the Bathroom and Free Fun 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 would be surprised at how many FREE things there are to do on the road this summer. 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 (Pet Accommodations Edition), for colorful easy-to-follow pictorial maps and fun stories. Get off an exit and enjoy some of these: 1 - Meet us in the Bathroom 2 - Be a Part of the Revolution 3 - A Family Fourth or Tomato Day 4 - FREE Shakespeare(?) in the Zoo 5 - The Ultimate Treasure Hunt 1 - Meet us in the Bathroom NJ Exit 8 - If you are passing that way (or live nearby), on Friday June 23 we will be appearing in the ?Spotlight on New Jersey? at the Molly Pitcher Service Center, between exits 8A and 8 (heading South) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (We give the New Jersey Turnpikes high marks for their well designed bathrooms). You might want to try out Dick Clark's AB Grill, the new family sit-down style restaurant. Sandra loved their french fries when she ate them in Columbus, Ohio. Please stop, say hello to us there and let us help you plan your journey. While you?re at this exit you might want to stop nearby and experience a war (see next item). 2 - Be a Part of the Revolution NJ Exit 8 - One of the largest battles of the American Revolution took place in the fields and forests that now make up Monmouth Battlefield State Park. At the Revolutionary War re-enactment on June 24th and June 25th, the battles take place at 3 p.m on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. As you stroll around the rest of the day, you might pass pacing sentries, see enlisted men clean their weapons or idle away their time gambling or see women of the army cook, mend and wash. You may encounter a drum major drilling his musicians or the court martial of a rebel. At the parade ground, watch soldiers drill or artillerists fire their cannon. Keep an eye on your children or the recruiting sergeant may have them drilling with wooden muskets. 347 Freehold-Englishtown Rd., Freehold. Tel: 732-462-9616 [http://www.njparksandforests.org/parks/monbat.html] www.njparksandforests.org/parks/monbat.html 3 - A Family Fourth or Tomato Day VA Exit 92 - If you want to join in a typical small town America Fourth of July Celebration, stop in Ashland. The down home parade has no motorized vehicles - only kids, adults, leashed dogs, decorated bikes, wagons and strollers. Everyone gathers for a picnic, concert and chorus, and lots of fun at the lawn games: a sack race, 3-legged race, water balloon toss, watermelon seed spitting contest and the painting of a patriotic flag on a rock. There's a huge used book sale, apple-pie baking contest (you get to eat them afterwards) and carriage rides. Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hanover Arts and Activities Center, 500 South Center St. Tel: 804-798-2728 [http://www.hanoverarts.com] www.hanoverarts.com FREE If you miss the 4th, on July 8th nearby there's the Hanover Tomato Festival, where you can enjoy country and bluegrass music, square dancing, children?s games, a Little Miss Tomato contest plus contests for the best recipes using Hanover tomatoes. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pole Green Park, Mechanicsville (4 miles east of I-295 on Pole Green Rd.) Tel: 804-779-7948 [http://www.co.hanover.va.us] www.co.hanover.va.us FREE 4 - FREE Shakespeare (?) in the Zoo CT Exit 27A - At the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport on Fri-Sun July 21-23, Fri-Sun July 26-30 and Tues-Sat August 1-5, the Zoo?s Picnic Grove opens at 6:30 p.m. for people to enjoy al fresco dinners which they bring or can purchase from the Zoo?s concession stands. You may bring blankets and lawn chairs. (The zoo itself is not open for touring during the evening.) The FREE Shakespeare (actually Cyrano de Bergerac this year) on the Main stage starts at 8:00 p.m. This year the season will continue with a week at the Guilford Green in Guilford, CT (Exit 58) on Thurs-Sunday Aug 10-13 at 7:45 p.m. Tel: 203-393-3213 [http://www.bridgeportfreeshakespeare.org] www.bridgeportfreeshakespeare.org FREE 5 - The Ultimate Treasure Hunt Geocaching and Letterboxing are challenging treasure hunts that can add excitement and fun to your drive. It's great sport for the entire family. With Geocaching you need to use a GPS (least expensive is around $100) to locate the cache. Letterboxing uses clues from one location to get to the next, and sometimes a compass is needed. Both use the Internet to provide maps and offer forums for cache hunters. In Geocaching, you are searching for the hidden container which has a log book and sometimes prizes (maps, books, toys, even money). If you remove anything from the cache you're honor-bound to leave something else in its place. When you find the cache, you add your name and the date in the log book. In Letterboxing, when you find the Letterbox you leave your personalized rubber stamp and then stamp your log book with the rubber stamp that is usually there. Creators of letterboxes provide clues to its location, and finding them might require a compass, a map and solving puzzles and riddles. [http://www.geocaching.com] www.geocaching.com [http://www.letterboxing.org] www.letterboxing.org 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 vacation. 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 3, Roxboro, QC Canada H8Y 3E8[http://www.drivei95.com] www.drivei95.com[http://www.drivei95.com] [http://www.drivei95.com/]