I’ve lived in Fredericksburg for 7 years and prior to 8 PM this evening, I had no idea there was a $2.75 toll road in Richmond. But I’m getting ahead of the story here…

We left Florida at 6 AM this morning, exactly on schedule. The first half of the trip home started out fine. I cruised through Florida, GA, and SC at 75 mph, with nary a slowdown. Life was good. So good in fact, I finally stopped at South of the Border.

From FL

We weren’t one mile into NC when traffic ground to a halt. And it pretty much stayed that way until well North of Fayetteville. I probably should have called Daryl and called it a day over a few beers. But I didn’t. And 4 hours after entering NC I finally exited the state, having traversed about 180 miles or so. Ugh! We did take a short detour in Wilton for BBQ, and being NC this was classic NC style with coleslaw on the Que. It was quite tasty, although it was a revelation for Michelle that BBQ comes in more styles than classic KC style. BTW, KC style is still my fav by a country mile, but the NC style was good for a change of pace. After dinner traffic smoothed out and we were able to make good time into Richmond.

As we approached downtown Richmond the traffic info signed warned of congestion at exit 79. A check with 511 delivered the scary news that 95 was stop and go from exit 79 in Richmond all the way to the DC Beltway, about 100 miles. And this is the point where the toll road comes into our story, because this is when I saw the sign for 895, toll road to the airport and 295. It might not be the most direct route, but I knew it would only be a 15 minute side trip to cut back to 295 via the airport to catch 301 North and eventually RT 1. As we approached the toll booth Michelle asked how much cash I needed and I responded, “probably 35 cents or something like that.”

A $2.75, eight mile toll road to nowhere in Richmond? I wonder which state legislator made millions selling his land for that pork barrel project? Needless to say, I didn’t see another car for my 6 minutes on the road. I got the impression that 895 may be the least utilized expressway in America. After battling traffic all day it was almost a zen like experience. I considered doing a u-turn and making a couple of laps, but decided to just go home instead. As I crossed over I-95 when cutting across from 301 to RT 1 I saw nothing but a sea of brake lights on I-95 North.

It was the best $2.75 I spent all trip. My average speed calculates out to 55 mph, which given all the stop and go in NC is a real surprise. I must have really made good time this morning.