Rest Stop Roundup: Exploring America's Rest Areas

Rest Stop Roundup: Exploring America's Rest Areas

In this week’s episode of TravelEssary, we’re hitting the road to talk about one of the most overlooked but essential parts of long-distance travel, America’s rest stops. From simple roadside pull-offs to fully equipped service plazas, we explore the wide variety of stops you’ll encounter across the United States.

We share our experiences with:

• Basic rest areas designed for quick breaks
• Scenic overlooks that double as photo-worthy stops
• Welcome centers packed with travel information
• Service plazas offering food, fuel, and family-friendly amenities
• Truck stops that often surprise with their convenience and comfort

You’ll hear stories from Jeremy's travels through the northern states, where some rest stops are unexpectedly impressive, and we’ll share why these hidden gems make road trips more enjoyable. Plus, we invite listeners to send in recommendations for the best rest stops in the western U.S., places we can’t wait to explore on future trips.

Whether you’re planning a family road trip, full-time RV travel, or a cross-country adventure, this episode will give you new appreciation (and maybe new destinations) for the places where you pull off the highway.

Transcript

  We are the Essary family and we're exploring America one destination at a time. On today's episode of TravelEssary, we are going to give you guys the rundown on Rest Stops Travel centers, welcome centers, you name it. Let's chat. Welcome and thank you for joining us on this episode as we talk about the rest stops and how much they vary.

Not only from location, but state to state and all the different amenities that they possibly could give you.

There is a lot of difference. Whenever you're talking about interstate rest stops or highway rest stops. There's a big difference. And I was shocked, blown away. I can't think of the word that is totally gonna describe my experience whenever I was in the Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania area on interstate 80 and 90 of this one thing that we are definitely gonna talk about and.

To all the other places that don't have these. You gotta step up your game. Yeah. Jeremy has expanded his horizons and he has learned a lot from the simple rest areas that we have here. I think that's mostly what we have along the highways here in Texas are your simple, basic rest areas, which rest areas we'll get into of what those are and why they are what they are.

But, I'm excited to experience these new rest stops, travel stops. I don't even know what to call 'em. Do. Is there one word that encompasses all of them? Not really, because even from state to state, they call 'em different things. They call 'em different things and then each state it, it's a different thing because it is, it's a different thing.

That's why they call it something different. It's, there's different aspects to each. Stop. Mm-hmm. Whether it's good or it is absolutely horrible. And we are definitely gonna be talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly because there's some ugly stuff out there.

Texas has some ugly stuff. I'll put them in that same category, right? There's other places that have some ugly stuff, but then there are other states and other stops that you can stop to that are absolutely wonderful. So the first one we're gonna talk about is rest stops. I feel like rest stops is what everyone calls most of these.

Absolutely. And it's definitely something that is more common down south. You just, it's a rest stop. Regardless of what amenities it has, it's just a straight rest stop. You know, we haven't been west yet. I'm excited to see what's out west. If you're from out west or you've traveled a lot out west, let us know.

What kind of stops? Pit stops. Rest stops, rest areas are like out in the west. I just thought of that. Yeah. We, we do north, south, and east, but we have yet to go west, get past New Mexico, so Arizona, California, uh, Washington, Wyoming. Let us know what you got. Yeah. Because we would definitely love to know, just like we just learned.

And I can't wait to take to Misty to some of these stops, just because they're, they're really amazing. We're so corny that we get excited about like, yeah, best stops. And I think it's because we have a Bucky's and so we already have an expectation. Like that's one that we really don't call a rest stop.

But that's definitely one. Like the destination places please. Just the glorified gas station. Yeah, because it has everything that you possibly want or need and it's, it's amazing. And so some of these are pretty much like a Bucky's in their own little different quirky way. We gotta go back to rest stops.

So we're definitely gonna start with rest stops first. This is your basic. This is just your bare minimum type stuff. Yeah. So , what qualifies as a rest stop? So a rest stop is gonna have the picnic tables that are gonna be outside. Sometimes they're gonna be under a cover. Most of the time they're just gonna be open to the elements.

, , they're gonna have some type of restroom. The restrooms vary drastically. Sometimes there'll be indoor restrooms where you can kind of chill out a little bit and it might have a little bit of pamphlets or information while they're there and full running water, the whole nine yards.

There are other restrooms that it is more of a compost. Toilet. Okay. So I need you to let us know where those are, because I don't wanna stop there. Where in your travels have you come across a composting toilet at a rest stop? So, in one of my videos, I'm in Kansas, I think it's my orientation, first trip, YouTube in Kansas.

That was a. Composting stop. Well, and it was a beautiful stop. It was beautiful. As far as like the scenery. Scenery and the, and what you were able to look at. Picnic tables were in good, most of 'em were undercover, but they had composting toilets. Oh my word. Joplin, Missouri on the west side of Joplin.

There's a rest stop on one side. It is absolutely beautiful. It actually falls under one of the other categories that we're gonna talk about on the side that I was on whenever I was headed westbound was a composting toilet. And it was your bare basic, like I had that table. So it's not that table much different than like a porta potty.

Yes, it's, it's almost exactly what it is. Hmm. But was it like. Like a portable toilet or was it inside of a sticks and bricks building was, yeah, it was a stick and brick building. It had, a little bit of running water. The pressure wasn't that great, but they have no sewer facilities. Hmm. So they can't get to a sewer farm or something like that.

So they have to keep everything there. So I think something that you find on like the older campgrounds, something like that. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Where you, you go in and then you know, a truck has to come by and suck everything out instead of it just going through, I mean, well, that's interesting. Yes. And we don't have those here in Texas.

Not that I've seen so far. Well, nowhere we've ever been. And we've been to a lot of places in Texas, because not every rest stop is going to have a restroom. Right. But those are called something else that we're gonna get to. We call those something else around here. And sometimes, not all the time, they're gonna have some type of vending machine.

So they're gonna have your soft drinks, they're gonna have, you know, bags of chips. They usually don't have candy in it because they're usually open to the elements. So of course candy is gonna melt if it's chocolate. Yeah. But they'll have the chips, they'll have the bubble gum, that type of stuff. So if you get there and you just need a quick snack and you need something to survive, so you get to the next town, rest stops are great.

Rest stops. Okay. So thanks for clarifying. Yeah, they have all the parking as well as far as car and the big 18 wheeler stuff. So now, no, I'm gonna skip that one. Are you gonna skip that one? Yes. Because I wanna save the big surprise for the very end and how well it was blown away. It's probably not a surprise to our listeners who live up north.

That is absolutely true. They're, they're gonna be like, as astounded as we're, they're like, your rest stops are. Have vending machines. It's gonna be like when people from Germany come over and go to Walmart and are so amazed, and we're like, but why? Yeah, why do you have so many choices? That's how we're gonna be with some of the things up north.

So the next one I want to cover are the scenic overlook areas. These are those that do not have. You know, more likely don't have a restroom, but they are geared around to stopping and just taking in the views. Uh, bear Creek Lake has , a big one up there that you can stop and you can look at, and it is gorgeous, but it's just , a small little place to take a quick break, stretch your legs, get back on the road, and continue going.

Most of the time they don't have any kind of amenity, so they're not gonna have the vending machines and they're not gonna have the restrooms. They will have picnic tables because , they understand that it's one of those break areas that you can get out and stretch your legs. And so if you wanna have a little picnic or something like that, then that's kind of how that rolls.

, But they do offer , the cart and sometimes it is tight, though sometimes they do offer truck stops for the 18 wheelers to pull over and to rest , their 10 hours before they move on. So rest area. , The scenic overlooks are just. They're very beautiful, but their amenities are gonna be super basic.

Around here we call 'em rest areas. Yeah. So rest stops and rest areas here , in Texas are pretty much the same thing, but that's the difference between the two. Yeah. That's pretty much what most of ours look like too. Most of our rest stops along the highway, like that's all they are. Oh yeah.

Especially around here, a place to pull over. You might could get 6, 7, 8 people in them. , Picnic tables, trash cans. You might get a bathroom. You might get a bathroom. Yeah. Most of the time, especially in ours,, you're not gonna get a restroom. Yeah. None of the ones around here have restrooms. They're gonna be your typical stop stretch, your legs picnic, move on.

I mean, great for an emergency situation. If you need to pull over, rest, sleep, stretch your legs, , but not great in comparison to all these other places we're gonna be talking about. It's actually the least of all of the ones we're talking about today, but it would definitely have the more scenic view than all of them, right?

The next one is one that we are very familiar with, one that we love going to, we stop at 'em almost every single time that we go into a new state, for sure. Not even just a new state, new cities and stuff, too. New cities. 'cause , they're usually in those areas as well. But it's the welcome centers.

Yeah, the visitor centers. I know we've talked about visitor centers so many times, and I promise you we're gonna talk about 'em 10 times more than we already have because we will be visiting so many. It's just on top of all the things that Jeremy's about to list of what they offer when it comes to like your travel stops.

It's such a good place to gather information on that area. That you're going to. I mean, isn't that the number one reason why they're there? That's the number one. And they're usually either, whenever you cross state lines, that's where they are because they want to give visitors the opportunity together, all the information that they possibly want to see their state, all the cool stuff that happens, all the hidden gems that are there.

And so that's what it's all about. And usually nine times outta 10. During normal business hours, it will be manned by someone. Someone's gonna be there to help, give information, , make sure that the facilities are clean, all that kind of stuff. And so visiting places are a really nice, beautiful area that you can kind of get out.

Walk around. Sometimes they'll even have attractions for you. I was about to say, visitor centers vary so much. So much. We've seen your basic tiny little square building with a restroom, a pering sitting inside, and some pamphlets and brochures about the area. Then we have seen some of the most lavish and beautiful welcome centers and visitor centers that include, you know, merchandise you can purchase, and it's off of a river.

And they have these rock formations outside and , they'll sell local things like local candies, local drinks, local goods, and we have seen so many different kinds of welcome centers. And they're usually well maintained. I'm talking about the grounds are well maintained because they're getting so many visitors because they wanna make it as inviting as possible.

, They also have vending machines that are there. They're typically gonna be inside, so they're gonna have more of your candies. Whereas if you get a vending machine outside, of course you're not gonna have that because they're air conditioned becausecause, they're air conditioner. Mm-hmm.

And it gives you a place, well. , They're climate control. We can't just say air conditioner. I mean, we live in Texas, so all of ours are air conditioner. But you get up north, they're gonna have to have the heaters. They're heated. So their climate control allows you to get out, stretch, and then stay in that climate control and still take your breaks.

Mm-hmm. They're gonna have seating that's gonna be available somewhere. , They're best. , We've been in some. Where's the one? Is it when we go into Florida and there's a welcome center somewhere along that area, and it's almost like you're walking into a museum about that state. You're walking in and they have like, , animals and geography information, those murals on the walls.

It's literally like walking into a tiny museum. So I really like welcome centers if, if it's. You know, not out of our way, and we need to pit stop. , We do the welcome centers because they're educational, they're practical, they're comfortable. They're safe. It's, they're really great stops. They're one of my favorite pit stops.

Of course, I haven't been to the one Jeremy's gonna tell us about in a little bit. But welcome centers are my personal favorite stops, and most of the time they give you those nice walk around areas where you can take. Pictures at certain places or in front of a sign that says, you know, welcome to whatever state that it, that it is.

And it, it just gives you that opportunity to, instead of just trying to force yourself to walk around the perimeter. It'll give you a, a little trail or a sidewalk to go to. Uh, we stopped the one in Memphis and it had some outside art, so we were able to walk to that art and take pictures and it had steps up to the art.

We were able to take a few steps up and so it kind of lets you get out and enjoy it a little bit longer so you can have a little bit of break, , at the welcome centers and the biggest attraction to a welcome center or a visitor center, of course, is the information right, because those people are gonna be very knowledgeable of not only their state, but also the local area.

Correct. Which is why we will be visiting so many more. I will have to say, out of all the ones, this is the most visited. Even the one that I'm about to say the welcome, the welcome center is, is the welcome center is the most visited. They always have the most cars, for sure, the most cars in it.

But they also have enough 18 wheeler parking, our trailer parking, that everyone is welcome there, right? And so I love stopping at those places 'cause their insides are open 24 hours. They may close. You know, , the informational part, they may lock it up, but the bathrooms are always open. It's always climate control.

So I really enjoy the welcome centers. And compared to some of these other ones, , they're definitely more pretty to look at. Mm-hmm. Yeah. They have the rest stop or something. Oh, I definitely prefer the welcome center. I mean, large, in part because they're climate controlled. You know, you're traveling in the summer and you need to pull over in the middle of the day.

Well, in the south, that's 110 degree temperatures that you're pulling over to take that break in. So, I mean, up north, I'm sure you're gonna get into really cold conditions in the winter if you need to pull over. So having those welcome centers that are climate controlled, it's just a no brainer. Now, this next one.

It took me by surprise. I was not ready for this. Yes. I I'm getting a big kick out of it, you know, sitting here listening to us talking. I am realizing how easily amused we are. Yes. Maybe that's why we're such good travelers, because not that we enjoy everything and we think everything's great, but we really do kind of enjoy everything because if it's different, we're enjoying it because we always see.

Things in an aspect of because it's different. That's what makes it interesting and that's what kind of makes it unique, right? So it pains my heart, but I have to give props to up north the ones that I've seen, Ohio, Pennsylvania. New York along the interstates of 80 and 90.

, Those are the main ones that I've seen. If I see anymore anywhere else, I'll make sure that I do a YouTube , if they're out there and they're as good as these, then I'll give props. But I stopped along those interstates at what is known as a service area or service plaza, and sometimes they're named a little bit different as well.

But they are absolutely amazing. You guys, whenever I was helping Jeremy find his rest, stop for the evening, , he'll be like, Hey, I'm gonna be in this town. Find me a welcome center, find me a travel stop, a truck, stop wherever it is. And I was looking and I found one of these places and I was looking through the photos on Google and I was like, this place looks like a mini mall.

, They're incredible. And the crazy thing is, is. There's not like one general setup to them. So they're all different. They're all different and they all have their different combination than I'm about to talk about. But even like the way that they're set up on the interstates are on the highways are sometimes different, but they're the same thing.

So what I mean is in, I wanna say it was in, the upper part of Missouri, whenever I was driving by and , they had one of these service areas in the middle of the interstate, so it didn't matter which direction you were going, you could pull off into it.

That's nice. That is super nice. And you don't have out like build on both sides , of the interstate, which takes up time, money, and finances and everything else. But there's other ones that. , Their main store may be on one side of the highway or the interstate, really on one side, but you can park on the other.

And then there's a walking bridge that goes over the interstate and it connects them. It connects it. Oh wow. That's so neat. So you can still get to all the, cool amenities by going over the interstate. Oh, that is neat.

And whenever I talk about the amenities. It is amazing. The ones that I stopped at had, it was pretty much a convenience store surrounded by a strip mall, surrounded by a strip mall. So, okay. So it did look like a mini mall to me. It, it was absolutely crazy. They have regular fuel tanks there. They have, truck fuel tanks as well.

Our fuel pumps. So no matter what you're driving. Even if it's a rv, you know, you're pulling your own rv or you're going through in, you know, a motor home. What about electric charging stations? Some of 'em had electric charging stations. Some of 'em they're still kind of , in between major towns, so , I don't think the electricity is there, but some of them did have charging stations.

The more north you go. Mm-hmm. Definitely that happens. So you get , your fuel, , you have your general convenience store type thing, and then you have all the cool amenities go along with it. And I'm talking full blown restaurants, mainly fast food, but they're all different.

So there's a Burger King. There's a Baskin Robbins. There's a Chick-fil-A. Okay, wait, wait. So what you're saying is they don't offer anything healthy and that's why a lot of our truckers are overweight. Absolutely. And we'll get into truck stops here in a minute, but yes, that is definitely one of those things is great for travelers.

Well, there are, I take that back. There are some that offer healthier options. Healthier options. I'm not gonna say it's healthy food because. I mean, Chick-fil-A, you can, there's healthy options. They have salads and grilled chicken. And grilled chicken, , even Panda Express, like there's some healthy options there.

You don't have to really, where I don't, I mean fried rice. Um,

and then. I mean, dunking Donuts was in this places, so you can get , your morning coffee and you know, your little sweets, and then you can, you move on and then if you want lunch, you can stop there and have lunch. And then there's dinner that you can have there. And it has a place where you can park your car if you wanna stay overnight or get a rest.

They have the truck stop area and then they have RV hookups. Nice, like full blown hookups. Not full blown, but they have the electric, so at least you can plug in, run your AC or run your heater. Take out your slides. That's nice. It does cost a little bit extra to stay there. Well, I would assume so.

Yeah. For using their, I think it's like $30 or something like that. So. It is a little on the expensive side. It's kind of steep for a parking lot, but it does allow you to stay over. They don't charge you electric or anything like that. Hey, listen, if I needed , an emergency situation or I needed a stop over and I'd be more than willing to pay 30 something dollars and I, and to ensure that I could pull out my slides and have air conditioner and my fridge could be running.

Yes. And you're open to the amenities. So Right bathrooms all night long running water. Do they, do they have showers in this place? Not that I've seen. So that's more of your truck stops? That's more of your truck stops. , It's more of a place to, Hey, come stay the night and then get onto your destination.

Okay. . And here's the other thing. It's beautiful, rounded, like they have actual landscaping and walking areas that they put awnings over. So if it's raining, you don't have to, you know. Truck across 50 feet of open parking area. , It's really well laid out and it gives their troopers a spot to stay.

They're troopers, so the state troopers of whatever state you're going through, oh, highway state troopers, they can stop. They can get a little rest. They get a little bite. They get their fuel. That's nice. They patrol it whenever, you know, during the evening time or whatever. So , it turns into like a little stop for them.

That's nice. So , it's a really great little travel hub for any type of traveler. Yes. No matter what you're doing, what you're pulling, what you need, they got it there and , you kinda gotta be on the lookout. So I passed one that was the Chick-fil-A Starbucks. And I think they had another thing in there.

I think they had some type of ice cream basket robbins or something. And I was like, Ooh, okay, so this is where it's at. Alright, I'll stop at this one on my way back thinking that, hey, the one across the highway, it's gonna be identical. It's gonna be identical. Not even close. That one was Burger King and Dunking Donuts.

Dunking Donuts, yeah. Right. Which both are, you know, within their own rights fairly good. But they're nothing like a Starbucks and Chick-fil-A, so in my opinion, we'll take it for what it's worth. , . Huge props to the north for what they are doing up there with their travel stops. With their travel stops.

They are amazing. The last thing that I do wanna talk about is truck stops. And these vary so much in like. Yeah, because there's, they're, they're massive actual truck stops that are like privately owned and stuff, and then you have like loves, which is considered a truck stop. Yes. And they're so very different.

Truck stops. , You can always tell a truck stop if there's more than three 18 wheelers there , that are like parked, that's a truck stop.

And it's because they have some type of cheap food and then most of the time they're selling some type of food affiliated with it. Whether it's a Subway, a Burger King, , your bigger truck stops are gonna have a Denny's, ihop, some type of 24 hours. Eatery. But they're also going to have a.

Truckers lounge where , they can get outta their trucks, come chill in the climate control, watch some tv, watch the watch some games. I've seen some like arcade rooms. They have arcade rooms, some of 'em have massage chairs. So they can kinda work out some of the kinks from just, you know, being cooped up in a truck.

Right. They will have the showers, they'll have large restrooms. They probably won't be the cleanest, but they have large restrooms. Mm-hmm. , Everything is usually, have you stopped at one of these? A truck Absolutely. An act actual truck stopped. Oh yeah. And it's not your preference? Not when stopping. No.

My actual preference is stopping at one of the rest stops that has , a full working bathroom because it has less traffic coming through us. I got you., The truck stops all through the night are gonna have traffic that rumbling, semi noise rumbling. , They're probably gonna have a lot of 18 wheeler spots that they can park.

And so you're gonna have a vast majority of those that are running all night to stay climate control inside, right, for the truckers. So it's a little bit more noise than what, what I would like,, I don't like having a whole lot of people around me just because I wanna try to stay as safe as possible.

And I would think it would be the opposite. The more people you have around you, the more you would feel safe. Yes, but , it's more opportunity for something to happen. Whereas if you stay at a rest stop and you're pulled up with like, three other truckers and that's all the space that they have, I've actually pulled in , where four trucks is all that , it could handle.

Mm-hmm. And so other truckers would pull up, see that's full and have to move on to the next one. So I felt a little bit more safer there because I already knew that those guys , were down for the night. Or if there was an emergency honk on the horn, you know, would wake 'em up. And , I just felt more safe because we didn't have all much traffic.

And to be clear, he's not saying that he doesn't feel safe around the truckers. Oh, absolutely not. He's saying the people that stalk their truckers, you know,, I was watching this video the other day on YouTube of people who were putting, the jacks on their wheels. Yes. What, what was it? Not the jacks.

What are they? Like the locks, the wheel locks on their wheels and then making them pay to take it off. Yeah. So, and stealing things off of their trucks, like unfortunately, depending on what area that you're in.

They know that the truckers have X, Y, and Z on , their vehicles. Mm-hmm. And so they will come and. Remove anything they possibly can and then turn around and resell it. Maybe not back at that truck stop, but they'll resell it somewhere else. And unfortunately, that's how they make their living.

Yeah. That's just sad. 'Cause a lot of your truck stops are gonna be around some type of city or town, your rest areas are gonna be more in the open. In the middle of nowhere. Right. So I feel a little safer in the middle of nowhere than inside of a city that I'm not familiar with.

That's the country boy coming out in you? It is, it is. I feel that, you know, if someone's messing with me way out there, then it's gonna be okay for me to protect myself whichever way I feel, I feel. So whatever way you feel is necessary? Yes. All right. So there are. Lots of different rest stops, rest areas, travel centers, service areas, whatever, whatever you wanna call 'em.

, You know, we've barely scratched the surface too because like I said, we haven't been out west. There are plenty of, , Northeastern states we haven't been to yet, right. Where we haven't seen what they offer. If your state has something completely different than any of the ones that we just talked about, let us know what it looks like.

, So we can look forward to visiting those. , And yes, , we're those kind of people. We look forward to visiting the welcome centers and the travel stops and just to experience something different. , That's what we love about travel is experiencing something different, especially if they're unique.

So. And around Indianapolis. They have a rest stop. It's not open yet. It's under construction, but it's all race track theme. Race, track theme. Yes. So like nascar. Oh, when is it supposed to open? , It's supposed to open in the spring of 26. Oh, so we'll get to see it. Yes. So I'm looking forward to kind of stopping in there and just look at some of the art and some of the other stuff they have up.

So if you have an interesting one like that. Let us know. And it makes it even better if there's something like world's largest ball of twin close by or something like that with the rest stop. Or some of them, like some of our areas down here in the south, , our rest areas  📍 correlate with historical markers right.

And things like that. And so we enjoy when we're stopping and getting out. We like being educated and it gives us something to do. Learning history. Yeah. We're, we're pretty easygoing people. , We just like learning things and seeing things and discovering things.

Are you the kind of person that likes to pull over an arrest area? Are you the kind of person who has never used one? Let us know your opinions on rest stops.