PA Welcome Center

If you’re a brochure rack whore (I know you’re out there because I’m one and there must be more than just me because even though we’re supposedly living in the digital age when it comes to travel destinations/​attractions paper is still king as this rest stop will attest to) this is heaven. Rack after rack, row after row, aisle after aisle with every A-​List spot down to total irrelevant crap hole places set up east to west region by region from the Pocono Mountains to Pittsburgh and its Countryside.
It’s truly almost too much to take (brief tear of joy)!
I picked up things for places that I was intrigued about to places I had never heard of down to a few… just because I wanted to see my recycling bin a little more full this week.
Now while this is a nice looking facility there were/​are a few less than desirable elements:
* The vending machines are overpriced and the selections are a bit thin. I saw better things on this trip offered at rest stops in Delaware and Virginia by a long shot.
* The bathrooms were not the cleanest which was shocking as the place was mostly deserted on a Thursday in mid-​afternoon. The men’s room is set up with two sides each with around a dozen sinks, a ton of urinals and maybe a dozen stalls so it can handle a hell of a crowd. All nice except for when there is water all over the sink counters and every single soap dispenser of the left side (I checked every sink) is empty.
* While only redesigned a little over four years ago the layout is still poor regarding the size of the merging lanes to get into this place and to exit in particular. Short ramps which don’t do anyone any favors when the traffic is moving THAT fast unless you can conjure up a K.I.T.T style Super Pursuit mode speed boost lest you nearly get rear ended.
Overall this rest stop is decent enough in that it looks good, it offers a crap load of brochures and I can’t imagine that you’ll ever wait for a bathroom stall. Past that, what else really matters for a place like this?

For 26 years this was an occasional stop on my work commute home from Delaware. Then it was rebuilt a couple years ago into a very nice facility.
— Fenced in Pet area.
— nice comfortable picnic tables under cover of a metal roof and beautiful fieldstone pillars.
— Separate area for cars and trucks.
Nice because these hardworking over the road truckers may need a place to catch a nap.
— clean bathrooms.
— Plethora of local and on the road travel items. And I stress this part because i found out about one of my favorite places almost literally in my backyard that i never knew about from stopping here one night.
Now i visit this local museum from having discovered it in a pamphlet inside this rest stop.
Step inside your local rest stop and discover local gems !

Free wifi at this rest area as you cross over into Pennsylvania from Delaware on I-​95. A little curvy, as far as the entrance but there is plenty of room and good parking. Inside, the bathrooms are clean and there are (expensive) vending machines.
It’s a nice spot to stop, especially if you’re going to try and make your pay through the Philadelphia-​New York traffic nightmare.

A blast up the Eastern Shore of VA/​MD/​DE. Basically, a drive through the land that Time Forgot. If you want to know what happened to Tyrannosaurus Rex and TDK Cassette Tapes, take a drive up Highway 13 and stop off at any of the local shops along the way and it will all come together for you.
When you hit this rest stop in PA, it means that you have jumped back into Reality World. So if nothing else, you need to pull over so that you can mentality catch up to the 35 years that you have just advanced.
What is it you are looking for in a rest stop? A place to fulfill bodily functions? Yep, you can do that here (within reason, that is). Maybe get something liquid to replenish? Yep. You might need correct change though. Look at a map to see how hopelessly lost you are? Again, you can do that here.
When all of this excitement is over, you have about 25 feet of merge lane before you are back up to speed on I95 (which is about 87 MPH in this stretch). So, enjoy while you can, Reality World comes a’calling with cruel klaxons.

Compared to other welcome centers, this one comes up quick and is small enough that you might miss it. Plan ahead when you first see the signs.

This is a great rest stop along 95. Clean bathrooms, some vending machines for that carb/​fat filled pick me up. They could benefit from some fast food and/​or gasoline but it’s a welcome center with tourist information about that state so maybe I am expecting too much.