In a few days, Erica and I are planning on heading up I-95 for a long weekend down the Shore. Since we are generally trying to eat healthier than we did when we were younger, we’ll forgo stopping at McDonald’s in favor of something like Sheetz or Wawa for a roast beast sammich. Since I was so brand-loyal to McDonald’s (particularly the one on Route 896 in Newark, Del. and to a lesser extent the NJ 49 one just after the Delaware Memorial Bridge), I don’t know my other choices along I-95 too well.
Originally this post was going to be about how places that cater to travelers (gas stations, hotels, fast food, etc.) should let you find locations by entering your driving directions on their Web sites. I have been wondering for years why this wasn’t commonplace, since it seemed so obvious.
It turns out that Sheetz has added this feature to their Web site since the last time I looked. Now that is usability! McDonald’s has it too even though it is kind of unnecessary since they are so ubiquitous. Wawa doesn’t, though, and that hurts their chances of getting my business on this trip.
I’d like to take this feature a step further though. You ought to be able to refine your search to look for locations based on the the highway. I’d like to be able to punch in “I-95 + MD + DE” and get all the locations near the highway in those states.
It turns out there is only one Sheetz between here and my destination; not terribly surprising since Sheetz is mostly limited to rural areas, and I-95 between DC and Boston rarely meets that description. There are 63 McDonald’s along their recommended route; I’m not sure how many are on my actual route though.
