Amy Freedman, wtop.com
WASHINGTON — Some folks like to sing in the shower. For me, it’s the car — especially on the open road.
I get the music going and joyfully sing at the top of my lungs, sometimes even misssing an exit because of my utter absorption in the moment.
This year, my holiday road trip was to East Quogue, New York, a lovely little town in eastern Long Island. Normally, I make my trek before Christmas. But this year, I drove the day after thinking it would be a breeze. To my surprise and frustration, the traffic was terrible almost the entire ride.
It began north of Baltimore on I-95. There’s quite an extensive construction zone as you get onto 95 from 895, but no one was out working. Still, traffic was absolutely jammed and after awhile I could tell that it was sheer volume and not an incident, as we would stop and go for no apparent reason.
By the time I reached the usual trouble spot at the Delaware border, we were back up to speed and the new full speed EZ Pass lanes made a huge difference, at least that’s one old bottleneck gone.
Next came the New Jersey Turnpike, where you do have the option of 295 for part of the ride. I decided to chance the turnpike as it does feel more direct to me. Things were fine until around Exit 6. At that point, it appears they are widening the road and again, while no one was actually out working, traffic was absolutely jammed.
I sat still, idling, with visions of reaching my destination in daylight quickly fading. After all, I still had to face the Staten Island Expressway and the Belt Parkway — roads known to be jammed even when it’s not the day after Christmas.
Long drive story short, I reached my destination which is all that really matters. Yes, it’s normally a five and a half hour ride and it took around eight hours. The good news is that there were actually no incidents the entire way, just volume, and a lot of folks — including me — getting great practice singing the blues.
I hope your holiday was happy and safe. Remember to be patient and courteous out there and if you’re stuck in traffic, sing at the top of your voice, it just might help.
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