I-95 Alert! - Chesapeake House and Maryland House Closures

[diz_girl]

Hi there!

For any travelers that drive via I-95 through Maryland, you need to be aware that starting September 15th, the Chesapeake House and Maryland House rest areas began undergoing renovations that will last a long time.

The Maryland House rest area (at mile marker 82) will be closed entirely until their renovations are complete in 2014. The buildings will be razed and new buildings will be put up in exactly the same places where the old buildings stood.

The Chesapeake House rest area (at mile marker 97) will be undergoing renovations to the restaurant area, leaving limited dining options, but the gas stations should still be fully open. The local paper said that there will still be a Nathan's, Freshens, Dunkin' Donuts, and a Cinnabon operating during the closures. However, the signs leading to the rest area don't show any restaurants but gas only, so I don't know if the restaurants are really open. Apparently once the Maryland House completes its renovations, then Chesapeake House will close entirely to complete its renovation.

For those who don't know about these rest stops, Maryland House is the busiest rest stop in the country and Chesapeake House is in the top 5, so these closures will affect a lot of people, including many Intercotees. I actually have fond memories growing up of stopping for a buffet breakfast at Maryland House to start our drive down to WDW.

So, if you will need to stop between Philly and DC, sometime in the next two years, here are some of your options (from North to South):

- Before Exit 4, I don't know much about the area, other than Essington has limited options and AVOID Chester, but Claymont, DE and the mall there (just off the hwy) should have options. Hopefully someone else will come along with suggestions.

- Delaware - Exit 4 (Christiana)- there's a lot of road construction, so you may want to avoid it. However, if you're traveling south, you can take exit 4B, and you exit onto Churchman's Road, which has places to eat, such as Olive Garden and some Moose place. Exit 4B is closed from the south. Exit 4A takes you to the mall, and is accessed from both north and south, but it's tricky getting to/from it.

- Delaware - Exit 3A (route 273 South) Newark - This has a Bob Evans and a few other places to eat, plus some gas stations, hotels and stores. It's pretty quick to get on/off the highway to get to these locations.

- Delaware House - this is between exits 1 and 3 in Delaware. They just had closures at night for a few weeks (which is odd because the thing is brand new), but it's completely open now. It's a spacious, well-lit rest stop, with many dining options.

- Delaware - Exit 1B (route 896) Newark - they have a couple of restaurants, including a Friday's about 3 (quick) lights down that's next to a couple of hotels. There's also a good restaurant called Matilda's (2nd light), an Australian BBQ place that has fantastic macaroni and cheese. One caveat, the one time we sat down to eat there the service was SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWW. Yes, it has kangaroo, so avoid anything that has the name jumpin' or roo on the menu. Another quick on/off of the highway.

- Maryland - Exit 109B (Route 279N) Newark -
Not much immediately next to the highway, but there's a Wawa two lights down, then another couple of lights there is a shopping center called Suburban Plaza that has a few places to eat, such as Applebee's, the Blue Crab Grille (good but not cheap), a chinese restaurant, and Amalfi, which has really good NY style pizza (they're from Naples). Most of the area is devoid of good pizza, but Amalfi's is good. There is also a BBQ place caled Durham's across the street from Wawa, but there's no inside seating and they're closed on Sundays. If you make a left at the Wawa, there's a tiny place called Daddy O's at the first blinking light about a mile down the road. Great food, I highly recommend it, but it's also closed on Sundays.

- Maryland - Exit 109A (Route 279S) Elkton -
Cracker Barrel, Waffle House, fast food, gas station, that's it. Other than the Cracker Barrel, there's not much to recommend here.

- Maryland - Exits 100, 93 and 89, not much to speak of close to the highway.

- Maryland - Exit 85 (Route 22E) - Aberdeen - plenty of places to eat. There's a Panera Bread, an Applebee's and a Bob Evans. The Olive Tree is meh. I've heard that Mamie's (a tiny restaurant in the Home Depot shopping center) is good, but they serve huge portions, so consider sharing.

Maryland - Exit 80 (Route 543) - Churchville - Cracker Barrel, Ruby Tuesday's. You should be fine here.

Maryland - Exit 77 (Route 24) - there's more stuff here, but I'm unfamiliar with it.

One you start to get south of here and into Baltimore and other locations South, until DC, an exit may lead to limited access highways (like at Whitemarsh) or the gas stations or restaurants listed are 5-10 miles down the road (like at Laurel). This is especially so south of Baltimore. Once you get off the beltway south of DC, you've got Springfield and tons of stuff there.

You can also try i95exitguide dot com. They have listings of what is at the exits, but they also have recommended exits.

Good luck.

[faline]

Thanks for the updates. I haven't driven that route in quite some time but those are both rest stops that I have used when I did drive it.

[Brer_Fox]

Its about time they did something with the Maryland House.

[DonLefNY]

Thanks, I'll be driving south through there in 12 days.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Thanks for the information... I'm not driving down any time soon, but I am very familiar with both Maryland House and Chesapeake House... When I do make my drive down, my first stop is always Chesapeake House... I'll get out, stretch my legs, use the rest room (though I hate public rest rooms), grab a bottle of water, check out the gift shop, maybe even buy an Iced Tea from one of the food stands...

[barnaby]

- Before Exit 4, I don't know much about the area, other than Essington has limited options and AVOID Chester, but Claymont, DE and the mall there (just off the hwy) should have options. Hopefully someone else will come along with suggestions.

Slim pickens in that area.
I grew up in near there (Marcus Hook) and would avoid the mall.
There is a McDonalds and Subway as well as a gas station at Exit 2 (Rt 452). If you head up 452 (if coming south 95, stay right at the exit), there is a Pizza Hut a few miles up.
At exit 1 (Chichester Ave), there are only gas stations. If you head up Chi Ave a few miles, there is a Wendys.
But overall I would keep heading south or if coming north, hit the other areas you suggested.