The Low-Screen Road Trip Part 3: Where to Stop

Not all stops are created equal.

Today’s post is short and sweet! (Which is maybe welcome after last week’s encyclopedia 😉)

Early on in our road trip history with kids, we realized how important it was to plan for not just the time in the car, but the stops along the way. The humble roadside stop can do so much: it can add delight to a tedious day, it can get the wiggles out, and it can refresh attitudes throughout the car (parents very much included). It can give what could feel like a grueling day on the road a sense of lightness, leisure, adventure, and ease. And, when novelty’s at play, these brief stops can create remarkably-strong memories. A short list:

The enormous wooden playground at the edge of a ball field, nestled in an azalea-filled Pinehurst neighborhood.

The lush green around a monument at the end of a cornfield in Ohio.

The lighthouse park, surrounded by the bay, in Maryland.

The Italianate estate (with playground!) in Connecticut. The playground on a river, also in Connecticut.

The neighborhood pond in Alabama where June lost her first tooth.

To be sure, we sometimes settle for the briefest of fast-food grabs along the highway. There’s a time and a place for that. But, whenever we can, we like to do something a little different. Because we are asking a lot of our kids (or, at least, more than we’d be asking if they were just watching movies for hours on end), we like to think of fun stops as a reward.¹

Our ideal road trip stop combines a quick, yummy meal (yes, often fast food!) and a scenic location. It sounds simple, but it can be tricky to pull off.

Luckily, our family has John. He is the absolute master at finding little scenic spots, and today, I asked him to share exactly how he does it…

Hello, TCF readers! Don’t worry — you’ve got this.

The first step is to find your food. For our family, that’s often Chick-fil-a, because it’s delicious, friendly, and clean. We usually order ahead through their app. While Emily and the kids run inside to pick up the food and use the restroom, I pull out my phone.

I pull up Google Maps and find our current location. Then, I zoom out a bit and look for green areas on the map, which usually indicate parks, nature preserves, or general green spaces. Playgrounds will often be marked on the map, too. In a pinch, a school can work on the weekends (just search “school”).

When I see something that looks promising, I click into the location, look at a few photos, and scan a few reviews to check things out. Google Maps makes this very easy, as everything’s all in the one app.

If I like what I see, I plug in directions from our location to the park/playground/green space. Ideally, I’m looking for no more than 10 minutes away from the food (five is even better), easy to get on and off the highway, and towards our destination so we’re not backtracking. If the directions don’t check out, I’ll return to scanning green spaces.

Once we’ve made our choice, I might switch to satellite view and zoom in to see details. This can be helpful if it’s a larger park and we’re trying to find picnic tables, a playground, or a scenic view I saw in the review photos.

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There you have it! Though simple, I hope these somewhat out-of-the-way stops communicate something to our kids: we enjoy the journey. We try not to rush. We seek out beauty and novelty. And there’s goodness to be found wherever we go.

Go forth and picnic, friends!

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1. And when they’re really young, and don’t understand why they’re in a carseat for so long, a stop where they can roll or crawl is far preferable to still more sitting.