Cruising Guide to the I-10

For the past two years Jan and I have been commuting to the White Pepper from Beeville, TX to Jacksonville, FL—a trip of 1150 miles. Most of this trip is along the I -10 interstate highway. The I-10 starts in Jacksonville and ends in San Diego. I will describe only the part between Houston and Jacksonville.

East Bound

Easily the trickiest part of the trip is entering the I-10E from US 59 N at Houston. There is a spot in Houston near the George C. Brown Convention Center and Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros) in southeastern Houston where I-10, I-45, US 59 also known as the South West Freeway, and US280 known as the Lake Jackson Express all collide. I believe that not another square yard of concrete could be poured into the tangled mess. Proceeding N along US 59 precise lane discipline is required. There is a two lane forced left toward downtown, then a forced left to I-45 requiring a sharp move to the right-- but not to far as there is soon a forced right onto US 280. Finally about a mile and half past Minute Maid Park the big moment arrives—the exit to I-10. It is a typical interstate exit with two lanes to the right. One is forced and the other is a gentle divide. Here is the trick! The lane to I-10 E to Jacksonville is on the left and the lane to I-10 W is on the right which is exactly the opposite of what you expect. Even worse the divider comes up about 3 seconds after the exit. The arrangement is so counter intuitive that I missed it the first two times and even now find it unnerving. But after that it is smooth sailing across the top of Galveston Bay and the piedmont of southeastern Texas. One suggested excursion is a diversion to San Jacinto monument. The drive is surprisingly rural for being so close to a major city and includes a neat ferry ride.

Just over the Texas Louisiana border the tourist information stop is not to be missed. There is a nice park for a picnic lunch and walk, good chicory coffee and an elevated walk into the nearby swamp. The roadway between here and Lafayette is the best along the whole route. It is smooth, wide and a distinct contrast to the usually rickety infrastructure of Louisiana. We always try to time the stop at Lafayette to come around lunch or dinner time as Cajun cuisine is supreme here. There are big box restaurants off the interstate and fine dining in town, but our favorite is Fezzo's. This a local hangout just off of exit 97. The gumbo is old fashioned and authentic. We also pick up a canister of Fezzo's own spice blend.

Just past Lafayette is the 32 mile elevated causeway over the Achafalaya River basin. This area was once and will again someday be the route of the Mississippi River. For now it is a amazing ride over one of America's natural wonders. Be sure to check out the tourist information stop in the center of the area although this stop seems to work better on the west bound trip.

Soon after the Achafalaya is the Mississippi River and the Huey P. Long bridge. This bridge is a bitch with a narrow and steep roadway. There is a forced left exit to I-110 just at the bottom on the eastern side which keeps the traffic all stacked up on the right lanes. One of the benefits of stop and go on the bridge is having more time to look out over the river. Off to the south one can see Tiger Stadium and the taller buildings of the LSU campus. Just past the bridge we take a short cut to I-12 as I-10 goes on south to New Orleans. I-12 goes across the top of Lake Pontchartrain through an area that the locals call Northside. This is an area of considerable wealth and is not the poor Louisiana that I remember from my high school days in the state. Hurricane Katrina and the retreat from New Orleans has empowered Baton Rouge and all of Northside remarkably. Just past Baton Rouge is Denton and the number 10 exit makes for a nice anchorage. There are numerous inns and restaurants. Best of all there is a Bass Pro Shop to visit.

If we are really hustling along we travel on the Slidell or as far as Gulfport. Mississippi. Exit 34 is loaded with good stops and we can especially recommend the Best Western for the amenities and fully loaded breakfast buffet. If you have the energy after a long day, it is only a few miles to the beach and a hopping entertainment district along US 90. People of a certain vintage remember US 90 as the “beach road” to Florida. Now it is a scenic byway and would require a whole 'nother post.

Up early in the morning the little stubs of Mississippi and Alabama just fly by. Mobile is interesting with a long sweep of drive between the city and the waterfront, followed by a tunnel under harbor and drive past the USS Alabama and then several miles across sparkling Mobile Bay. We never stop however.

After Pensacola and the lovely Escambria Bay starts the interminable drive of 400 miles across the panhandle of Florida. I-10 was carved out of the woods of what probably should be southern Georgia with endless red dirt and second growth pine. It is just a long corridor of green. I think that even West Texas is more interesting, but Jan prefers Florida. To be fair the DOT of Florida takes great care here. There are call boxes every mile and a good rest stop about every 30 to 60 miles. We have to make frequent use of these and frequent driver changes to prevent falling asleep. If we can not quite make it to Jacksonville or Green Cove Springs, we stop at Tallahassee or Charles City.

Finally we arrive at Jacksonville and immense confusion as I-10 collides with I-95 which is probably the busiest highway in America. Thanks goodness for Nu-vi and Garmin. She can even call the lane changes. Our business takes us south from here on US 17 along the western shore of the St. Johns River and a quiet end to a long journey.

Westbound

The west bound trip on I-10 is of course much the same as east bound with a few wrinkles. We get the panhandle earlier in the day and can use coffee to help stay awake. Also it seems easier to appreciate the many rivers of northern Florida including the Swanee and the Chattahoochee. Every one knows about the Swanee in song , but do you remember that the Chattahoochee was the river where Billie Jo MacAllister threw something off the bridge? I-10 makes contact with the ICW in several spots. Although White Pepper has never traveled these waters many of our friends have, and we imagine how they meander ed along under I-10 and US 90.

There is another Bass Pro Shop on the right just at the Florida Alabama border and just before Mobile Bay. It can be a good lunch stop. Usually however we opt for one of the many Subways. They are fast, cheap, healthy and are not so filling as to cause sleepiness on the afternoon drive.

Once again Alabama and Mississippi just fly by. You can count the miles by all of the billboard ads for the casinos. Once in Alabama I saw a billboard for Buckey's 880 miles ahead. It was complete with Buckey the buck tooth beaver. For readers not from South Texas Buckey's is a truck stop in Wharton Texas which advertises all up and down US 59. I never saw it again. Worth waiting for is spectacular vista of wet lands as we cross the Old Pearl River into Louisiana. For some reason it seems prettier looking west rather than east. The first rest stop in Louisiana is worth a visit. It is large and inviting for long walks and has free coffee. I always try to sign in there. This is voluntary of course, but the more that sign in the better the funding.

Baton Rouge again makes for a nice overnight stop with plenty of dining options. On a really good day of driving we can get all the way to Lafayette. One caution at this point is always gas up in Baton Rouge. There are few gas stations between the Mississippi and the Achafalaya Causeway. On the causeway there is no gas and no stopping. Once again the Achafalaya tourist center makes a nice day stop.

Back in Texas there is famous roadway sign that shows 887 miles to El Paso. Very close by is the Texas tourist information center. I think that this is the Texas DOT's best effort in the area. It has decent facilities, but no coffee. There is a nice elevated walkway out over the Sabine Lake wetlands.

Driving west across Texas is straightforward and requires little comment. I will close with the observation that the exit off I-10 onto US 59 S is easy and completely different than the maneuver described in the first paragraph of this post. There is a well marked gentle left exit and easy drive even in rush hour traffic. There is only one lane change required and that is near the I-610 intersection. The 30 year construction project on the South West Freeway is over and it is usually smooth sailing back to Beeville with maybe a stop at Buckey's in Wharton.