Thursday, December 03, 2009

Five Tolls I Will Pay To Get to Maine Today

Hi. I have a cold. Yesterday I decided to stay off the road and sleep, with the help of my friends at Nyquil. Today my head is still full of goo, and I'm croaking like a frog, but I feel better, and will get back on the road to Maine in about an hour.

Driving from Maine to Washington, DC and back is not always the cheapest option, depending on what kind of deals you can get on planes or buses. I do it so that Dizzy can travel with me, and also because I usually need a car wherever I'm going. But using the Northeast Corridor means paying for the privilege; these are the tolls I'll pay today.

1. The New Jersey Turnpike to the Garden State Parkway, $1.60. There are at least three different ways to go through or around New York City, but today I'll be taking the Garden State Parkway to the Tappan Zee. It's prettier.

2. The Garden State Parkway to the Tappan Zee, approximately $2.50. The Garden State Parkway has toll booths at regular intervals, and collection points seem to change every time I make this trip. (I'm sure that's not true, but I can never remember where the toll booths are.)

3. The Tappan Zee Bridge, $5.00. You only pay the toll on the Tappan Zee in one direction, but it happens to be the direction I'm driving today.

4. The Massachusetts Turnpike, $1.50. I'm not on the Mass Pike for very long.

5. Blue Star Turnpike, New Hampshire, $2.00. You pay to get into New Hampshire, and then you pay to get into Maine.

Maine has tolls, too; I'll pay another $3.00 between York and Portland, but as you know, these lists only go to 5. I have to pick up some things for a client in Portsmouth, and drop something off in Portland, but with luck, I'll be home tonight in time for dinner.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You're not paying to get into Maine. You're paying to escape New Hampshire.

-- Ed