"From horseback to stagecoach, and into the front seat of the family station wagon, Dianne Perrier takes readers on a wonderful journey along the trails, plank roads, and macadamized routes of
yesteryear---laying the historical foundation for the 1-95 super slab of present day."---Michael Karl Witzel, author of Barbecue Road Trip: Recipes, Restaurants, & Pitmasters from America's
Great Barbecue Regions
Along the East Coast from Maine's Canadian border almost all the way to the Florida Keys, Interstate 95 traverses fifteen states, plus the District of Columbia, and links the cities of Boston,
New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Miami. At more than 1,900 miles, it's one of the longest and most heavily traveled roads in the
country.
For both snowbirds and spring-breakers, 1-95 is an escape route to sand and sunshine. Travelers may complain about heavy traffic, poor road conditions, and delays, but as Dianne Perrier points
out in this fascinating cultural history of the 1-95 corridor, such has always been the case.
This major highway has deep roots in the transportation history of the United States. Native peoples were the first beachgoers to carve paths that would eventually become part of the East
Coast's road to sun and sand. Interstate 95 knits together the stories of those individuals from other eras who traveled the future 1-95 corridor for the sheer pleasure of feeling the warming
sun on their skin and sand between their toes---who recorded their tales before time and memory blurred the details.
The pace of travel---and life---is faster now. Perrier tells us of the profound and mundane events that took place along the corridor, and recounts the technological travel advances from foot
to horse to railroad to automobile. In doing so, she reminds us of the joy in traveling, and that each exit consists of more than a name on a green highway sign.
