Rest Stops By Brenda Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Rest stops, or rest areas, are public facilities that are usually located near a high volume highway or expressway. They are built with the purpose of allowing motorists to rest on long trips, grab a bite to eat, get directions from the information booth, refuel, have a picnic and pick up brochures of the state that they are now in. Most states across the country have rest stops within the first 10 miles of their state border for tourists to visit and research information regarding the tourists attractions in the state and how to get to those spots. All of this can be done without exiting the highway and entering secondary roads that might be unfamiliar to the motorist.

Not all rest stops have public facilities, just parking spots and picnic tables. These areas are more commonly known as roadside parks or picnic areas. Here the motorist is only able to pull off the road to rest or eat food that they have brought with them since there are no buildings with food courts in them. The majority of rest areas in the country are non-commercial spots and are taken care of by each state’s Department of Transportation. For motorists traveling in unfamiliar states, they can find rest areas along the highway by looking out for the token blue signs on the side of the road. The blue signs will detail what is at each rest stop. There is a section for food, lodging, and fuel. Private businesses that want their logo and information on these signs must pay the state a specified fee to do so.

Some states, such as California, do not legally allow commercial businesses to set up shop in their rest stops. The reason for this is because there are various small towns along the highways that rely on motorists traveling that highway to patronize their business. Rest stops that are only a couple of miles within a state’s border are known as welcome centers. Welcome centers more often than not include food, restrooms, information kiosks, fuel and an area for parking. Some welcome centers also have a small museum with information pertaining to that specific state and even a small gift shop to purchase shirts or hats with state logos and names on them.

Other rest areas in the United States are service areas. Service areas more than likely have fuel and other car related services on their property. Service areas might also include food spots, restrooms and information kiosks but not all of them do. Rest stops are perfect areas for people to rest their eyes for a couple of minutes so that they do not fall asleep behind the wheel and cause a serious accident on the highway. Rest stops also allow for motorists to walk their pets, if they have any with them, and tire them out a little bit by running around before getting back into the car for the remainder of the trip. Rest stops are out there on the highways to provide just that; rest for weary motorists.

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