Pufferbelly

VA Exit 92: There are times when you must have a good cup of coffee, so head to Ashland Coffee & Tea when you need that fix. Coffee can be as fun as: pufferbelly (a toasted toffee hazelnut latte) to Celtic caboose (an Irish cream cappuccino), racehorse latte (5 shots), or a sidetrack (milkshake with espresso). Other varieties include: Southern pecan, margogype and estate coffees.

For tea lovers, there's a blend your own tea bar: chai, Japanese sencha, sunshine rooibos and more. Besides the hot drinks, there’s munchies - bagels, quesadillas, chicken chile, paninis and desserts. If that wasn’t buzzy enough, there are comfy couches to stretch out on, books to read, games to play and live music Tuesday through Saturday night and Sunday brunch. This week, brunch has gospel music, and next week it’s beach music. Trainspotters will be awestruck by the Amtrack trains whizzing by right outside the shop. 100 N. Railroad Ave., Ashland. Tel: 804-798-1702. www.ashlandcoffeeandtea.com

CT Exit 47: Willoughby's Coffee and Teas, the 25-year-old local institution, is a serious coffee shop which competes in international competitions. The huge plus here is that they roast their own coffee, so 4 freshly roasted options (along with their house blend) are offered up daily. This is out of a repertoire of about 3 dozen. The names of some of them just flow off the tongue: Burundi Yandaro Washing Station, Kenya Guama Mill Peaberry or Costa Rica San Francisco 1900 Tarrazu. They also offer coffees of special distinction which are either exotic, exceptional or scarce, and which they roast and ship only one day a week, on Tuesday. There are 2 dozen or so teas, and they come in tea bags.

Right now (May 29-September 19) they are sponsoring a show at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History called “Coffee: The World in Your Cup”. This traveling exhibition explores the influence of coffee on the environment, human culture and economies around the world, from coffee cultivation in Africa and South America to coffee culture in the US. Through artifacts, films and photographs, the exhibition tells the stories behind the coffee we drink.

They will be conducting a coffee tasting in the museum's coffee exhibition hall on Saturday, Sept. 11 from 11 am to 1 pm. Willoughby’s: New Haven (Exit 47), 258 Church St. Tel: 203-777-7400 or 194 York St. (203-789-8400); Branford (Exit 56 at roasting plant), 550 E. Main St. Tel 203-481-1700; Madison (Exit 61) 752 Boston Post Rd. Tel: 203-245-1600. www.willoughbyscoffee.com Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History Coffee Exhibition, 170 Whitney Ave. Tel: 203-432-5050. www.peabody.yale.edu

SC Exit 53 or 57: You’ll like the location of Downtown Books and Espresso, on Walterboro's main Street, where you can unwind from your drive browsing through the dozen quirky antiques and collectibles stores. This coffee/bookstore serves up what you would expect: café au lait, espresso, Americano, cappuccino, latte, mocha latte and frozen latte. Some purists would faint, but you can add flavored syrups: vanilla, hazelnut, Irish cream, amaretto, almond, cherry, coconut, raspberry, chocolate sauce (brown or white) or caramel, and they even have sugar-free ones: chocolate, caramel, hazelnut and vanilla. They can make any coffee iced, if you so desire.

They buy from a local lowcountry coffee roaster, Island Coffee, who sources his beans from small farms all over the world. The coffees are USDA, QCS certified organic. For non-coffee drinkers, the tea is Harney & Sons, and is sold hot or freshly brewed iced; there’s chai tea latte - hot or iced - or hot chocolate. You can add a sweet and you can, of course, sit and read a book (yes, they do sell Drive I-95 here). Don’t miss the used book room. 213 E. Washington St., Walterboro. Tel: 843-549-2241.

NJ to VA: Wawa's mini-mart/gas bars offer both inexpensive freshly brewed coffee and gas plus a surcharge-free ATM. Coffee is brewed using filtered water, and comes in original, dark roast, decaf, cappuccino and flavors (English toffee, hazelnut and fat-free french vanilla or apple cinnamon). You can buy the beans to go. Tea lovers can enjoy a chai tea latte. Bring your own mug in and they will refill it for the low price of $1.21 for a 12 oz size, $1.31 for 16 oz, $1.42 for 20 oz, up to $1.56 for 24 oz. (now that'll keep you awake on the road for awhile!)

Started over 100 years ago in Wawa PA, George Wood's original dairy business enjoyed a reputation for quality, superior fresh products and good customer service which continues to this day. Besides the coffee, you can add hoagies in 4 sizes, ciabatta melts, the Sizzli hot breakfast sandwich, his quality dairy products, Wawa brand juices and teas, ready-to-go salads (chicken cherry walnut or turkey BLT), fresh fruit cups and daily soups. For you all-nighters, they are open daily 24 hrs. We have 11 on our exits, from NJ to VA, and you can click HERE for a listing. www.wawa.com

In 2006, we were thrilled to find a real Starbucks at Exit 173 in Roanoke Rapids NC, the first one south of the Mason-Dixon line, but nowadays they’ve sprouted like cotton fields down there. You can grab a steaming cup to go from North to South at locations at 59 exits on I-95 including some at NJ Turnpike Service Areas. Click HERE for a listing. www.starbucks.com 

NPR is doing a six part series about Interstate 95 on their Weekend Edition. We are proud to have been asked to participate and will be interviewed on Saturday, Sept 4th. The series sounds fascinating (to us of course!). It starts this Saturday Aug 21, and runs until Sunday Sept 5th, covering the history, economic effects and future of the interstate. Details of each airing can be seen HERE on our site. Tune in and listen. www.npr.org

Be one of the first to get our new 5th Edition.

The 5th edition of Drive I-95: Exit by Exit Info, Maps, History and Trivia in book form will be here by the end of September. In this edition, which goes from the top of NH to Miami, you can chow down on a chompable “Thanksgiving dinner on a bun” in DE or watch rats play basketball in Richmond VA. You will learn that it was Dr. Samuel Preston, and not Paul Revere, who completed the famous midnight ride. You can eat lunch with an astronaut at the Kennedy Space Center or sleep overnight in a caboose in SC. Oh, the fun you can have along I-95.

You can order this new edition right now in downloadable PDF form to be used on a computer, laptop or iPad, or on our brand new adorable USB key pictured here.

Up until the delivery date of the paper book itself, we are offering the new edition for 15% off with free shipping, so hurry up and buy one for yourself and some for your family and friends - a very useful hostess or holiday gift. www.drivei95.com or 877-GUIDE95 (877-484-3395).

What's inside Drive I-95 4th Edition: Here's a FREE look