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Saturday, July 7, 2012

Florida Turnpike Renovations

The duties of my position as a district manager of south Florida require me to travel every couple of weeks, or as needed, to offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood and Miami. The turnpike is the only way to drive to these offices because I-95 is almost always a mess, especially the closer I get to Miami. My favorite place along the turnpike to get gas, take a bathroom break, buy water and gum is at the Pompano Beach rest stop. This is because it's almost half way to my Miami destination, and If I don't stop at Pompano Beach then it never fails… I get stuck in traffic on the Homestead extension, making my bladder miserable for the rest of my trip. For the longest time, this particular rest stop had been under construction because the place was old and disgusting. The bathrooms were falling apart and the floor had puddles of unknown origin everywhere. The mini mart was actually a micro mart with so many people stuffed into it, I always got claustrophobic when I was in there.

Several weeks ago the Turnpike opened up the newly renovated rest stop in Pompano, and it's like Disney World. When you walk into the place, it feels like you've walked into a dream. One of the sidewalks to the entrance is tiled so that it looks like sea glass, and the main entrance has a fancy pebble style sidewalk. Florida Turnpike Pompano, Sidewalk looks like blue sea glass. Florida Turnpike Pompano, Entry to the rest stop

The main lobby has blue and white tile throughout, a large beautiful fountain in the middle, incredibly high ceilings, flat screen TVs, a food court, large CLEAN bathrooms (at least for now) and a mini mart that is actually the size of a small grocery store with all kinds of goodies in it. Florida Turnpike Pompano, Another view of the fountain Florida Turnpike Pompano, Beautiful water fountain in the lobby. This picture was taken with my Iphone and does not do it justice.

The custodians who maintain the bathrooms even put fresh flowers in a vase near each sink. Florida Turnpike Pompano, Bathroom custodians place fresh flowers in vases next to each sink.

The best part is there is no waiting in line for gas as there are many pumps. Florida Turnpike Pompano, Many pumps at the newly renovated Pompano rest stop

I drove away today wondering to myself if one day people will drive on the turnpike just to go to this place because it's so nice. Each time I've visited, people seem to be enjoying hanging out, drinking their coffee, watching the news on one of the four 50 inch flat screens and pretty much enjoying life. Florida Turnpike Pompano, Several large flat screen TVs for patrons of the food court

The PIO for the Turnpike was just on the news the other night, and he said that our tolls were used for these renovations, and each rest stop will have a theme. The theme for Pompano Beach is water. The West Palm Beach rest stop, which is not finished yet, will be a land theme.

You may think I am odd for writing about a rest stop on the Turnpike, but they deserve some kudos for using our tolls to build something so grand. So far, I've been in there 4 times and each time it appears to have more visitors. I encourage anyone driving through the area on the Florida Turnpike to visit and enjoy the rest stops of the future.

2 comments:

  1. Too funny! I stumbled on your blog doing a little pre-trip research to visit a friend in Miami. I'll have to tell him to add this rest stop to any sightseeing plans! :)

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  2. He'll like it. It's a relaxing atmosphere and a great place to enjoy a cup of coffee :-) Thanks for reading "I Strongly Believe!"

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