Bitchin’ Thoughts On Loves, Gas And The Unreliability Of Sheetz..

~ the britchy one

I left North Carolina sadly yesterday morning to begin the drive home. I’ve decided North is NOT my favorite direction and it probably never will be! I’m amazed and horrified at the difference in gas prices. From over $3 a gallon where I live in NY to $2.45 in North Carolina and $2.40 in Georgia/South Carolina. I expect it to be higher on the interstate but these were local prices!

Incidentally if anyone is planning a drive along i95 through Virginia and North Carolina, the cheapest gas in either state is always at the Skippers exit which is the last/first in Virginia depending on whether you’re heading North or South. It’s four miles up from the VA /NC state line and there’s a Loves!

So far this year I’ve driven from NY to NC eight times. I’ve driven to New Jersey and back once. Maryland and back once and Georgia and back once. I’ve also driven to Toronto and back twice, The Adirondacks etc – but for the purposes of this story that doesn’t count!

Loves are one of my favorite places to stop on journeys. They have very reasonable prices on everything and the bathrooms are unfailingly immaculate. I will try as far as possible to make all of my stops at Loves because they’re so consistent. The staff are attentive and polite and it’s always a smooth trip. I love their soda machines too! I am an ice cube connoisseur. I know it’s a bad habit but I’m a shocking ice cube cruncher and they have those little balls of ice. I’ve got to tell you, when I win the lottery I’m having one of those machines!! It’s the little things!

Then there’s Sheetz. As the saying goes, there’s nothing as underestimated as a good Sheetz.. or something like that. Sheetz are way more expensive than Loves so that’s a big ol downside for a start. Some are great and have a big selection of drinks etc but more aren’t in my experience. The bathrooms aren’t attended so well and everything is pricy. They never have enough staff so it’s always a long wait to be served which when you just want to get your journey done and dusted is a big no no. I only stop at these out of desperation now because I’m fed up of the sloppiness.

The stops we have to make are potentially one of the most pleasant or stressful parts of any journey. They can either have you setting off driving again feeling great or pissed off. A snarky driver heading into busy traffic is not a good thing so I can’t overstate how valuable a great service station is. I’d recommend Loves to anyone travelling as I’ve never had a bad experience with one.

Published by the britchy one

A PROUD American Citizen who was born and bred in England and now resides in the US. I’m married to an American who really didn’t have a clue what he was letting himself in for - poor sod! I’m a cranky bitch who loves cats and books and hates chocolate, politics and Dave’s. Oh and mosquitos. I hate those blood sucking parasites but since I’ve already mentioned politics I’m repeating myself! I’m a short, skinny redhead, 3 kids, 2 dogs, not enough cats and a mouth with a death wish. Blood group - certifiable.

56 thoughts on “Bitchin’ Thoughts On Loves, Gas And The Unreliability Of Sheetz..”

  5. We have way too many Sheetz in NC. Good to know about their prices & condition. I’ve checked into possible employment. Oh, no. They are a minimum wage monster. I couldn’t find a decent job with decent pay.

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      2. They’ll have to pry my Gigungus cup from my cold dead hand – rat bastards! The only reason I don’t buy the big bladder busters is because my hands are too small to hold them. I buy the biggest ones I can manage. As soon as I find a place selling 3ft straws I’ll be putting Coke Zero growlers in the cup holder 😂

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  8. There’s a Sheetz right across the road from my place of business, but it’s always very clean, and the staff is nice, and it’s ones of the places in town. I have been to some terrible Sheetz though, so you are not wrong! I love Love’s!!

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    1. I have been to a couple of brilliant Sheetz. The first one I ever went to was in PA and I thought it was amazing.. but it was the exception in my experience not the rule. I’m absolutely sure there are more that are better but sadly they’re not on the routes I’ve taken so far!

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  12. hope you had a lovely trip, unfortunately we don’t have these places over the in the UK, we just have lovely service stations along the motorways, although I am saying lovely I am being sarcastic as some are awful but they are starting to make them a lot nicer but very pricey and as you can’t go anywhere else you have to pay these prices… when you are in these service stations the petrol prices are astronomical and again you have no other choice but to pay it, they are at least 9p per litre more than back in town, I don’t know why they do it, shouldn’t be allowed as they are all the same companies

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    1. I agree!! It’s actually a lot better here as there are more “rest areas” with toilets, vending machines and areas to walk dogs, picnic etc. There are a lot of places where you can stop to text too. You’ll see signs saying next text stop 5 miles for instance. Hopefully it keeps idiots off their phones while driving!
      The road network infrastructure here is one of the things that’s just excellent. Before every exit on the interstate there are about three signposts all spaces well so you can clearly see what info you want. There will be one for food available at that exit, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Chili’s for example. Then there will be one with hotels/motels/campsites and one for what gas stations are available and if they have diesel which is useful for truckers. These are all green and there are often brown signs too for places of interest. It makes life so much easier!

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  13. Loves are quite excellent. If you’re in the Midwest, QT (QuikTrip) is an excellent choice, as is Casey’s. They’re pretty good in all areas, though QT’s coffee is the best coffee you can buy ready-made from anywhere. I don’t have much experience with Sheetz though, to be honest. The only experience I’ve had is when I was broke down outside one with twenty other teenagers and they graciously let us pass out on the ground outside their gas station without hassling us. I was deliriously tired for the majority of that venture though, so I can’t recall anything about them except the outside power outlets didn’t work, and the grass was fairly soft. So, looks like I’ll have to take your word on that one 🙂

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  14. I have never heard of either of these…but how on earth did someone think Sheetz would be a good name for a business!? They must have given no Sheetz! 😉

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  16. I thought I had it bad growing up! Sheetz is the family name, it appears. I bet they’re not happy to be on your bad side. Speaking of gas prices, I live near Houston and have noticed it gets continuously higher the farther you drive from the Gulf. Was in Washington state 2 weeks ago and it was over $3 in some places. Thanks for the informative post!

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    1. I can understand if it’s higher in remote regions or places like Alaska and Hawaii because of transportation. For the most part though it’s higher in greedy states like NY where you’re taxed to the hilt on everything

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  19. I live in southern PA, and we have 5 or so Sheetz in our town. The name is a last name of the brothers/family who started it. We definitely have some clean and wonderful Sheetz, but there are some dreadful ones too.

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