New York City we are not.

[EricKei]

Right. It's rural Louisiana that's dangerous!

"This place is cursed! And, yes, your master is the Devil!"

[Jester]

On the lack of preparation, I have a trip in a couple weeks that will have me staying in downtown Miami. Hardly a desolate region. That being said, for said trip, my friend and I had an option of staying at the hotel that is hosting our seminar or finding another alternative.

The host hotel was offering our group special rates, but even at those special rates, it was Not Cheap. Certainly more affordable than a lot of surrounding hotels, but still not exactly thrifty. My friend looked online to see if he could find a better option, and told me that everything else was either more expensive or had such bad reviews he wouldn't stay in them. I told him I'd take a look. And after a bit of research, I did find a better alternative. And it met all of our criteria: It's cheaper than the host hotel, it has cheaper on-site parking than the host hotel, it's nice (with a better average rating than the host hotel!), it's very close (walking distance) to many bars and restaurants, and it will enable us to get to the seminar quickly, as it is just a short walk to a light rail system that also has a stop right by the host hotel, and is just a mile from the host hotel, so it won't take us long to get from one to the other.

My point is that I actually planned this trip out with all of our criteria in mind, even though we'll be staying in the heart of a major metropolis. Why? Because I'm lazy, I like to drink, I like to eat, and I'm not a dumb bunny SC that can't plan ahead!

vampires don't get you if you walk around after dark in rural PA....

Right. It's rural Louisiana that's dangerous!

How do you end up in a rural area that you aren't familiar with without some form of transportation?

I can think of several possibilities that would actually (please forgive me) defend the SC in this case:

--They were drunk or otherwise under the influence, and were being responsible by not driving.
--They were very fatigued from driving, and were being responsible by not driving.
--They were with someone who had driven, who was at that time asleep.
--They were there because their car had broken down, and it was in the shop.

I am sure there are a few other potential scenarios, though in the end, they probably were just complete jackholes.

It does seem a bit odd to have a hotel surrounded by nothing but trees for twelve miles in every direction.

Odd to your ears, but certainly not unheard of. See below.

But nonetheless . . . unless you're in the middle of the Sahara Desert, there's going to be something not too far away that's open.

Not at all always true. Even if we limit ourselves to the United States, there are tons of places where you might be at a hotel that is nowhere near anything else, or you might break down in an equally desolate area. Just from my personal travels: the Everglades in Florida, rural Arizona (of which there's plenty), West Texas (of which there's even more), southeastern California (home to Death Valley, but even beyond DV there's plenty of nothingness out there), much of Montana, Wyoming, or any other square Western State, the Pine Barrens in New Jersey (the West doesn't have a lock on remote locations), apparently rural Pennsylvania (judging from the OP), rural Ohio, and northern Florida, to name just a few. I am quite sure there are many, many more such areas.

...a fairly high Blood Garlic Content >_>

Duh! NOW I know why vampires have never bothered me!

[sms001]

In my experience, the gas stations in PA often have incredible food.

Isn't Pennsylvania home to pepperoni rolls?

[EricKei]

There's a reason vampires don't get you in the dark.

I just figured that, given the local diet, most of the folks who live around here have a fairly high Blood Garlic Content >_>

[telecom_goddess]

There's a reason vampires don't get you in the dark.

There's a secret society of us who protect people

Just the good ones, though.

I have no worries in that area I'm already being protected by a vampire

[Geek King]

Hell, even if you ARE going to a big city, always at least take some dried fruit or beef jerky, or the like. You never know when there might be a service outage that might make getting food difficult for a couple of days. Plus, you don't have to get snacks unless you want too.

[Gaki]

In my experience, the gas stations in PA often have incredible food. Their delis are practically unmatched. Although I suppose that's if you're near a super store but usually those are located right near hotels so I can't imagine it wasn't one. They have delicious food! I've even found gas stations in PA that serve chicken and waffles! Talk about Pennsylvania goodness!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

There's a reason vampires don't get you in the dark.

There's a secret society of us who protect people

Just the good ones, though.

Here I though it was because vampires don't want to risk indigestion from drinking the blood of SC's.

Lack of planning on one's part is not an emergency on another's part.

Preaching to the choir, I know. But nonetheless . . . unless you're in the middle of the Sahara Desert, there's going to be something not too far away that's open.

[PepperElf]

Say it with me folks:

A lack of planning...

SC

Actually I was thinking more along the lines of...

"Yep I guess you are."

[protege]

heck, I'm in pretty bad physical shape and have flat feet so bad the Army would probably reject me, but when my car went into the shop for repairs leaving me a pedestrian for the day, I managed the 17 mile round-trip walk to work and back without dying.... or even getting sore.

I hear ya. When my grandmother still had her farm, quite a few people walked the back roads. Either they didn't have/couldn't afford a vehicle, or simply enjoyed walking. Anyway, one old lady took the cake. She had to be about 90...yet I'd see her 10-15 miles away from the nearest town. We're talking areas that nothing--fields, abandoned buildings/vehicles/etc, and she'd be there.

The county did have a taxi service of sorts. "Of sorts," because the service was slow and unpredictable. Both of those conditions existed because it served the entire county. A county, sparsely populated in many areas, that has fewer people than the tiny (2 square mile) *borough* I live in. There's not really a demand for taxi service, so there aren't many routes, and it's not 24 hours. When people do use the service, it's not cheap...so many folks just walk. Not on the interstates though--if you try, you'll get picked up by the state police--but always on the state roads; usually Routes 18, 19, 21, 218, etc.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Reminds me of the places I used to go on holiday when I was a kid; my parents favoured holiday houses that were way out in the sticks. There'd be a village nearby where you could go and get basics, but in order to get to a supermarket, you had to drive. I can see the SCs featured in this thread foaming at the mouth at being in such a place. XD

[BroSCFischer]

I dunno. I've been on five road trips, two of them cross country, and stayed in dozens of motels, and I've never stayed in one that didn't have proximity to some kind of additional service - a gas station, a nearby diner, a Burger King a quarter mile away. It does seem a bit odd to have a hotel surrounded by nothing but trees for twelve miles in every direction.

It was 330AM. There is a McDonald's that closed at 12AM less than a mile from us, as well as a gas station, 2 Family restaurants (that were also closed by midnight) and 5 other hotels/motels.

SC

[Lachrymose]

I stayed at a hotel in Timonium, MD, that had an attached restaurant..

I used to work directly across the sideroad from that.

[dalesys]

... Timonium, MD ...

OT: The hometown of Cheryl Wheeler, writer of some of the most achingly beautiful songs (Arrow, Summerfly, Aces, 75 Septembers...) and also some of the funniest (Handi House, Shutcher Piehole, Potato ...).

The town name supposedly means "sadness".

[MoonCat]

I stayed at a hotel in Timonium, MD, that had an attached restaurant. Across a very busy four lane highway was a pair of other restaurants, and that was all that was within walking distance. After making one death-defying trip on foot across that highway, my sister and I decided that eating at Chili's for three days wasn't such a bad idea after all.

The next time we went to a con there, we took a cab up the road to a local grocery store and stocked up on cold cuts, bread, Ramen noodles, fresh fruit and a few other goodies. Thus, with the hot pot we brought along, plus the coffee maker & fridge in the room, we didn't have to eat Tex-Mex at every single meal (saved a lot of time, too).