The Best Rest Stop & Gas Station on I-16

UPDATE:

I stopped by this place for maybe the umpteenth time over the years just the other day and am pleasantly surprised to see it has continued to grow. They’ve added a playground and even a carousel- I’m told the carousel was added around Thanksgiving of 2022. I really appreciate this place as being a great place to stop for my family- especially now with a third child who desperately needed to get out of the car and run by the time we got here. 

You can find them by looking up the Wild Georgia Safari Park… but back when I first wrote about them they were just a petting zoo next to a gas station. I really appreciate everything they’ve done to grow over the years! In fact, compare my new Instagram Reels (link here) to the photos in the original post below.

If you’re driving down I-16 and have already passed Dublin (another great place to stop) then you should for sure stop off here, especially with small kids. It’s recommended to not let have small babies sit in a car seat for longer than two hours (from everything that I can find) but I can’t find anything about longer trips with let’s say…. a 1.5 year old (like my youngest). That said, I still know it’s good not just for him but also for the sake of everyone’s sanity to let him have a break to run around. This place is perfect for it. And they’ve got great boiled peanuts! If you’ve seen my Instagram  you might know I love boiled peanuts, and frankly the best ones are homemade and dished out in a bag. As they are here.

Original post, July 4th 2015

Happy 4th of July to all of y’all out there, I’ve already run into half of Macon, Georgia while on my usual vacation spot of St. Simons Island so I thought this would be a timely post for most of y’all heading home tomorrow or later on.

The Best Rest Stop & Gas Station on I-16. 

I-16, AKA: The Most Boring Stretch of Interstate in the Entire Southeastern United States. The endless line of pine trees and nothing else is enough to test the mettle of any parent/child combination. But there is a bucolic respite from this seemingly endless stream of asphalt off of Exit 98, before the ever popular Metter exit with it’s McDonald’s and Zaxby’s and their neverending bathroom lines.

I’m not exaggerating this at all. I’ve watched this family owned Chevron station off of The Wiregrass Trail exit grow up over the years from having a small petting zoo, to then growing with llamas, ducks, cows, and parakeets in a special shed. For a small fee, around a couple of dollars each, you can stop at a clean restroom and let you kids stretch their legs at this Mosley’s World Famous Animal Exit Farm off of I-16. Although I should note, the business card reads that their name is Wiregrass Junction, Inc.

Owner Holt Mosley is one of the nicest people I have encountered that I see about twice a year- and he always manages to remember me. Even though when I came through two weeks ago it had been at least 6 months since he had seen me, and he did not know about my travel/food blogging at the time.

He proudly told me that his rest stop has been in business for over 20 years, and that they were even featured once in Atlanta Magazine. He winked at me and said, you can go on out to the petting zoo and check it out. I would have gladly paid the couple of dollars to take a short rest and grab photos, as this juncture of the interstate is always when I start to wonder will I continue down this yawn inducing part of the interstate, or will I switch gears and travel down the slightly longer- but less boring- Wiregrass Trail?

Holt offered his bottle opener to me as I brought up my glass Co’ Cola and crackers to check out, they do ask that you make a purchase when using the rest rooms- a small fee I gladly pay for a safe & clean place to stop.

So tomorrow, when you are on your way home after a night of fireworks and perhaps recovering from a little too much booze rather than taking the usual stop in Metter- and if you can’t quite make it to Dublin- do me a favor and stop in to see Holt at Wiregrass Junction, Inc. & their “world famous petting zoo”.
Wiregrass Junction does have a Facebook page, but Holt told me he has’t updated it recently. They are off of Exit 98 on Highway 57, The Wiregrass Trail, and the business card reads that they are in Aline, Georgia. Telephone number is 912-685-5577.

Love to all y’all,

Molly