If your travels have you barreling down or up I95 along the busiest highway on the entire east coast and you find yourself near Brunswick, which lately has become infamous for the place where the former President and 18 of his ill-fated associates offered up their mugshots, and should you find yourself in need of a flat piece of pavement to call home for the night then you might just want to consider this oversized Home Depot parking lot. And while you may find yourself looking at the decent number of paved paradise parking options in this area, take my word for it, if you’re going to be calling a retail parking lot your home for the night, this is the one I recommend.
Why? Well, for a few reasons. But before we get started, just let me qualify, if it were me, rather than park in ANY big box retailers parking lot, I would simply look for a more suitable location surrounded by tall trees and chirping birds. But I understand that while this isn’t always possible and others might not care to be surrounded by nature’s bounty, so I offer up my recommendations. To begin with, while near a fairly major 4-lane highway completely chocked full of traffic, long lines, stop lights on every corner, endless strip malls and general busyness, this Home Depot sets back from the main thoroughfare and is actually tucked into a corner that is surrounded, at least on 2 sides, by a decent amount of bush and treelines offering up a decent dose of privacy, seclusion, privacy and some good ‘ol peace & quiet. Oh, and the parking lot is quite flat and very good – not massive though – size.
So, if you do decide to park here with your big rig, 5th Wheel or RV, within 5 minutes of jumping off I95 on exit 38, you’ll just head southward on Golden Isles Parkway, where you’ll come across this orange home makeover retailer on your right. Apart from the ‘cul-de-sac’ location of this place that provided such solitude and otherwise escape from the inundated amount of traffic in this area was the fact that we could park here and simply walk 50 paces to one of our favorite restaurants, Chick-fil-A. And should you follow in our footsteps, you’ll want to make sure that you park as far away from the Home Depot front porch as possible, which would be eastward, and, if there is space available, as far along the southern perimeter as possible where there is a thick treeline shuddering out nearby traffic, noise and visibility.
Giving safety and security some thought, we felt incredibly protected here from the elements and otherwise transient traffic. Additionally, there’s really great light in the parking lot and given that there is a Vystar bank located on the corner coming in here with their own level of security, we felt worries free here. And while the parking lot here at Home Depot isn’t one of those mega-sized paved football field types, should you not find any ‘room at the inn’ you can either wait a bit, in case you arrived during rush hour, or check out 2 other much bigger parking lots that are nearby and offer up larger-sized parking accommodations: Lowe’s or Sam’s Club. But whatever you do, scratch both of the neighboring Walmarts off your list as they are just too busy, loud, relatively less secure and offer up much less space. You can read my reviews on these other 4 options here on TheDyrt if that helps.
Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) The fact that you are located right in a commercial retail concrete jungle shouldn’t put a damper on your ability to embrace the exquisite nature that exists slightly further afield. Two of my most favorite places to visit in nearly all of Georgia are both about 15 minutes from where you are at: Blythe Island Regional Park and Jekyll Island; (2) Should you need to load up on groceries or sundries, while I wouldn’t recommend overnight parking at either of these locations, there are 2 Walmarts both situated in less than a mile from where you are at, but if that isn’t your thing, then there’s Target, Dollar Tree and Publix nearby; (3) While there is no shortage of fast food joints around here like Wendy’s, Arby’s, Burger King and Subway for something more nutritional with a dash of ambiance, you might want to instead try: Chili’s, Hungry Crab and Cilantros Grill & Cantina; (4) If you don’t know CRUMBL, then this is your very special chance to discover the best cookie place in the universe. Good news is, it's within close proximity so enjoy the munchies that will hopefully make your stay at this particular paved parking lot a bit sweeter; and (5) Traveling with kids and simply looking for a REALLY different experience that the whole family would enjoy? Then head south of The Home Depot here to Pinball Palace but be sure to bring your quarters as well as a clean pair of socks for the bouncy house room!
While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience (EZ on- and off-access), safety & security, quality (of facilities), peace & quiet and amenities (either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot:
Convenience: 4
Safety & Security: 4
Quality: 3
Peace & Quiet: 3
Amenities: 4
Overall, I scored this location a 4.
Happy Overnighting!
