The Scenic Route AKA the shortcut

Almost everyone I know hates driving on interstate highways, particularly I-95.  There is always someone who has a shorter way or a better way to get you where you want to go.  Now, I seem to have inherited the "make sure you have a good map" gene from my father but not the "let's take the scenic route" or  the "I know a good shortcut route" gene that is possessed by so many people to whom I am related.  Sometimes the scenic route is indeed scenic and sometimes it is even shorter, although this does not always translate into faster.  I will admit that not everyone wants to get to their destination in the fastest possible time.  Recently, while contemplating traveling from point A in SC to point B in NC, my brother suggested a route that would be much shorter than the Map Quest suggested route of taking I-26 to I-95.  I would take 17A north to 701 and after that, things were a little murky.  But I would eventually reach my destination.  For all of you folks who scorn interstates, let me just list some of the things you will not see on the interstate.  You will not find yourself behind a school bus that is stopping every hundred yards to let off another kid.  You will not get stuck behind some large piece of farm equipment that is being moved from one field to another, taking up 1 1/2 lanes of the 2 lane road in the process.  You will not see a dog meandering down the center of the road - at least not for long.  You will not be making a sudden right turn into the Dairy Queen you spotted while sitting at the red light.  You will not find yourself forced into turning left when suddenly your lane won't take you straight.  You will not have to slow down to 25 MPH in a podunk little town where the local cop would just as soon give you a ticket for "speeding" through his burgh at 35 as look at you.  The "shortcut" I took shaved 15 miles off my trip but added an hour to the travel time.  Sometimes you just want to get there.