Real road trips usually involve making several stops along the way, sometimes planned and sometimes impromptu. While our journey down to Florida was a straight shot, pausing only long enough for food and facilities, we took a more leisurely course on our way back North.
My mother is one of nine children and, as such, has relatives in varying areas of the country. Growing up, my siblings and I were taken on several little road trips to attend family functions in different states. I tend to want to visit other countries and continents nowadays, but will always feel fortunate to have seen a fair few things throughout the United States while growing up. Because of this, Sister and I already had a small list of places we wanted to hit on our journey home.
First on our agenda: breakfast at Bob Evan's, a Southern restaurant chain specializing in comfort food and famous for their mouthwatering biscuits. Oooooh, the biscuits. I recall first tasting these caloric creations on some trip down south in my youth. In fact, I believe we as a family hearted them so hard that we bought the biscuit mix for sale on site. Sadly, the biscuit mix is no longer available, but we were able to indulge in the real thing a mere 30 minutes after we left our Orlando hotel. Despite the fact that we certainly did not need any more heavy food after the past few days, it was well worth the stop. We even found some amazing t-shirts with the quote "You are the bacon to my eggs." #sisters
Our next stop was at a place we found while googling online, called "Georgia Peach World." Apparently there are two locations, one on either side of the same highway exit, so it's quite the enterprise. There are hand-painted signs outside and a vast array of peach-flavored products within: peach preserves, peach liqueurs, peach wine, peach pastries. I suppose they can really lay claim to the fact that it is truly a world of peaches. We used this opportunity to pick up a few souvenirs for friends and family before continuing on.
We were then off to "South of the Border", by far one of the weirdest tourist attractions I've ever seen. The location lies on the border between North and South Carolinas and is essentially a small group of shops filled with crappy mementos and souvenirs in addition to large amounts of fireworks. Since there are much stricter firework laws in Connecticut, it's an ideal place for picking up some interesting pyrotechnics. It is also an ideal place to feel like you have stepped into a small outlet of merchandizing hell. I suppose when I was much younger, the novelty was running through aisles of endless knickknacks all colorful and at your fingertips. As an adult, it is more like an eerie wasteland of freakish materialism. Ah well, at least we got an amazing picture standing under a giant gorilla.
Our final stop for the day was in Wake Forrest, North Carolina, not far from Raleigh. This city is actually where Hot Blonde Cousin grew up and where some of her family still resides. Sister and I had made plans to spend the night with Cousin's mom, our technically ex-aunt but still considered family. She graciously agreed to host us for the evening, so we had dinner with her and another one of our cousin's. After some Mexican food and a few well-placed cocktails, we conked out after our long day of road trippin' through the American South.
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