Road Trippin'

*Originally published on September 5, 2023

Road trips have always been special to me. Before moving to Pennsylvania for school, my family and I would drive up to Delaware every summer to spend time at the beach. Over the years, these summertime road trips have transformed from a beach destination adventure into a back to school marathon. While our final destination has slightly shifted locations, it has become increasingly clear that these two-day epics always focus around food. 

The first day is the longest. It's eight hours from Atlanta, Georgia to Williamsburg, Virginia. With stops, it becomes ten and a half. Mom and I indulge in pistachio crème rings from the German bakery I worked at this summer paired with double espressos before saying goodbye to my father and cats. We begin by setting our GPS to Charlotte, North Carolina, where our favorite French bakery, Amelie's, is located. While it would be easier to drive directly to Williamsburg and find something to eat along the way, that's too simple. Remember, this trip is all about food. 

We arrive in Charlotte hangry. With only pistachio pastries in our system from this morning, our stomachs demand a real meal, and oh boy does Amelie's deliver. I order a sausage, egg, and cheddar sandwich on a croissant and a cup of spinach, asparagus, and leek soup. I get a Café Foutté- one of their signature drinks- a quad espresso, cream, and vanilla. Mom gets a green salad with mouthwateringly tender chicken salad. We order a box of pastries: lemon meringue éclair, almond croissant, tea cakes, lemon raspberry tart, and and blueberry lemon danish. We feast like we've never experienced flavor before. Like we've had a cold for years and our sinuses have cleared up just enough for tickles of flavor to tease our tongues again. When we finish, we greedily box up the remaining pastries and continue on. 

Two hours later, we're singing along to the Mamas and the Papas while crossing the border into Virginia. Butter shines on our fingers as we devour the remaining tea cakes. 

When we arrive in Williamsburg, we dine on rotisserie chicken, chickpea and caprese salads, rolls, and mixed greens at our family friend's house. Of course, we open a bottle of local sauvignon blanc while I recount last year's adventures to the table. Mom and I share the guest room and sleep soundly; properly sated and dreaming of the untouched pastries still sitting in the car. 

The next morning, I crave pie. After reading that a nearby breakfast place is rumored to sell an award-winning apple pie, I practically shove my mother in the car to get us there before they sell out. The line is nonexistent and my prized pie stares me down as I question just how the pastry chef got that many apples into one dish. After I'm served and seated, I soon realize that my efforts to get mom out of the house were not in vain. Every bite is glorious. 

At this point in the trip, I'm itching to get back to campus. However, we have one more visit to make. In an unexpected turn of events, a quick coffee with a professor friend leads to an offer to pick figs. How could we refuse? 

As we pick the figs, a sweet milky sap leaks from their tops, indicating ripeness. We pick silently as we fill a box with our little treasures. When we finish, our fingers are sticky with sap and we're beginning to sweat from the Virginia heat and humidity. We wash up, express our gratitude to our friend for sharing his treasure trove with us, and continue North.

Mom and I soon break into the sandwiches I picked up before we began Leg 2 of the trip. Fresh roast beef and provolone on French bread with extra house sauce on the side. What's in the sauce? Probably a mixture of homemade seeded mustard and mayo. It's so good the restaurant sells it by the jar too. I feed my mother morsels of sandwich perfection while she drives and we enjoy some dill pickle potato chips to finish the meal. 

The last hours are excruciating in both lack of food and abundance of traffic and hangriness claims me. In moments like these, my mother demonstrates a patience akin to Jesus himself. She immediately presents as calm and controlled, slowly diffusing my bad mood while I question if we would ever get to campus. Of course, the traffic clears and we arrive in one piece. We go to a local restaurant and dine on sushi, salad, and at my request, truffle fries. Besides the bizarre addition of melted gruyere to one of our rolls, the meal is exactly what we need. 

If it hasn't been evident yet, I am someone who lives to eat. Food is the center of my travels, whether it be a road trip to school or a transatlantic European extravaganza. It brings my family and I closer together in times of both hangriness and shared adoration towards a meal. In the case of my mother and I, our food stops offer us a much needed break from the drive. When we close our eyes and take a bite we're transported memories of Paris, or a comfortably shaded piece of grass under a fig tree. The next time you take a bite of food, close your eyes and see where it takes you. That way you won't have to drive fourteen hours to experience your favorite memories over and over again. 

Where can I eat that food?

Pistachio Crème Rings: Bernhard's German Bakery, Marietta, GA

Day 1 Lunch: Amelie's French Bakery and Café, Charlotte, NC

Apple Pie: Aromas World, Williamsburg, VA

Sandwiches: The Cheese Shop, Williamsburg, VA

Day 2 Dinner: Azie, Media, PA