"Two For The Road" - Personal 'Roadfood' Stories

On a recent vacation I finally got to read "Two For The Road" and all of Jane & Michael's adventures researching "Roadfood" over the years. Great vacation reading, especially anticipating a meal at a Roadfood location! It made me think of some of my own stories traveling to Roadfood spots since I got the first book in 1978. Not necessarily the food stories, but the people and places I traveled to, such as…

Mrs. Fordes Coffee Shop, Laurinburg, NC - An old car showroom with no signs out front, only newspaper boxes that indicated it might be a restaurant. I walked in with a skeptical business associate, and we were met by Mrs. Forde, sticking her head out of the kitchen and shouting "how do you want your eggs?" Following the Stern's notes, when we were done the breakfast of 2 eggs, toast, homefries, bacon and coffee (a bargain at it's 75 cent price even in 1979), we carried our dishes to the kitchen, and each gave her a quarter tip, received with a hearty "thank you!".

The Horseshoe, South Hill, Va. Stopped on the same trip in 1979, we went for lunch at an off hour and were the only ones there, so Leonora, dubbed "the queen of the Horseshoe" by the Sterns, pulled up a chair and told us all her small town restaurant stories while we dined and hung out for a while!

Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q, Bessimer, Al. Stopped in 1978 for excellent barbecue, the most true southern barbecue pit I had ever visited. A few years later, back home in Pennsylvania, I was regularly talking with a customer at work in Birmingham. I asked him if he ever ate at Bob Sykes. In his drawl he said "Whatever made you think of that…no, I never ate there… but I dated his daughter!"

Mrs. Rowes, Staunton, Va. As we had many times before, we had a great meal at Mrs. Rowes, this time in 1996 with friends on a vacation trip. Mrs. Rowe herself had been behind the counter, laughing and talking as usual. As we left the parking lot, a car backed out of a parking space quickly and sped away, almost running into my friend. We looked, and it was the legendary Mrs. Rowe herself making the speedy getaway!

So, for those of us 'Roadfood Fans' from the beginning, where every listing in each saved edition is either a memory or a place we hoped to reach someday - I'd like to hear your stories from "beyond the menu" of people and places in Roodfood!

Very nice, John...
I like your write up..