During our recent trip to the Midwest, I was delighted to see Circle K convenience stores and quoted the same line from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure almost every time I saw one. And anyone who knows me knows that I snapped some photos from our moving vehicle. I am that Gen X-er, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Of course, my husband understood the reference and laughed when I quoted Keanu Reeves in a deep-ish voice, but also didn’t understand why I was so pleased, especially once I had done this several times. “Jen, these things are all over the place. What’s the deal?” (Or something like that.)
Regional differences, folks, that’s what.
I grew up in Virginia and we don’t have Circle Ks here (that I am aware of). And for some reason, in all our travels around the US, I had never noticed one before. He, on the other hand, grew up in other parts of the US where they have this chain, and had seen them zillions of times (approximately).
It turns out that you can know someone for almost 40 years and still learn something new about them.
On the other hand, we were both new to Culver’s restaurants before our trip last month. On the recommendation of a friend, we stopped at one early on and tried the infamous Butterburgers. Oh heck, YES. We ended up going to Culver’s a couple more times, because yes they are that good. 10/10 highly recommend.
Decades ago, when I was around 10 or 11, my family drove four hours from Virginia to Pennsylvania to visit family. I was delighted because this was a new state for me and who knows what amazing new things I’d see such a vast distance away in central Pennsylvania? Imagine my disappointment when one of the first things I saw after we crossed the state line was McDonald’s. My parents had to explain to me that there are McDonald’s everywhere, which I can now confirm decades later, having seen them in many, many countries. And Starbucks too.
(Related: As a girl from southwestern Virginia, I found the Pennsylvania accent to be delightfully foreign and hugely glamorous. And if you think I’m kidding, we had a new teacher from New Hampshire in my elementary school that year and we were all convinced he was from another country.)
Closer to home, Virginia just got its first Buc-ee’s convenience stores/gas stations. I visited my first one in South Carolina earlier this year with a friend who had never been. I haven’t been to the new one yet, but I’m planning a field trip with my parents who just love them a Buc-ee’s. I can’t wait.
Regional differences, y’all, I’ll never be too mature, too worldly, or too jaded to lose my sense of delight.
Tell me a story about something regional that I should know about and/or something that makes you smile.
In the waaaay back Cracker Barrel was only in the south. I could never remember the name and called it Chicken ‘n a Biscuit 😂 and so it remains to this day.
Love that. Being from NYC I had never seen a circle K in my life. I thought they were strictly CA. But now we drive to Maine often and there are a few along the route. My spouse never fails to say the quote when we hit the first one. I’m such a New Englander now that most things here are ubiquitous. But growing up in the NY tri state area and spending time in DC I do remember how unique and weird Mass and VT used to feel to me. My regional differences are the terrain. Like Utah and Idaho got me giddy this year as it was SO DIFFERENT that east coast. Like I was on a tv set.