Chapter Three: Mom, What are “Grits?”
I don’t quite know how, but I must’ve been able to doze a bit because I recall missing out on huge chunks of the story Ed was listening to... so much so, that I had no way of being able to follow what was happening to the hero. I’d wake up, mumble, “Where are we?”, reposition myself a bit and close my eyes once more. I remember thinking that I should’ve brought a second pillow because the one I had was not cutting it. I’d listen to the story for a little while, becoming utterly frustrated because I had no idea what was happening in the storyline.
Then I’d drift again for another few miles, just to do it all over again.
After about 2 hours of this, Ed pulled over to get gas and use the rest room. My hips felt stiff, so I got out and stretched for a bit. To my amazement, Billy was still awake!
He was quiet and sleepy-eyed, but awake, nevertheless. Tricia was out like a light, but her head was slumped down in an awkward position. Since she sat behind Ed, I walked around to the other side of the van and began to open the door. “Just leave her alone,” Ed chided me before he left the car. But I couldn't! After he was out of sight I woke her and had her move to the third row of seats so she could lay down with her pillow.
I knew I just wouldn’t be able to rest knowing she was sleeping all bent over like a pretzel!
Where were we, anyway?
Maryland, I think….Chesapeake House. Sorry, no pictures. (I know, you’re crushed, aren’t you?)
This is a fairly large rest stop and must be popular, because it was very crowded. I noted lots of cars, as well as trucks.
After Ed returned we were on our way. I gave up on trying to sleep up front, so I moved to the back where Tricia had been sitting and was eventually able to get a longer stretch of sleep. Ed told me later that Billy finally dropped off some time after three. (I wanted to comment that it was probably because Ed had the CD book playing so loudly, but I decided to leave it alone.) I woke up and it was grayish-daylight... not sure what time, perhaps around six. Ed was beginning to get tired, so he began talking to me as soon as he saw that I was half awake, mostly so he wouldn’t drift off.
I believe by that time we were in
Virginia. Ed was telling me what a great idea it had been to drive at night because we had practically sailed through the normally congested Baltimore and D.C. areas. Privately, I wasn’t so sure if it had been worth it. My hips were killing me and I knew we still had a lot more traveling to do before we reached our stopover in
South Carolina. The
good thing was: at least the bulk of the driving would be done by then. The
bad thing was:
I would have to do a lot of it!
By the time we passed Petersburg, Ed was toast.
We had planned on stopping a bit further on, but he really needed to shut his eyes. We pulled of the highway and followed the signs to the
Waffle House. Ed parked the van a bit of a ways off from the bulk of the other parked cars. I had to shake Tricia a bit; she woke up and looked around groggily. After a lot of yawning and stretching, she climbed out of her seat and yanked the sliding door shut behind her.
Billy’s eyes popped open as soon as he heard the word, “breakfast!”
“I want Cheerios, please!” he mumbled. The zip-lock bag containing the one and only cereal he would eat was already in my hand. I hadn’t wanted to take any chances on the restaurant not having Cheerios on the menu! Ed told me to take the kids inside and get something “to go” for him to eat on the road. He was just so tired at that point that he needed sleep more than food. (Besides, he had been snacking a bit through the night, so he wasn’t particularly hungry.) That’s why he had chosen to park in a quieter spot.
I opened my door and pivoted to stand up... and almost fell down! Oh! I was sooo stiff! It took a number of steps before I felt full range of motion returning to my legs. Driving to Florida was definitely tougher on the old bod.
I have absolutely no recollection of where we were at this point... Waffle Houses are plentiful along I-95. I guess we were somewhere halfway through Virginia, certainly north of Richmond, because Ed planned to take I-295 around that area to avoid traffic. It must have been near eight by now… the sun was well up and there was a line waiting to check in with the hostess. Despite the prime breakfast hour, we only had to wait about five minutes and I was glad to get seated quickly in a small booth because the smell of food was making a rumbly in my tumbly!
It didn’t take long for a waitress to come with menus and water. I ordered hot tea and Tricia ordered a large glass of milk. Billy, as you may recall, will only drink water, so he was set. He dug into the bag of Cheerios and began munching away. Tricia and I looked over the menu and her eyebrows furrowed.
“Mom, what are...
grits?” she asked, a bit too loudly.
A gentleman sitting behind me in the next booth must’ve overheard, because I could hear him snort-laugh to himself.
Yes, we are the table of
Yankees. My daughter has never heard of grits.
Well, I don’t cook them, but at least I knew what they were! I tried to explain. “They’re a little like oatmeal... but thinner,” I tried to explain. “More like cream of wheat... but they’re made from corn...” I trailed off. “Why don’t you order some and see for yourself!” Tricia just wrinkled her nose.
“Yuck!” she declared. “Sounds disgusting. I don’t want any.”
Oh great, I thought,
let’s just alienate all the Southerners sitting around us!
I assured Tricia that, although she was currently breakfasting in the great state of Virginia, she would not be
required to eat grits.
The waitress came with our beverages and took our order. I believe I ordered waffles; Tricia ordered bacon and eggs.
“Do you want toast or a biscuit with that, honey?” the waitress asked with a slight drawl.
Tricia blinked and stared for a moment. “Toast, please,” she answered. Then after the waitress left, she asked, “Why would anyone want to eat
a biscuit with eggs instead of toast?” There was a slight note of distain in her voice. Another big snort came from the booth behind me.
“Tricia, people in different parts of the country eat different foods, you know that!” She rolled her eyes. “Just drink your milk,” I told her.
“I need to use the Ladies’ Room,” she announced.
Ugh. Now I was in a bit of a quandary. Without Ed here to stay with Billy, I had two choices. I could take both of them into the Ladies’ Room or I could take a big, deep breath and send my 12-year old girl into the restroom alone. I wavered a bit. Sure, she was getting big enough to go in by herself, but this was an unfamiliar environment.
“Mom!” Tricia nudged.
Since I could see the restroom doors from our table, I decided to be brave and let her go it alone. “Be careful,” I whispered as she stood up. She just rolled her eyes again. Those optic muscles had been getting quite a lot of exercise over that last year and it was annoying. She had no idea how anxious this was making me! I made as if I was about to stand up, too. “Oh, so would you rather I go with you?” I asked in a “motherly” tone.
“Mom!” she whispered loudly, “Don’t embarrass me!”
“You keep eyeballing me like that, and I’ll really embarrass you!” I threatened. “And I learned how from the best... your Grandma!”
Off she went in a huff. I kept my eyes on the door after it closed behind her. The man who had been sitting behind me got up to leave and our eyes met. He gave me a little smile, nodded his head and said, “Mornin’,” as he passed. He was probably chuckling at us all the way out the door.
Tricia came back to the table just as the food arrived. Before the waitress left, I ordered a coffee and an egg sandwich for Ed, “to go.” Tricia stared at her plate. Then I stared, too.
“Whoa!” she said, in awe. “Is that...
bacon?” Next to her scrambled eggs lay three huge, thick (and I mean thick) slabs of bacon. “Awesome!”
Tricia loves bacon and this was the most amazing bacon she had ever seen.
“Well, Tricia, we are in
Virginia, you know!” I said as I cut my waffles. “They’re well-known for their bacon and ham here.”
“Ohhhh,” she mused, a little light turning on in her head. “So
that’s why they call it Virginia ham... because it’s from
Virginia!”
I put down my knife and my fork. “Well, what did you think, they just decided to name the ham
Virginia instead of
Shirley or
Bernice?” At this, she laughed and milk came out of her nose and mouth. Billy let out a big belly laugh and began waving his hands. I just shook my head and went back to eating. “M-o-m!” she laughed. Now it was
my turn to roll my eyes at
her!
We continued on in a good mood and when we had finished... and, yes, Tricia ate every last bite of that delicious bacon... the waitress came with our check and Ed’s breakfast. They really know how to turn over the tables here at the Waffle House!
I paid the check at the register and then we walked back to the restrooms so I could take Billy. Tricia waited right outside the door with the food and, I know it was silly, but I remember rushing Billy (and myself) throughout the process so Tricia wouldn’t be out there too long.
I’m not sure when I’ll ever be comfortable leaving her alone in a crowded place!
Despite the quick service, we had been inside for almost an hour, but I was glad that Ed had the chance to sleep. We went out to the van and woke him; then I got the kids settled back into their travel positions. Ed ran inside for a quick pit stop and when he returned I was surprised that he did not want me to take over driving yet.
“But, aren’t you tired?” I asked him. Apparently, his catnap had done the trick, because he decided he wanted to continue on. He was concerned that I might get confused by the “detour” he wanted to take around Richmond. “Once we get back onto I-95 again, you can take over,” he said, taking a sip of his hot coffee. “I’m okay now, just stay awake so you can talk with me…I think the narrator’s voice is putting me to sleep!” he said, referring to the CD book. I decided to put in a CD of the
WDW Official Album instead!
And, thus properly motivated,
we continued on down the road!
Kathy
I love your updates!!!!
Of course, she is the first to point out that I get to wear PJ's, too (scrubs)!
We leave early tomorrow morning - what a trip report this will be!!! 
Yay!
Have an awesome time, Jaime!
yay, I got started on this report from the beginning !
your reports. I can not wait to see how this road
We eat grits almost every day. Well, some of us. My son doesn't care for them. 
