Georgia Magazine - May 2019 - 19

My GEORGIA

By Jennifer J. Hewett

Joys of the journey and
the stops along the way

here's not much that's better than
a road trip with family or friends.
The conversation, laughter, music
and people you're with make a trip special,
and I have fond memories of many such
road trips as a kid.
I remember traveling with my mom,
dad and grandparents to visit my mom's
side of the family in North Georgia, North
Carolina and Tennessee. Nana was an
Avon lady, and her big, blue 1968 Delta 88
Oldsmobile always smelled like Silicone
Glove, one of the company's popular lotions.
Even after my cousins inherited the car, it
still smelled the same.
Every summer, we'd all pile into that old
Oldsmobile and tootle the winding, two-lane roads
up to Clayton for the family reunion on Nana's side
of the family. One guaranteed stop would be at Katherine's Kitchen for a piping-hot country ham biscuit.
Whoever was riding in the front seat between Nana
and Papa had the task of distributing the little rectangular biscuit boxes to everyone in the car. Country
ham was a treat, and, boy, those biscuits were good.
Our last stop on the way to Papa's family
reunions would be the Kentucky Fried Chicken.
We'd always bring a bucket of chicken along with
the cakes or pies Nana had made. Those reunions
always guaranteed two things: lots of good food from
our many aunts and uncles-and plenty of cousins
for us little kids to play with.
On southbound road trips to Florida to visit
Grandma and Papa and the aunts, uncles and cousins on my dad's side of the family, we'd always stop
at Stuckey's along Interstate 75.
As a kid, I was fascinated by the store's spinning racks holding books with magic markers and
travel bingo games as well as table after table of
tchotchkes, T-shirts, peanut brittle and cellophanewrapped goodies such as pecan logs.
How many people collected those state-specific
spoons? Or magnets shaped like all 50 states? You
could find them at Stuckey's-along with gasoline,
Indian River fruit, a scoop of chocolate ice cream
and a restroom.
One time, my parents' car blew a water pump

Visiting at a Sutton family
reunion in 1976 are
Freeman Sutton, front, from
left; his siblings, Leon Sutton
and Vinnie Cathey; and his
niece Isabel Griffin. Behind
them are Rick and Steven
Grimsley, Freeman Sutton's
grandsons.

at the Stuckey's in Unadilla.
On every subsequent trip
by there, we'd hear the story
again. (On a college road trip
years later, my Saturn started
overheating very near there.
Thank goodness for Stuckey's.
My friends and I pulled off the
road and hung out there while
the car cooled down.)
After a fun week of hanging out with family in Florida,
swimming and playing outside
with the cousins, getting splashed by Shamu at
Sea World, eating pancakes and then watching the
space shuttle take off or just relaxing on Grandma's
screened-in porch, we'd load up and head back to
Atlanta, making sure to stop at Stuckey's at least once
before arriving back home.
What's the best part of a road trip: the journey
or the destination?
I'd say both.
Jennifer J. Hewett is the managing editor at
Georgia Magazine. She's advocating for "Georgia
sushi"-a Stuckey's pecan log, sliced like sushi rolls-
to become a thing at parties.

Tiny tot Jennifer Hewett
stands behind her
grandmother's 1968
Oldsmobile, which took
the family on many
road trips.

To submit a My Georgia story, send the essay (no more than 500 words) and 300-dpi
digital photos by email to mygeorgia@georgiaemc.com or by mail to the address
listed on page 6. A self-addressed, stamped envelope must be included for photos to
be returned. Published essays pay $100. Georgia Magazine reserves the right to edit
submitted pieces.
www.georgiamagazine.org

http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Georgia Magazine - May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - May 2019