Please God let there be a Starbucks....

Ever since the beginning of fall travel season I have had a new appreciation for chain restaurants, and well actually chain everything. From Target, to Chili's, to Outback, to Panera, Subway, Barnes and Noble, and Wallgreens. This has been more apparent to me recently as I have been visiting very rural areas.

I know that when I go into a Panera I can order the same thing that I would in my hometown. The magazine section in Barnes and Noble is always in the same place. There is a comfort to this. This, by the way, is coming from a woman who went to undergraduate school in a town that fought tooth and nail to keep Walmart and big chain stores out.

However, my GPS doesn't always get this need for the familiar. It wants me to try the local cuisine. Not only in its recommendations but in where it actually takes me. Here I was one afternoon hoping for one of those Applebees to-go under 500 calorie meals. So I punch into my GPS "Food Near My Hotel."

Applebees: 1.8 miles away

"Perfect!" I think.

Until Rhoda says, "Arriv-ing at Yo-ur Des-tin-at-ion."

And there was no Applebees. No plazas. A bar, an italian restaurant, and a string of small cabin-like houses. I keep driving ahead. There MUST be an Applebees. Rhoda hasn't been wrong yet, I think to myself. 

But Rhoda lied. So I retrace my steps thinking what now?!

I pass the italian restaurant again. What the heck I think, turning around, maybe they will give me something to go.

Sure enough the family run italian business was happy to pack my meal to go so I could enjoy it while doing work in my hotel room. To my surprise it was delicious, so in the end it worked out for the best.

But still....

Since then, my GPS has led me to many a field where it claims there is a Starbucks, an abandoned building where there should be a Panera, or a gas station that no longer exists.

When longing for the familiar this can be frustrating. Yet, it is also pushing me out of my comfort zone, creating new familiars for future travel seasons. As long as I don't toss it out the window in frustration....

:)


Safe travels,
Alexandra