Heading South and then North...

After our visit in Jacksonville, it was time to head a bit further south to Gainesville to visit Vivynne and Tony, whom we’d last seen in Switzerland in 2018. Our two nights at their house was very laid back with long walks around the neighborhood (where we spotted these crazy decorations for Valentine’s Day), delicious home-cooked meals and long soaks in their new hot tub. 

We had our longest driving day on January 18 with 10.5 hours on the road from Gainesville, Florida to Durham, North Carolina. We took a slight detour to Brunswick, Georgia, so we could enjoy a nice lunch rather than fast food at a rest stop. 

Definitely nicer views along the back roads. 

As we neared the North Carolina border, we couldn’t resist following the signs to Buc-ee’s, a chain of convenience stores on steroids that started in Texas. Besides having an insane number of gas pumps (over 100!) and the cheapest gas prices around, the store was enormous with an an entire section devoted to their signature beef jerky. Probably no surprise that we didn’t buy much, but we enjoyed gawking at this symbol of Americana. 

No doubt that Buc-ee’s has stolen most of South of the Border’s clientele as it was like a ghost town. Dating back to 1950, it offers much more than snacks, souvenirs and gas, but has never had to deal with competition just down the street.