Anniversary Adventure - The Food!

So, as promised in the last post, let's check out all of the snacks we got! 

Hubby and I made a Tasting Video of all the potato chips, cheese snacks, popcorn, taffy, and fudge that we got along the way during this trip, and there was just so much stuff that we had to break it into two videos!  

In the first video we tried the following: 

• Elmer's Chee Wee
• Golden Flake Cheddar & Sour Cream
• Utz Baseballs (White Cheddar Cheeseballs)
• Utz Pourables Mini White Cheddar Cheeseballs
• Guy's BBQ Chips
• Sweet Chaos Cold Stone Creamery Cake Batter Drizzled Popcorn
• Pirate's Booty
• 7-ELEVEn Spicy Cheese Mix
• Casey's BBQ Chips
• Flavor Mill Creamy Dill
• Elmer's Creole Crunch
• Old Dutch Cheddar & Sour Cream Ripple Chip
• Cedar Creek White Cheddar Popcorn
• Old Dutch Spicy Honey BBQ
• Pop Local Fiesta Na Cho Cheese
• Flavor Mill Carolina Reaper Puffs
• Pop Local Fiesta Caliente Caramel
• Sweet Heat Popcorn
• Kum & Go Cheddar & Sour Cream
• Kum & Go BBQ
• Uncle Ray Cheese Puff
• Uncle Ray Sour Cream & Cheddar
• Taffy (Strawberry) - Ozarkland
• Cheetos Bolitas

You can watch that video here, or head over to YouTube to view it (hit that like button while you're there and leave me a comment!)

In the second video, we tasted: 

• Doritos Diablo (Mexican)
• Cheetos Bolitas (Mexican)
• Fritos Chorizo y Chipotle (Mexican)
• Vanilla Taffy
• Anillitos
• Buc-ee’s Salt & Vinegar Chips
• Buc-ee’s Hot Chips
• Buc-ee’s Sour Cream & Onion Chips
• Buc-ee’s BBQ Chips
• Buc-ee’s Plain Chips
• Buc-ee’s Sweet Onion Rings
• Golden Flake Zesty Ranch
• Golden Flake Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Puffs
• Maple Fudge (Ozarkland)
• Buc-ee’s Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt
• Buc-ee’s Chocolate Fudge
• Buc-ee’s Mint Chocolate Fudge
• Buc-ee’s Peanut Butter Fudge
• Peppermint Taffy
• Banana Taffy
• Cinnamon Taffy

Again, you can watch the second video here, or scoot over to watch it on YouTube (go ahead and subscribe while you're there!)

I actually forgot that we also did videos for the bottled drinks and candies, so I've included them here as well. 

They're rough... the candy one was the very first Sit and Taste Food on Video video we made, and oof... the difference between the thumbnails is amazing! We're learning as we go, so my apologies for the sound and light quality, lol!

If you want a better view of all the products we tried in the videos, scroll on down! I took photos of every single bag of snacks (mostly for my own memory, but also to share with you guys!)

Slap Yo Mama, Buc-ee's Fajita and Steak Seasonings
The SYM is okay (but Everglades Heat or Tony C's More Spice is so much better)
The Steak Seasoning is above average, but nothing to write home about
The Fajita Seasoning is meh; I don't use it much

Ale81, Hank's Root Beer, Fitz's Orange Soda, Fitz's Root Beer

Buc-ee's Fudge (Peanut Butter, Plain, Mint, Salted Caramel)

Way too expensive Hammond's Candy Bars ($4 each!)

Buc-ee's Gummi Butterflies and Fruit Slices

Buc-ee's Butter Toasted Peanuts

Glenwood Teriyaki Beef Jerky

Taffy from Ozarkland in Branson
(Peppermint, Banana, Strawberry, Vanilla, Cinnamon)

Maple Fudge (no nuts!) from Ozarkland in Branson

Buc-ee's Gummi Bears and Orange Slices

Sweet Heat Popcorn, White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn, Utz Mini Cheese Balls

Pop Local Fiesta Caliente Caramel, Na-Cho Cheese, Pirate's Booty, Sweet Chaos Cake Batter, Elmer's Creole Crunch Popcorn

7-eleven Spicy Cheese Mix

Golden Flake Cheddar & Sour Cream, Zesty Ranch, Hot, and Jalapeno Cheddar

Mexican Cheetos, Doritos, and Fritos

Uncle Ray's Hot, Cheese Puffs, and Sour Cream & Cheddar Chips

Utz Red Hot chips and White Cheddar Cheeseballs

Buc-ee's Onion Rings, Plain, BBQ,
Salt & Vinegar, Hot, and Sour Cream & Onion chips

Flavor Mill Carolina Reaper puffs, K&G Gouda, Casey's BBQ,
Creamy Dill chips, Kum & Go BBQ, Kum & Go Cheddar & Sour Cream chips

Guy's BBQ chips, Elmer's Chee Wee 
Old Dutch BBQ and Cheddar & Sour Cream chips 

Buc-ee's Chees-ee Puffs Jalapeno and Smokin' Nacho
Jalapeno is meh
Smokin' Nacho is spectacular!!!

Buc-ee's Teriyaki Beef Jerky

Buc-ee's Cotton Candy Tub

Well, that's it! Probably millions of calories in this post, and a bunch of money spent to try some stuff we've never had before. Some was good, some was bad, but it was an adventure to try it all!

Now... where to next?

The Aftermath and the Souvenirs - Anniversary Adventure Day 12

Exhausted from a long drive, and a late night, I absolutely slept in this morning!!! I lazed around the house in comfy jammie pants until it was time to return the car to the airport Avis. 

When I returned it, I was reimbursed for the $25 that we spent on the new windshield wiper (and chastised for not calling Roadside Assistance to fix it instead). I also told the clerk about the absolutely disgusting Pot Funk we dealt with this entire trip, kind of hoping that we'd be reimbursed for having to deal with it, but at least letting them know that it wasn't our funk. She said that she couldn't do anything about it and that I should have denied the vehicle instead of driving it out of the lot. As I said in the beginning of this blog series, I didn't want to be that customer who returned multiple vehicles, but it's beginning to look like that selfless decision was coming back to bite me on the butt.

It did, in fact, come back to bite me on the butt

Because I was there longer than expected, I missed the bus I needed. I could have stuck around for another half-hour for the other bus (and to be honest, I could have just walked home, because it's less than 3 miles away), but I was a tired mama, so I just called an Uber. I spent the rest of the day relaxing in between bouts of unpacking and doing laundry. 

We got tons of snacks to try, but this post is already gonna be pretty long, so you can head over to (link to be added later) for more info on what we bought, what we liked & didn't like, as well as check out a few videos we made for more in-depth and entertaining reactions!

But for now, let's check out the cool souvenirs I got!

Buc-ee's Thermal Tote

Huge Laurel Mercantile tote bag

Magnets - Oklahoma, Arkansas, Branson, Mississippi

Magnets - World's Largest Convenience Store in New Braunfels, and three Texas magnets

Magnets - Laurel Mississippi and Y'all Ain't Right (from Laurel Mercantile)

Sticker - Make Something Good Today (will turn into a magnet)

Sticker - Route 66 and Howdy! from Buc-ee's (will turn into magnets)

Tee - Buc-ee's (Hubby got the same shirt)

Tee - Joey Doesn't Share Food (bought at Buc-ee's)

Tee - New Braunfels-specific Buc-ee's tee

Long Sleeve Tee - Buc-ee's

Tee - I Was brave Enough at Shepherd of the Hills, Missouri

Tee (Back of Vigilante shirt)

Room Spray - Ponchatoula Strawberry (from Laurel Mercantile)

All in all, we travelled 3575.9 miles, across 9 states (6 new ones), for a total moving travel time of 80:16 hours! Wow!

Green = This Trip     Blue = Wisconsin Trip     Striped States = Both Trips

So, I'm sure you're curious, and I'm a numbers kinda gal, so I went ahead and broke it down to see just what the final total spent was: 

I find it interesting that Gas Station Snacks/Drinks/Magnets were actually less than I was expecting. Because of how I choose to drive, we stop at convenience stores at least 4-5 times a day, for at least a soda. I was actually expecting that to be one of the highest costs, well highest if you don't count hotels and SUV rental..! But this time around, Souvenirs and Experiences was the most expensive category, and I'm not mad about that at all... we did lots of cool shit this time! 

This total cost, split between two people, over 11 days, breaks down to only $158.09 per person per day, or $316.17 per day as a couple. It seems silly to break it down that way, but it means I can compare it to other things, like a cruise, or a trip to Disney World, and see comparative vacation costs. And for the fun we had, I would gladly spend $318 a day for that!!!

But for now, I think I'm going to hunker down on the couch with my book and have some snuggle-time with the cat, then start planning our next big adventure, wherever that may take us!

Stick around for a few additional posts about all those snacks, and the entire story I alluded to the with Spoiler Alert up there... I'm a salty girl because of what happened!

Tallahassee Trashy - Anniversary Adventure Day 11

Oof, we did not want to wake up this morning. The hotel we stayed at, a Candlewood, has the most comfy beds! I woke up at 8:30am, but dozed on and off until about 9:30am until got up to pee then tweeted til about 10:30am, when Housekeeping banged on the door... whoops! We got dressed and packed in record time, getting out before 11am. As we packed up the car, when I let my backpack straps fall from my shoulders, it slid down and broke the straps of my little purse. Dammit. At least it happened on the last day instead of the first day!

One thing that I'd really wanted to do in PCB was to go parasailing (after that failed attempt in the Keys a few months ago), but judging by the rain and clouds in the sky, I was once again out of luck.

Gotta love Hurricane Season

Snuck onto Private Beachfront Property for this photo

We braved the rain to stop at Thomas Donut & Snack Shop, which was very highly rated on the internet, and we were not disappointed. Okay, a little disappointed, but that's only because we were too late to get the donuts we wanted. They're a local favorite, having been here since the 70s, so everyone got here before us to get their favorite donuts! Accordign to Beachside Resort, some customers will wait up to an hour, in a line going down the street! And after tasting what we got, I can believe it. We ended up with two glazed Long Johns, filled with white cream (like frosting). 

So. Much. Donut.

Holy moly, they weighed a ton! The chocolate top was nothing to write home about (typical overly-sweet fake chocolate). The filling was sweet and dense (more of a buttercream than a whipped cream). But the dough itself was amazing. Dense and chewy, with the right amount of give. The parts of the donut that didn't have any filling or chocolate were my favorite, as it was basically just a glazed donut, and it was delicious.. And it was so big I could only finish half of mine. I tucked it away for later, but never came back to finish it, sadly.  I hope one day we're back in the area (and earlier) so we can try more options.

 

(Spoiler: I didn't)

After filling the tank and getting soda, we headed off in the pouring rain to (what we thought was) our final stop, Tallahassee. Over the years, we've joked that we've never visited our own state Capital, so I make sure to include a day in this trip. Thanks to our late start and the weather (and a pit stop at Love's Truck Stop for McDonald's and Chester's Chicken, which we ate in the car), we didn't make it to Tally until 4pm. On a Friday. Yeah, imagine the traffic!

Never-ending bumper to bumper traffic

I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in a Secure Area where we were immediately approached by police. I explained my predicament and they very nicely pointed me to a nearby parking garage and told me to have a nice visit. We parked and hustled over to the Capitol Building, the entire time Hubby grousing about why we were even doing this... he was sure that the doors would already be locked, or that we wouldn't be allowed to go in. 

I kept telling him to hush, to just humor me, and after some wandering, we found the entrance to the building at about 4:50. He really thought the door was going to be locked, and so was I, so imagine my surprise when we tried it, and it opened!

I meekly asked if we could come in for 5 minutes to just peep around, and the security team at the door said that we could stay as long as we wanted! Since we arrived before 5pm, the entire building would stay open as long as we were there! Absolutely amazing! First off, we went up to the 22nd Floor Observation Deck, which gave 360º views of downtown Tallahassee through big windows. 

22nd Floor Observatory and Art Gallery

Imagine this space on a Student Field Trip day!

View in one direction

View in another direction

View in yet another direction (okay, okay, I forgot which is which!)

We wandered through the 22nd Floor Capitol Gallery and, being the five-year old boy that I am, got a thrill taking a poop in the highest bathroom in Tallahassee. 

Welcome to the Capitol Gallery

Such a fancy potty

Old People Alert!

Using the coolest elevators imaginable, our next stop was the 5th Floor, which is where the Florida House and Florida Senate is located. These elevators are so cool because you go to a touch-pad on the wall and tell it where you want to go, and an elevator will be dedicated just to that floor. No buttons to press inside! An elevator light will illuminate (such as Elevator P), and you get in that one, and it just... goes! 

Floor, Please?

Here is your elevator!

Obviously both the House and Senate were closed, but we could see the general area. 

Doors to FL House of Representatives

Metal Detectors (no, I didn't go in)

Senate Doors

Neat wood carving

There was also this room, which I have no idea what it is... After doing some digging, I believe it's the Governor's Cabinet Room, which is cool... you see it a lot when he does press conferences sometimes. I wanted to physically go in and touch stuff (oh, you know me... I wanted to stand behind the podium!), but I was trying to be super-respectful of our immense privilege of being there after hours.

Governor's Cabinet Room

 Also on this floor is a fun Lego replica of the Old Capitol!

I don't think I could touch each side, it's wider than my wingspan

Built by Master Model Builders at LEGOLAND

And in the middle of the space is a large open area where you can look down one floor to see the walls lined with Florida Facts, such as State Bird, State Song, etc. 

Florida Facts

We the People of the (BEST) State of Florida

Welcome!

We took the cool elevator again to the Lower Level, where you could see the Great Seal and this fun welcome sign. You could also go to DeSantis, Nunez, and Moody's offices on this floor (again, no surprise that everyone was gone, but it would have been so cool to run into any of them!) It was all just so peaceful and empty; it made me wonder what the place looked like on a random Tuesday when Congress was in session and everyone was working.

Nobody's home

There was a list of Governors on the wall in this hallway, and one that caught my eye was Kenneth Wood "Buddy" Mackay, Jr, who only served 24 days (and, as of 2022, was our last Democrat Governor). We speculated why, and when I got home, I looked it up. Mackay was the Lieutenant Governor under Lawton Chiles, from 1991 to 1998. Sadly, he became Governor when Chiles passed away on December 12, 1998, and served until January 5, 1999, when Jeb(!) took office. Buddy was born in Ocala, just a little ways away from where we live. He graduated from Ocala High School and UF in 1954. He served in the Air Force, then came back to UF for his Law Degree. After his short governorship, he was a US Special Envoy for the Americas under President Clinton, until 2001. From what I can tell, Mr. Mackay is still alive and living a quiet life in Central Florida. 

Bye, Buddy! Hope you find your dad...uh, wrong Buddy.

After a few more photos we headed back to the car. 

Sometimes the simplest photos are the best photos

In the car, we tried to decide what to do for dinner, but neither of us wanted to actually go home. So we drove hundreds of miles out of the way to go to St. Augustine for a Buc-ee's pit stop! It was a crazy long drive (almost 4, because of rain and Friday rush-hour), and we really should have taken a stretch break in the middle. Right when we got near Buc-ee's, I took a wrong turn and ended up on I-95 again (whoops!) so we got off at the next exit, State Road 16. Upon exiting, we saw that there was a Hustler Hollywood store right there, so of course we had to stop and check it out (giggity). 

No G.I.Hoes for me

Between here and Buc-ee's, we dropped about $200 and finally made it home at about 1am. We unpacked the car and brought everything in, unpacked basics for the night and crashed! 

What a trip this was!

When can we do it again?

                                               Shirt of the Day                                               

Strange Planet - Responsibility Saddens Me
(Typically my Going Home Shirt)