Hey friends!! Today marks the last blog post of the Southern Series! So sad! ☹️ But also makes room for talking about other series from our past and for those that are coming soon to our future! Yay for new things! 🥳 So stick around to hear about our last nights stay at a budget motel, a really really good breakfast, (again!), and the giant snow squall we came across on the way back home. Woop woop!
The Good and The Bad of Howard Johnson
This nights sleep was decent, but I wouldn’t recommend a Howard Johnson motel in the future tbh. (Did you know that Howard Johnson was actually “motor lodge” to begin with? That’s where the term “motel” came from! Combining “motor” and “hotel!” …one of the many not as important things I learned while studying hospitality in college)…🙂 But cool, nonetheless!
Why didn’t we like it? Well, unlike the Country Inn, it just had a weird and outdated vibe to it. The price was great, coming in at only $71.19! (Which was by far the least amount paid for any stay of the trip). But the rest was just meh, and we’d rather have paid up a little for an overall better experience.
Once again, we struggled a bit with the bag situation, but made a mental note to bring organized bins, a tonto cover for the truck bed, and better duffels next time around. After we got back on the road, we stopped at Cathedral Cafe in Fayetteville, WV. It did *not* disappoint.
Southern Road Trip Day 15: The Biltmore Estate, King Tut, and Rainy Day Adventures
Where is Fayetteville, West Virginia?
Not only was this cute little cafe fabulous and quick, but they also had a really nice gift shop upstairs! (I may have purchased like a handful of too many things but, no complaints!)🤷♀️Their breakfast was so good, and the hot chocolate? WHYYY did this trip have the best hot chocolate every place we went?! It was amazing. Your girl was *not* sad about the incoming calories.
If you’re wondering where in the world Fayetteville is, it’s by the New River Gorge that is a popular exploration point for nature lovers and hikers like us! To be continued, we said! It’s only about a 3.5 hour drive from Pittsburgh, so we’ll definitely be back for some breakfast and epic hiking.💪
Our goal was to make it home this day, especially since it was a shorter driving day and we could get there in relatively good time. We planned it this way so that we’d have a lot of the day left, giving us mental space to unwind and only unpack what was needed. (Food, laundry, and essentials).
(One day, my goal is to have an extra of these essentials, so that I could pack quicker and worry less about leaving something behind like a box of contacts or retainer that I may actually need and can’t just purchase somewhere).😅
Southern Series Day 14: Savannah Eats, Motel Stays, and Slowing Down
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The Cost For Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
We stopped at a few more rest stops on the way home, noticing that PA and Ohio definitely had some of the nicest ones! Unfortunately it was quite obvious that we were nearing home again with the multiple snow squalls we encountered along the way! It was a welcome but also not so welcome surprise. 🙈
We then made our way over to Tropical Cafe for lunch that we saved to open at home during some chill time. After unloading some and saying hello to our furballs, (I missed them so much!!😭), we ordered some steak salads for dinner and turned on a good movie. It was bittersweet to not be on the road in some new adventure again, but also a comforting moment when we finally got to sit down and relax on the couch with the pets for the evening.
We talked about where we might go next, but also relished in the fact that we were finally back in our own space! Check out the expenses below for Day 16 and drop any thoughts or comments down below. Do you think 16 days was too long? Just enough for a trip like this? Or would you have preferred flying instead?
Thank you for being here and for following along! If you’re interested in hearing more about any of the stops we had in more depth check out Facebook/Instagram to see additional pics and videos. (Or stop back sometime for a future blog post that’ll go more in depth!) Catcha on the next series friend! ♡✌️☺️
Southern States Road Trip Expenses for Day 16:
- Breakfast: $55.01
- Souveniers & juice: $92.39
- Rest stop snacks: $5.00
- Lunch: $68.00
- Dinner: $80.75
- Total: $301.15
Thank You For Following Along Our 16 Day Trip
For everyone who traveled each day or any day with us, we are so grateful! All the locations from Nashville, Tennessee to Fayetteville, West Virginia we had lots of fun, ate great food, and learned plenty of new lessons. Until next time.
