Free Cane Sweeeet Iced Tea Day @ Popeyes

When Christine told me last night that yesterday was National Iced Tea Day, I just knew we had to have some. And when we walked into Popeyes for dinner and the place was covered with flair advertising their brand-spanking-new offering, Cane Sweeeet Iced Tea, well, guess what we ordered to drink?

Actually, Greta and her sweet-tea-hating Mommy had water. And even though I am usually more of a Dr. Pepper man at Popeyes, I decided to honor this awesome holiday I knew nothing about by sampling the Cane Sweeeet Iced Tea.

And, man, was I glad I did! I haven’t had sweet tea in years, even when my Mom and sister lived in the South, we never drank it. I mean, it’s good and all, but, a little Southern sweet tea goes a long way. I’m not kidding, you get like, instant cavities…it’s freaky.

But this Popeyes deliciousness is a freaking revelation! I don’t know if it’s the cane sugar or what, but this is the best sweet iced tea I’ve ever had anywhere. And unlike most sweet tea, you can really taste the fresh-brewed tea in every sip. I actually had flecks of tea leaf in my ice when I finished! Awesome!

So, I take a bunch of pictures and am getting ready to blog about this cane sugar perfection and what do I read online? This Saturday, June 12th, in honor of National Iced Tea Day and Popeyes’ 38th anniversary, Popeyes locations nationwide are offering my favorite new drink in the world for free! That’s right, y’all, free Cane Sweeeet Tea for everyone! Yay!

Here’s hoping Popeyes has a rocking birthday and to the visionary soul who invented the best new holiday ever…we salute you. National Iced Tea Day 4eva!

Southern Style Chicken Sandwich @ McDonald’s

Hooray! After weeks of longing to try the lunch and dinner counterpart to the delicious Southern Style Chicken Biscuit at McDonald’s…we finally tried the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich, and all I can say is…wow!

Though nowhere near as lip-smackingly good as the breakfast biscuit, this is a truly tasty chicken sandwich for the ages, amigos. Seriously, this shit is delicious, and could that chicken breast be any bigger? Whoa, love to see the juicy-ass chicken that came from!

Anyway, as with the Southern Style breakfast biscuit, the key to this bad boy is simplicity. There is no mayo, no special sauce, hell, there’s not even any lettuce on this thing. Just a pickle, a bun and the best damn fried chicken breast money can buy. Really, that chicken was so juicy you didn’t need mayo. Delicious!

And did I mention the size? I actually thought that our gigantic chicken sandwiches were some kind of anomaly or something, but after carefully scrutinizing the chicken breasts of our fellow diners, I am happy to report that big old chicken breasts are the norm now at McDonald’s. Yeah!

And even though the initial flood of free chicken sandwich coupons have expired — many thanks again to Tevana and Natalie for keeping us so well-supplied with those things! — the legacy of this crazy good Southern Style Chicken marvel is just starting to spread…so, watch your back Chick-fil-A!

Cracker Barrel & Waffle House

No trip to the Old South would be complete without a stop at one or both of these fine dining establishments. And while native Southerners might scoff at that statement, trust me, to a couple of born and bred Californians, these places are downright exotic!

Cracker Barrel serves heaping, artery-clogging portions of fried, boiled, and mashed Southern staples. It’s not great food by a long shot, but, depending on what you order it can be pretty tasty (the Chicken Fried Chicken pictured below is amazing — the chicken and dumplings, a little less so) and the prices can’t be beat.

Plus, you literally can’t miss the place…we counted almost 20 locations on the drive from Raleigh to Nashville alone. But the real star of Cracker Barrel is the front porch and Old Country Store.

Just the fact that they have a wrap-around front porch at all is cool enough, but when you couple that with the fact that they actually sell the rocking chairs (most start at around $149.99) out there, well, how can you not love this place?

And the porch is just the beginning. Step inside the swinging front doors and you find yourself in a country store straight out of “Little House On The Prairie”.

Loaded with cool vintage candies, jams, toys, Southern spices and seasoning packets, cookbooks and a plethora of John Deere merchandise for the home, this place rocks. And, since they have been a proud sponsor of the Grand Ole Opry since 2004, their collection of Cracker Barrel exclusive CD’s leaves Starbucks decidedly in the dust. So, go for the food, but stay for the store. And no, the rocking chairs do not count as a carry-on item. We tried.

Now, for the pinnacle of our vacation breakfasts, our old standby…Waffle House.

Simple, cheap and delicious, Waffle House is truly heaven-sent. Where else on this planet can you get a single freshly poured waffle for only $2.70! Yeah, you heard me, Denny’s, $2.70! Incredible!

Anyway, I usually order the chocolate chip waffle ($.35 extra, but worth it) with a side of eggs and hashbrowns and Christine gets the pecan waffle with a side of bacon. But everything we’ve ever tried there is fantastic. And that sweet slab of country ham pictured below is like, death-row-inmate-final-meal spectacular! A must try!

And when you go make sure to bring tons of quarters, because aside from the kick-ass breakfast selections, most locations also have a jukebox. And this is no ordinary jukebox, friends, for this one comes equipped with a whopping two rows of songs about Waffle House. Seriously!

This place is so good, people write songs about it! And the music is great. None of the singers are really famous or anything, but the songs are hilarious: “I’ll Take Mine With Hashbrowns”, “Working At The Waffle House”, and our all-time favorite, “Grill Operator” sung to the tune of Sade’s “Smooth Operator”. Trust me, you never heard music like this at McDonalds. True road trip classics!

So, save the fancier, bigger-budget food for dinner and get yourself some Waffle House waffles ASAP. You won’t be disappointed!

On the web front, Cracker Barrel has a pretty cool website with tons of hillbilly stuff for sale and an e-mail newsletter called Front Porch News, which sounds kinda rad.

But if you really wanna experience these places online, check out the Waffle House tunes for yourself at: http://www.wafflehouse.com/musicmachine.asp