by Fred Tolleson

Created on: July 19, 2010

Eating on the road can be a burden for the driver and passenger alike.  The driver is too focused on driving to the daily destination to eat and the passenger is usually too busy sleeping to take the time to eat!  In my early employment years I was an insurance investigator and discovered some immutable data about restaurants, fast food parlors and similar.  Some of these may benefit you, as you travel about the country.

Planning your day of travel is probably the first and most important rule.  If you come to the lunch hour and the nearest town is 50 miles away you have not planned too well.  Try to begin with a decent breakfast at your motel.  Most motels offer some pretty good fare, for free, right off of the front office.  With the recent advent of the "waffle machine" this meal takes on a new shine.

Lunch on the road always presents a problem because you usually have too many choices.  If you are in a town of any size, but not a major metropolitan area, I found that if you head for the downtown area you will find some good food, reasonably priced. This happens because the  competition in downtown keeps the prices down.  Don't pull off the freeway at one of those gas station emporiums. Prices are too high and usually, the food is terrible.  If you can't afford the time to go downtown, at least go 5-6 blocks away from the freeway (or your vacation route) and look for a major intersection.  Almost invariably, a major restaurant chain has located one of their finest here. 

Dinner can be a problem if you like to eat a full dinner.  This means the motel recommendation for a local full service restaurant may be your only hope.  If you stop at a Best Western motel, they usually have their own restaurant that are reasonably priced and good food. If you want to take your honey to a really good spot, you'll have to rely on local sources.  The waitress or window worker of most fast foods knows where the really good restaurants are located.  If you have your mouth set on having a fresh seafood dinner and are located in the midwest, you have a real problem.  Go with the local food possibilities for steak, chops or other specialty food. 

I have a habit of rising early in the AM and driving for 1-2 hours (having coffee only at the motel room) before stopping for breakfast.  On many highways this practice will give you untold choices.  Simply watch the signboards, along the road, for the location of your favorite food provider.  You can do the same for the other two meals but I really like this practice for breakfast.

Suppose you are visiting someone a few days out and want to celebrate the visit with a meal.  Ask your host to find a restaurant, the kind of food you really like, and is also acceptable to your host.  If you are really putting the "dog" on and want a bottle of wine, make sure local laws permit this practice and find out what your host would prefer.  Many times a specialty restaurant, or restaurant where you would celebrate an event  like this have a stock of reasonably priced wines which you would usually find acceptable.

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