MAYrathon 2.0 Day 28 - Down South (Cheerwine, Sierra Nevada, Bojangles, Cook Out)

Today, as I drove from Indiana to North Carolina, I had some southern things.

I started with lunch at Bojangles in Kentucky. I've had Bojangles once before long ago but only for breakfast. I've wanted to check out their lunch for quite some time. Upon first entering, I was reminded instantly that I was in the south. From the country music on the radio to the Jesus quotes all over the wall to the southern drawl of the local yokels who all seemed to know each other. Bojangles is mainly known for their friend chicken, so I went for the three piece meal with mac and cheese and coleslaw. The coleslaw sucked a bag of asses - it was like cubes of cabbage with no flavor. The rest; however, was quite tasty. The chicken was crispy, greasy and mouth-watering and the mac was even better than KFCs. Ironically, I didn't stop at a KFC whilst in Kentucky; maybe on the way back. And the craziest thing was that in their fountain machine was CHEERWINE! I had to double check the blog but apparently I've never talked about Cheerwine before. I'll do a separate blog on it some day, but in short, it's a regional favorite in the south. It's essentially a black cherry soda akin to Kool Aid but carbonated. It's delicious and was awesome to see it in fountain drink form.

After lots of driving, it was time for dinner where I chose another southern staple: Cook Out. Originating out of North Carolina, Cook Out is a Sonic-like fast food joint where you drive up, place your order, get it to go in a Styrofoam container and go home. It's cheap too - my meal plus a drink was less than six bucks. I went with the pulled pork sandwich with hush puppies and slaw. Once again, the slaw sucked. I thought coleslaw was big in the south but thus far it's been a disappointment. The hush puppies were great! The sandwich itself was ok. It included coleslaw within the sandwich and instead of being smothered in bbq sauce, it was plain w/ sauce on top. Meh. It was fine I guess.

I also made a trip to the Sierra Nevada Brewery which was huge! I picked up some brewery exclusive items which I will enjoy........now.