DAY 10: Atlanta, Georgia
Miles traveled: 1,400
States visited: 7
Weather: 68, windy
I’ll be here in Atlanta for another day so I’ll file a full report on the city tomorrow. For now, I thought this would be a good time to address my food budget. As noted before, I’m living on a $7/day food budget, which sounds impossible, but it’s really not. First off, that doesn’t include the snacks & canned foods I already have in my van. And I’m only drinking water, so I never have to pay for drinks. I’ve been taking advantage of the $5 footlong at Subway – that’s big enough to serve as lunch and dinner. Those are great because they’re cheap and they allow me to get some fresh vegetables in my belly.
This is my best friend on the road: a giant bag of Tootsie Roll midgees.
I’m rolling over the food budget from day to day. So if I only spend $5.50 for food on Monday, the extra $1.50 carries over to Tuesday, meaning that I have $8.50 to spend. Whatever I don’t spend on Tuesday rolls over to Wednesday, and so on. So far I’ve been running a surplus on my food budget, so I actually have close to $20 available for food today, in the event that I feel like splurging and hitting up a chain restaurant (don’t count on it!)
I’ve had surprisingly little fast food, thankfully. Some meals I’ve cooked myself in a mini-oven which runs off the cigarette lighter. Other times I’ve eaten at diners or gotten hot food from a supermarket (the Harris Teeter chain in North Carolina is my new favorite grocery.) In terms of fast food, I’ve done Taco Bell, KFC, and Moe’s Southwestern Grill once each, and that’s it. Moe’s is great because you get a huge serving of free chips & salsa with every order, so you only have to order 1 taco, and you get enough food on your plate to stuff yourself. For less than $3!
On a somewhat related note, I keep seeing this store called FRED’S. But I have no idea what it is. A department store? A grocery store? A home improvement store? There’s absolutely no indication from the signs or from the outside of the store what it might be. I’m dumbfounded that Fred would be so secretive about his establishment. Doesn’t he want anyone to shop there? If I see another one, I’ll scope it out.
9000 Miles 
While you’re in Atlanta, you should eat a hamburger at The Varsity.
Do you think Fred is ‘the man?’
I saw a Varsity in Athens. I didn’t eat there. I did eat a hamburger at Vortex. Close enough!
Fred is the low price leader, that’s all I know.
Fred’s is like a Walmart
The Varsity that everyone raves about it in midtown. You’re not missing anything.
Fred’s used to be a major competitor for Walmart back in the early to mid eighties.. The stores were much bigger. After Walmart squashed them all, Fred’s became a small neighborhood discount retailer.
When I was younger the commercials featured Fred’s wife, who at the end of the commercial would yell “Fred, quit givin’ away the store!”
Fun Fact – – At the tender age of 5, I won the grand prize in a Fred’s holiday promotion. My prize was a five minute “toy-run” through the store, kinda like you’d see on Nickelodeon. I spent 5 glorious minutes grabbing all the toys I could. Everything I could get across a line at the front of the store was mine. In 5 minutes I managed to score over $500 in toys for my brother and I. Dunno who was happier, me or my Mom. Awesome memory.
Wow, that is a great Fred’s story! I am envious of your toy run.