Cracker Barrel (love their biscuits)
Captain D’s (it’s been a long time)
Taco Bell
Olive Garden soup, salad, breadsticks
Bojangles
McDonald’s(a good filet o’ fish is sublime)
Little Caesars (sometimes you just want some $8 pizzas)

CHEESECAKE FACTORIE

I love canned veggies and can eat them straight from the can. But I grew up lower middle class and that’s what we ate!

I forgot about Kroger Private Selection! So good!

I always seek out Hampton Inns. Had a great experience with one in Atlanta - actually paid to stay an extra day. I never do that. The one near my MIL makes it worth spending $300 not to sleep on a foldout sofa for two days. They have vanilla waffles with real whole strawberries in syrup and Bigelow Earl Grey tea.

Some Drurys (my BIL calls this chain "Dreary") also have very nice breakfasts.

Hotel Indigo in NYC at 50 Trinity Place was the newest and cleanest hotel I've stayed in in New York. Without jumping out of the mass price category. Nice IKEA-like shelving helped us manage 4 people in a cozy double room.

Speaking of IKEA and Cracker Barrel...I love to stop at these to dine when I'm on road trips. Can always get salmon at IKEA and rainbow trout and great sides instead of the usual junk fast food.

Taco Bell ordinary hard shell beef tacos are good enough to make the rest of the experience bearable.

Detroit coney dogs! Someone was picking on those on another thread. We've had them catered for two employee events. With fresh onions, they are surprisingly tasty. They are made with normal size hot dogs so they are not gut bombs. Very much the equivalent of a tasty nachos order or a cheeseburger. If you like those things, you will probably find a coney dog tasty.

Kroger Simple Truth and Private Selection house brand gourmet foods. Usually better than gourmet brands. Have switched from Perrier to mostly Simple Truth sparkling water.

Pepperidge Farm cinnamon raisin bread because of how it toasts up. Honorable mention: Thomas's English Muffins with Cranberries (haven't seen these this year).

Netflix, Bridgerton, and the books the series was based on.

Regular class airline seats because as a short woman, the expensive seats leave my feet dangling like Lily Tomlin in a rocking chair.

Gone but never forgotten - White Mountain Malt Cooler. RIP.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Mountain_Cooler

It is hard to find Long John Silver's anymore, but I love their shrimp! Plus, they always throw in a bunch of those fried crispy batter drippings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn still seem fancy to me compared to the places we stayed when I was a kid lol

I laughed at the mention of Embassy Suites. When I was a kid that was like the height of luxury. We thought three were so lucky to stay at one. A suite!

+1. And the free breakfast!

I still love a mid hotel breakfast. Particularly those potatoes they always have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn still seem fancy to me compared to the places we stayed when I was a kid lol

I laughed at the mention of Embassy Suites. When I was a kid that was like the height of luxury. We thought three were so lucky to stay at one. A suite!

+1. And the free breakfast!

So this thread is my chuckle of the day. Thanks for posting, OP.

Hyatt Place near airports is our go to for late arrival or early departures on a stopover.

Anonymous wrote:As an antidote to DCUM derision, I am reflecting on my Thanksgiving trip to the Midwest with gratitude and awe.

My parents' house is beautiful, their neighbors are kind and generous, and my hometown is delightful.

To get there, it's a 10-hour drive. We drove straight there on the way, but on the way home, we broke the trip up with an overnight stay at a Hampton Inn (with a pool!) and ate dinner at the Olive Garden.

You know what? The Olive Garden treated us freaking RIGHT. Breadsticks and salad on point, and plentiful. All the entrees and kids meals were good. Glass of wine? Yes, please. It was pleasant and clean, the server was nice, the price was a downright bargain. Everyone had a good time. What a nice break after a long day of driving.

Hampton Inn, similarly great. Clean and nice rooms, nice breakfast area with edible-but-hey-free food, pleasant staff.

Here is your chance to say nice things about everything DCUM sneers at. Cracker Barrel, Embassy Suites, lazy rivers, buffets, Ann Taylor, Five Below, Aldi, Great Wolf Lodge, lay it on me. Tell me all about it. I want to hear all the NICE things you have to say about the not-finer things in life.

I didn't know Hampton inn was lowbrow. I think its a great place to stay with kids.

Arby's Beef n Cheddar sandwich

cheese broccoli soup from Panera on the Ohio and PA turnpikes

A box of tacos from Taco Bell

romance novels

Grey's Anatomy

pajamas, fleece, and other casual wear from Costco

Hampton Inn in Fruitland Md. Rooms are newly remodeled. Pool has been remodeled. Staff are great. Free breakfast is fine.

Overlook corn fields.

30 miles to OC.

Stay here and commute to OC.

Chili's. Appetizers and cheap beers.

Love Hampton Inn. No it’s not luxury, but for freeway/interstate lodging, I think it’s the best. Olive Garden is also great. No, it isn’t authentic, but it’s tasty and in this era of shrinkflation, they give you a ton of good.