Chris Blasinsky:
Jump right in there, Al!

Al Hebert:
You know, I work in TV. I just jump in.

Chris Blasinsky:
It’s all good. You’re one of our favorite people, you write for NACS Magazine, we’ve known you for quite some time. And if there’s anything, that we are going to lean on you for it’s the road trip.

Al Hebert:
I love NACS Magazine. It’s the only magazine that I read and I suggest that’s the only magazine anybody in the c-store business reads. It’s great.

Chris Blasinsky:
I’ll take that. So Al, tips and tricks of the road trip, and the reason why we’re talking about that right now is because we’re in the midst of our summer drive for convenience stores, which is when people are hitting the road, people are out and about stopping off at their favorite c-store and finding what they need, whether it’s to refuel or to refresh or to, um, you know, use the facilities. So you’ve been on a ton.

Al Hebert:
I have, and you know when I saw this I thought, okay, well, I hope I’m going in the right direction here. For road trips, I think there’s some simple things that if you’re a traveler you should have, like scissors. If you don’t have a pair of scissors in your car, and I mean, big scissors, you need these things more often than not.

Jeff Lenard:
Let the record reflect that while this is a podcast, Al also brought his props. So he is waving around a pair of scissors right now.

Al Hebert:
I’m going to try to be a descriptive, just like old-time radio, to describe these things. But yes, I do work best with props, Jeff, I love props.

Chris Blasinsky:
Are we going to be calling you MacGyver by the end of this?

Al Hebert:
Look, I’m going to show you something that’s will blow you away. So you may be calling me MacGyver. I’m going to show you something that’s going to save your upholstery. If you have kids…

Chris Blasinsky:
It better be duct tape.

Al Hebert:
This is going to be better than duct tape. Comfort on a road trip. If you’re between c-stores on a highway, one of the things I noticed when we would take trips with the children is we had so many pillows: car pillows, hotel pillows… so for the car, I have a pool noodle. And what I do with the pool noodle is I take my scissors and I cut the noodle to about the size of a pillowcase. And then you put it inside of a pillowcase and you put the pillowcase behind your neck when you’re traveling and boom, everybody has a pillow. Kids aren’t screaming, your spouse isn’t screaming—92 cents buys you a lot of peace on a trip.

Chris Blasinsky:
Neck support.

Al Hebert:
It is great neck support. I love this. And it’s better than those expensive $10 travel pillows. I found this in a c-store when Frank Beard and I took a trip to the NACS Show. So I go in the c-store and it’s early in the morning and they had biscuits and gravy, which I am just insane for. If I cut myself now I would bleed gravy and hopefully some biscuit. And so I’m wondering, it’s the beginning of the day and I was talking to the clerk and I said, gosh I hope I don’t spill because you know, eating in a car can be dangerous. And she said you need a bib. And what did she do? She got a bag. It’s the plastic bag you get. …What I do is I tuck it into my collar and with children, you can tie it or you can take your scissors, cut it, and make it a little bit wider. Scissors. You gotta have scissors. So the other thing I wanted to show you, one of my favorite preps for a trip is, um, you know, sometimes kids will throw up in a car.

Chris Blasinsky:
And dogs.

Al Hebert:
Dogs! So I’ve got this embroidery hoop, which you can get at any craft store and simply take the embroidery hoop and you put the plastic bag in it like this.

Chris Blasinsky:
It’s like a throw-up catcher.

Al Hebert:
It is. And unlike the store bought one, this is the DIY barf bag. This is about eight inches, a huge target, which children need. And so these are just little things I prepare when I go on a road trip. Have the barf bag everywhere, but I gotta tell you scissors and a pool noodle will make your trip beautiful. One of the things I love about c-stores is the people behind the counter can be so helpful. And I’m really good at acting dumb—I’m not so sure I’m acting at times—and they are so wonderful about offering advice. A million times we’ve bagged groceries and I’ve seen these bags and never thought about making a bib out of them. So those bags that you get at any grocery store will make an excellent bib, make an excellent DIY bar bag. You save your upholstery, you save your carpet, save your trip. It’s wonderful. That’s how I prepare for road trips.

Chris Blasinsky:
There you go.

Jeff Lenard:
So we’re spending the whole month of May talking about road trips. We did surveys a couple years ago and asked what’s your worst memories and things like that. And it turns out people’s memories are actually pretty good about the road trips. They forgot about the barf thing and all the screaming and all that stuff. Why are road trips such a thing that there’s movies and all kinds of remembrances that are positive about them? Why is that, Al?

Al Hebert:
You know, Jeff, we are a car culture. Think about it. Americans love cars. We love big cars, small cars, sporty cars, fast cars, slow cars. We just love cars. At one time before everybody in America flew, when you went somewhere you put the family in the car and you went on a trip. Everybody’s in the car and people were singing songs and it was part of what people of my generation grew up with. And I think that somehow that’s in our DNA. I believe that our love of cars, our love of highways, is just part of that. And of course when it became more affordable to fly and more people were flying, I think we sort of lost the adventure of a road trip.

Al Hebert:
I think people are getting back there. The pandemic had everybody inside and maybe we still don’t want to hop on a plane with a bunch of strangers, but I think getting back to the road trip, getting back to that adventure is something that really appeals to Americans. That’s why it’s popular and it’s coming back now. I get calls all the time about road trips. I think part of the American DNA is hopping in the car and going somewhere.

Jeff Lenard:
When somebody travels over Thanksgiving or something like that, that’s not considered a road trip because it’s just a straight drive. What are the elements of a road trip? Do you have to have a certain number of trips or what what’s in your mind?

Al Hebert:
I think it’s a multi-day trip. Our in-laws lived eight hours away so every time we went there, it was a road trip. So if you live far away, that’s a road trip. But you can take a simple 50 mile drive, hit the back roads and turn that into an adventure. Gas is not cheap and so maybe people don’t feel like taking the big trips, but I like to hit the back roads. You find such amazing things. I’m on this wacky morning show and we were covering a flood and we were on this back road and I found this c-store in the middle of nowhere. I promise you, as far as I could see, there was nothing and there’s a c-store.

Al Hebert:
So I tell my folks, we gotta go in his place. And we go in and I discovered fried pigtails. I’d never seen those before and fried pigtails are delicious. It’s crazy. And this genius thought of frying ’em and selling ’em for under two bucks. They’re delicious. So, you know, when you’re on a road trip, the key is you gotta stop in these really quirky places. And a lot of times someone in the car is going to say I don’t want to go in there. And that’s just the place you want to go in because you’re going to find treasures there. You’re going to find culinary treasures and great food and you’re going to find wonderful personalities. I love everybody I run into in c-stores. I often joke that each month when I do my NACS story that I have a crush on a store.

Al Hebert:
I love these people. I get so involved with them. I know about their families and things like that. So I think if it’s a long road trip, you gotta stop everywhere. If you have chance to get off the interstate and hit those back roads, you’re gonna find quirky things out there. And even if it’s a 50 mile road trip, get off the main roads, you’re gonna find neat things. It might be kind of strange to some people, but you’re gonna make memories. And I think that’s part of what a road trip is all about; it’s making those memories, great food, great people, quirky people.

Chris Blasinsky:
Speaking of great food, you’ve certainly tried most everything. Have we stumped you yet? Is there anything where you were just like, absolutely not.

Al Hebert:
Well, yes. I was at a small c-store in Texas and there was this Spanish word that I didn’t understand. And the guy said, well, that’s the most tender part of the cow. And I said, well, what is that? He said, you know, I’m gonna let you try it. I should have known it was a mistake. He served it in this little cup and it looked like roast beef and it had the texture of pudding. It was indeed the most tender part of the cow. He explained that it was cow cheek. I had never had that before. Didn’t even know it was something you could eat. It was like meat pudding.

Al Hebert:
It was the most intense meat flavor I’ve ever tasted. It was like pudding. And when I left—this is weird—my cheeks began to hurt . My wife works in a hospital. I called her and I said, hey my cheeks hurt. And she said, that’s all in your head. You know, cow cheek doesn’t make your cheeks hurt, but I swear to God for the next six hours, my cheeks hurt. So that was one of those things I don’t think I’m going to do again. I’m on the fence about tongue. I don’t know if you guys have that up there. If it’s done right, it’s okay. But, you know, I’m finding a lot of rabbit in c-stores down here. I go to these little tiny stores and rabbit has become very popular in c-stores down here. I like rabbit, it’s a lot like chicken but I think I would cook chicken instead.

Jeff Lenard:
There’s different kinds of ways people travel. Say it’s 600 miles, we’re going to get there and we’re not going to stop. And if you have to go, too bad. Then it sounds like there’s other people like you. What level of research do you do when you hit the road or do you let the road just come to you?

Al Hebert:
I kinda let the road take me and I think that’s the fun of the adventure. If you’ve got a timeline and you’ve got to be someplace by Christmas or for some event, that’s a little bit different. But I think when you have the luxury of going somewhere to stop, I’ll take the back roads. I’ll find some quirky little store with someone behind the counter who’s done something really unique with food and those are the treasures for road trip.

Jeff Lenard:
Chris, didn’t we stop at one store and the clerk’s name was Night Stalker?

Chris Blasinsky:
Yes, a former chairman, Richard Oneslager, had this brilliant idea that we were doing to rent an RV and travel from LA to Chicago, which was where the NACS Show was being held that year. I think gas prices were a record high because it was shortly after some bad weather but it was quite the adventure and we stopped at some interesting places.

Jeff Lenard:
3,000 miles.

Al Hebert:
There’s so many cool things in gas stations. I found Hitler’s limo in a gas station, which I talk about all the time. And then the psychic goat, things like that. I found chicken on a stick, which I thought was kind of brilliant.

Chris Blasinsky:
We stopped at a place that supposedly had a six-legged cow, but all of them had four. So I don’t know where that came from. And the largest prairie dog, biggest ball of yarn, a round barn, I think we were in Oklahoma.

Jeff Lenard:
It was right outside of Oklahoma City. And the idea was that tornadoes would only strike square things and it would just bounce off a round barn. We asked them if that was true, and they said well, the barn is still here.

Al Hebert:
There’s great things that I remember from road trips when I was a kid. Like there was a snake farm and I always wanted to stop at the snake farm and my parents would never stop at the snake farm. I still remember that. There’s so many cool memories that children have of road trips that you’re not going to have on a plane.

Chris Blasinsky:
You made a good point there. So parents, if you’re listening, if you’re in a big hurry and you have small kids, let them have the adventure. You will get there.

Al Hebert:
Let them go to the snake farm!

Jeff Lenard:
And just a penny candy, some kind of souvenir. I don’t think they sell postcards anymore.

Chris Blasinsky:
Magnets, I get magnets.

Al Hebert:
Oh, I love magnets. I’m seeing a resurgence in what they call vintage candy. Are you seeing that?

Jeff Lenard:
Yes! We talked a lot about going inside the stores and having that creativity but how can stores communicate that you have to stop there? What can they do to get Al’s attention?

Al Hebert:
I live my life in c-stores, so I’m always gonna stop, I’m always a little sad when I see stores are not using social media the way they should. If you’re going to get people to come in, you really have to work social media. And I think a cool thing to do if someone comes in your store and has a great experience, shoot a video with them, shoot a still picture with them and stick it on TikTok or Facebook, like what Anthony Perrine does with his videos. He’s like genius with that.

Al Hebert:
We live and die by social media. The small, individually owned c-stores are the ones I’m talking about. Those are the ones I go to. I look at their Facebook page and they hadn’t posted in six months, I wonder if they’re still open. I’m a fan of billboards, that’s what got me to Hitler’s limo.

Al Hebert:
If you own a c-store and you don’t have time for social media, there’s got to be a 16 year old kid out there who will do it for you. I interviewed a guy who uses social media religiously. And he says social media brings in an extra $1,000 a month to his store. So definitely use it because it will get you the business.

Al Hebert:
And clever billboards: Spend the money to get somebody who understands how to message on a billboard because I’ve seen billboards with so much text, I will wreck the van if I read all of it. So something pithy and something clever, that’s what you want.

Chris Blasinsky:
Al, before we let you go, we’re going to play trivia. You are our first repeat guest for trivia.

Al Hebert:
So excited.

Jeff Lenard:
Okay. Here it is: Against people’s warnings. NACS was the first food association to hold a convention in which city? Las Vegas, New Orleans, Chicago or Atlanta

Al Hebert:
New Orleans.

Jeff Lenard:
Las Vegas. In 1966, NACS was warned that the city was not suitable for families.

Chris Blasinsky:
Jeff is making these trivia questions too hard because nobody is getting them right. Jeff, you’re fired.

Al Hebert:

Jeff Lenard:
Las Vegas was full of scary anti-family people and they warned us against it. And that’s the place everybody wants to go now.

Al Hebert:
It’s so important if you own a c-store, especially if you own a small c-store, the NACS Show is so critical for you to attend. You gotta carve out the time, you’re going to get great ideas, meet a lot of people. Sometimes it’s so hard for these individual owners to get away, but the NACS Show is just such a great resource for store owners.

Chris Blasinsky:
Thank you for listening to Convenience Matters and we hope to see all of you on your next road trip, stopping at your local convenience store and getting off the beaten path. There’s a lot of cool stuff to be found. Thank you, Al. And we look forward to seeing you soon.

Outro:
Convenience Matters is brought to you by NACS and produced in partnership with Human Factor. For more information, visit convenience.org.

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