Many people from outside of New Jersey associate Wawa, the popular convenience store brand, with the state. If you spend time in South Jersey, you know that all Wawas are like gas station convenience stores with great food and some of the best coffees on the market. You can tell when a Wawa was built from the outside, and many of our favorite old Wawas will be closed as the new Super Wawas move in. However, there's one Wawa in the state that's sure to surprise you - the retro Doo-Wop Wawa in Wildwood.
According to interviews with Wawa diehards, the Times quoted fans who proclaimed a particular devotion to “their Wawa” in a way that you can't imagine for other convenience stores. The brand started with a small dairy farm and processing plant owned by George Wood in Wawa, Pennsylvania. Straddling cheap and delicious, Wawa still has a special place in many hearts. It's the antithesis of soulless convenience stores, offering service that exceeds expectations and food that outperforms its competitors.
Growing up in a resort town on a barrier island, I became familiar with Wawa and its dual personality - on the outside it looks like a convenience store, but on the inside it's much more. It makes sense for Wawa to produce regular products; good sandwiches and good coffee together meet many of life's needs. But as I visited other Wawas over the years, I loved seeing echoes of my own store elsewhere. For people like me who have always lived close to one, Wawa is special.
After hours on a surfboard, a Wawa sandwich tastes like something that has come down from the Olympus dining tables. It may be Wawa Kool-Aid who is drinking, but if I can continue to find such joy in a sandwich chain at a convenience store, fill my cup, please.
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