# (Poll) How far will humans wander in search of food? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283 "2004-08-30T18:58:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/1 "2004-08-30T18:58:23Z")
What I’m referring to is how far any of you may have traveled for no other reason than to have lunch or dinner somewhere. I’m tempted to cite a flight I made Houston-New Orleans last week, in which I was to make a presentation at a lunch ‘n’ learn, and where no one showed up, but I can’t really say that the trip was made only to eat. My real longest such trip would have to have been a drive from Johnstown, PA to Pittsburgh (about 70 miles) to eat at the Station Square restaurant, some years back. I suspect many could beat that distance. How about you? Oh, and how was the food? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/2 "2004-08-30T21:58:08Z")
This is one of those things that I’d like to _think_ that I would do, but thinking about it, the farthest I’ve driven for dinner was about fifty miles to surprise my wife with dinner at a nice southern food restaurant with her parents. I’ve driven a little over an hour to buy barbecue to take home (Cooper’s, in Llano, Tx. …and they were out of cabrito! :mad: ) I’ve also driven across town to buy doughnuts for breakfast. I also once drove from Austin to Denton, Tx. (200 miles) to have dinner with my brother, but it was his fiftieth birthday, so somehow I don’t think it counts. My sister lives about one hundred miles away and I’ve visited her for dinner, but I don’t think that that counts either. Speaking of my brother though, he once drove from Galveston to Lake Charles, La. for dinner. His girlfriend didn’t ask how much farther until they were almost to the state line. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/3 "2004-08-30T22:23:47Z")
1. I once drove from my home in Vancouver, BC to Hope, BC for a cup of coffee at 02:00. 2. I once left my home in Vancouver, BC in search of dinner, but with no particular dining destination in mind. Dinner ended up being breakfast in Edmonton, Alberta. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/4 "2004-08-30T22:25:31Z")
I have driven to Indianapolis (70 miles round trip) many times to eat at a fancy restaurant, and a few times I’ve driven there to eat spicy stew at the humble Mousetrap lounge, or to Muncie (50 miles round trip) to get carry-out ribs at QL’s. Before Anderson got a White Castle, it was common to hear of somebody driving to Indy on a whim to get a bag of White Castle hamburgers. Of course, I’ve had delightful meals much farther away than that, but I didn’t go there just to eat. Furthermore, I don’t suppose travelling to hunt or fish really counts, because the hunting and fishing is entertainment in itself. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/5 "2004-08-30T22:41:32Z")
OK, it looks like **Fuji** wins. Anyway, on our wedding night, (this is _later_ on our wedding night, mind you) we were both starving. We were in a motel across from the ocean, south of St. Augustine. It shouldn’t be too hard to find some food at 2 AM, should it? So we set out driving south, because we remembered from driving there from Jacksonville, that there were no places to eat along the way. We kept driving, and driving some more. And still driving. There is nothing open! Anywhere! Not even a gas station! Close to 4 AM, and more than a hundred miles from the motel, we came at last to an all-night Publix grocery store. The only things we could find to eat that didn’t require a kitchen and utensils and stuff, were convenience foods. Chips, candy. No sandwiches had been made, there were no fresh baked goods yet. Everything else was frozen, in a can, or required preparation and cooking. We had to buy a bunch of that crap and eat it on the way back, because by this time we were ravenous! Anybody want to get rich? Open a 24-hour restaurant on the coastal highway south of St. Augustine! ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/6 "2004-08-30T23:13:36Z")
When we lived in Pennsylvania we drove from Meadville to Pittsburgh several times to eat at Le Pommier. That’s about 90 miles one-way. We also took a trip to Philadelphia where the major goal was a dinner at Le Bec Fin, although we did other stuff, too. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/7 "2004-08-30T23:25:20Z")
Well, **Fuji** gets the nod so far. I suppose one of the things I had in mind were the old stories of someone taking the Concorde to Paris just to eat at Maxim’s or some such. OTOH, I even lived there and yet never made it to that particular joint. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/8 "2004-08-30T23:27:24Z")
When I lived in Albuquerque, I made the [trek to Chimayo](http://makeashorterlink.com/?N21E53C29) a couple times per year in order to eat at the _Rancho de Chimayo_, where you get the world’s best carne adovada. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/9 "2004-08-30T23:31:02Z")
I regulalrly drive twenty miles to eat dinner at a favorite restaraunt in Salem, OR. Of course, I live in a tiny town outside of it so if I want to get food that I myself didn’t prepare, I’m in for a drive of at least fifteen miles anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/10 "2004-08-30T23:39:58Z")
Not me, but many years ago my wife (before we were even dating)moved from Los Angeles to the Bay Area for college. One night, she and a friend from high school who was also living in the Bay Area were talking about how much they missed _Canter’s_, the old deli that many of us Fairfax high school alumni frequented. Well, Canter’s is open 24 hours, and the two decided then and there: Road Trip! They drove the approximately 385 mile journey in 5.5 hours, arrived at 2:30 a.m., ate, left, and got back about 9 a.m. A 770 mile round trip!! And you know what?? I would have gone right along with them had I been present at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Graycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Graycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graycat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/11 "2004-08-30T23:43:48Z")
When I was pregnant with my son, we once drove 500 miles from Frankfurt, Germany to Sloos, on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands, because I had a craving for waffles as they are served at Petrus et Paulus restaurant there. The restaurant was closed; the first few hotels we tried were fully booked, so we drove home. We put 1,00 miles on the car in about twenty-four hours. Not something I would try again. That restaurant has the best waffles, though. We stopped there a few years later, and they were as good as I remembered. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/12 "2004-08-30T23:46:48Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Anybody want to get rich? Open a 24-hour restaurant on the coastal highway south of St. Augustine! Ohhhh yeah. There are even fewer restaurants south of Daytona than north of it! Completely desolate. There’s still only around one gas station between Daytona and Titusville and it’s like .20 more a gallon than elsewhere. Myself, sometimes I want to drive from Orlando to Indialantic (around Melbourne,) more than 70 miles, just to eat at Bizarro’s New York Pizza (it’s on the beach…the best pizza by the slice I’ve ever had\*). But I’ve never done so. \*of course, i’ve never lived in NYC or Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/13 "2004-08-31T06:10:05Z")
My husband and I used to go from Chonan, Korea to Seoul to eat at a Pakistani restaurant. We would make a day of it and do other things in Seoul as well, so it’s not like we were going that far _just_ to eat. (About 100 km, give or take.) ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/14 "2004-08-31T07:21:36Z")
I grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C. When I was a kid, I asked my dad if I could have lobster for my 10th birthday. He packed up the car and the family drove to Kennebunkport, Maine so that I could have a lobster dinner. Pretty cool. We ended up making a vacation out of it, so I don’t know if it counts. When I was in college (University of Maryland), my boyfriend and I drove to Ocean City in the middle of winter so that he could have crab soup at some restaurant he liked (I can’t even remember what restaurant it was). My college friends and I talked about making a road trip to Philadelphia one night to get cheesesteaks, but since the idea didn’t occur to us until about 11:00 and we’d been drinking pretty heavily (which is part of what made the idea of cheesesteaks so appealing), we headed down to the local pizza joint instead. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/15 "2004-08-31T07:37:57Z")
Well once I traveled durring rush hour traffic from Richardson Tx. to downtown Dallas to eat at this Mexican joint. However I took the Dart Rail so it took all of about ten minutes to get there. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/16 "2004-08-31T07:47:44Z")
On a couple of occasions I’ve flown from Sydney to Melbourne (a round trip of about 1400 km) to have lunch with friends. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/17 "2004-08-31T10:46:04Z")
Not that far as the crow flies, but my wife and I walked for about 90 minutes to find a place to eat. Well, that’s not entirely accurate, since there are dozens of places to eat all with 5 minutes of our apartment. We spent 90 minutes walking around looking for a restaurant that she saw profiled on a TV show the other day that’s somewhere in this neighboorhood, but she’s not sure where, so lets just walk around an find it. Hmmm… it doesn’t seem to be around here, or maybe it’s closed, so let’s look for something else, no, I don’t feel like having that, let’s keep looking. No, that place doesn’t look so interesting, let’s walk over to this neighborhood. No, that place looks too cheap, that place looks too expensive, that place looks too crowded, that place looks too empty. And so on, and so on, and so on. By the time we settled on a place we were five minutes away from our apartment. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/18 "2004-08-31T10:54:49Z")
Hmm, lessee. Took a train from Frankfurt to Nürnburg(berg?) just to have the sausages. It’s about 2+ hours by train, so I suspect well over 100 km. We also drove once for two hours up the Rhine just to eat at a little place along the Rhine that had the best sauerkraut we’d ever had, only to find the place had gone out of business and there was nothing else like it nearby. I’d estimate it was about 100 km. And we once drove up the Olympic peninsula in Washington to Dungeness just to have Dungeness crabs. But that was a sidetrip on a vacation, so not sure it counts. Also I’m not certain how far it was but it seemed forever and it was not very scenic. ---
**Author:** ![Farmwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-how-far-will-humans-wander-in-search-of-food/262283/19 "2004-08-31T11:43:33Z")
Binghamton to NYC and back in one night. 400 miles round trip. The objective: Take-out for 9 from Wo Hop Restaurant in Chinatown.