I’ve written about Wawa many times before, even devoting an entire blog post to this nearly mythical convenience store.
Here is the opening to that blogpost:
If you haven’t heard of Wawa, then just imagine what the ultimate convenience store would be like, and that’s Wawa. It’s better than 7-Eleven, Sheetz, or any regional convenience store chain you can think of. It’s a Philadelphia based chain, with stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida. If you ever visit the Philly area, then Wawa has to be on your list of places to visit.
There are over 900 locations, and there seems to be no sign of slowing down.
I tell my freshmen students who are not from the area that one of their first tasks is to visit a Wawa, and many of them fall in love with the store.
Admittedly, I’m a little biased, since I grew up with Wawa and have been a frequent visitor to Wawa over the past 50 years (I’ve already been there three times this week). And to add some icing to the cake, the CEO is a graduate of Villanova’s School of Business.
Would you put more faith in an outsider’s opinion – someone who is not even from the U.S.
OK, let’s do that.
Kate Winslet, the British actress who reached global stardom from her role in the classic Titanic film. recently filmed an HBO miniseries (Mare of Easttown) set in Delaware County, PA, which is where I live.
I’ve read a few articles abut how much Kate enjoyed her time in the area, but two stories really stuck with me.
First, Kate seems to really take her job seriously.
Winslet insisted that the “Delco accent“, a version of Philadelphia English common in Delaware County, be used, despite being a particularly difficult accent to learn, because she felt the community itself was an important character in the story, and the authentic accent would help emphasize that. She claimed that learning the accent was so difficult that it caused her to “throw things”.
Second, Kate fell in love with Wawa.
The British actor said that she decided to subscribe to the Delco Times, Delaware County’s daily newspaper, to better understand her character. And one thing she noticed while reading it every day was that there were a whole lot of articles mentioning Wawa, a beloved gas station-convenience store-fast food chain headquartered in ― where else ― the town of Wawa, in Delaware County. Winslet quickly found herself incredibly intrigued. “It almost felt like a mythical place … Wawa,” she told the Los Angeles Times podcast “The Envelope” adding: “By the time I got there, I was like, ‘It’s real!’ Walking into a Wawa ultimately felt like, it was kind of an honor, in a funny way, because to me that was the heart of Delco. So to finally walk through the door of a Wawa; I don’t know why I felt like, ‘Oh, yes, I’m here, I belong. This is where it’s at. Wawa.’”
So there you have it; proof of Wawa’s greatness.
And if you are ever visiting the Philly area, and you decide to stop at a Wawa, get in touch with me. I’ll gladly buy you a coffee and a hoagie…
But be warned, it is additive…
P.S. Mare of Easttown (HBO) is a great show…
If I am ever in the the area, I will certainly take you up on your offer!
Also… Full disclaimer… I am an enormous Kate Winslet fan. Yet I had no idea that this series existed. For this information, I thank you! 🌺
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I look forward to that cup of coffee; I hope you enjoy the series if you get a chance to watch it
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I’ve never been to a Wawa, as they don’t have them out here in California. But if I ever visit one, the first thing I think I’ll do is ask for Barbara.
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We have a Sheetz at the end of our road, if you come visit, I will buy you a coffee. LOL!
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We don’t have a Sheetz, either. But if I walked into one of their stores, I’d probably ask, “Does anyone here give a Sheetz?”
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“Haha!” Not surprised at all!
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it’s funny that these two competitors have such odds names – sheettz and wawa…
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LOL! True!
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If I walked into a Sheetz, I’d ask, “What’s it like to not be as good as Wawa?”
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That would be the Sheetz, for them. But are you sure Wawa is such a good store? It’s such a weird name. “Wawa” is one of the first words I learned as a baby. It came in handy when I was thirsty.
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and Wawa comes in handy when you’re thirsty…
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I suppose you could go to your local Wawa to buy some bottled wawa.
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in Philly, they call their bottled water “wooder”
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Heh-heh. You guys in the Northeast have a bunch of strange dialects.
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not as bad as New York or Boston…
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That’s probably what they say about Philly.
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they wouldn’t dare – we’ve got Rocky…
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New York has King Kong.
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but King Kong died, at least in the original…
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And Rocky is an old man, now.
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I’m still not going to mess with him…
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That’s probably wise.
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and plus it wouldn’t look good to get in a fight with an old guy… 🙂
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It wouldn’t look good for you, or him?
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it wouldn’t look good for me. first, for picking a fight with a 74 year old, and then it would look even worse when a I lose such a fight…
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I’ll bring a cup of Wawa for you… 🙂
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Haha!
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they should hire Barbara to be a spokesperson, or Kate Winslet…
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Barbara would be a great choice. If she’s still alive.
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I was not sure, so I had to check. She is still alive, at the age of 91…
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Wow, she’s getting up there. I suppose she’s retired by now.
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leaders around the world can breathe a sigh of relief…
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I remember when she interviewed Richard Pryor. That was kind of a fiasco.
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I’m not sure if I saw one, but that sounds like a volatile combination…
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She interviewed him several times. I think the last time was right after he was diagnosed with MS. That’s when he confused to beating his girlfriends and drug addiction, and all kinds of other things.
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I’m guessing you mean confessed? She was good at getting people to say things they probably wish they hadn’t…
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She was a damned good interviewer, and great all-around journalist, in my view. We need more Baba Wawas these days.
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she was tough…
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I really liked Wawa when I visited Philly. But this post burst my bubble about it. I always imagined the name was based on the kids version of water.
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that would have been a reasonable assumption. reality usually isn’t as good as the imagination…
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I am hooked on Mare of Easttown after three episodes. Now I feel like I got some inside insights.
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I like the show as well, and it’s nice to have the local connection…
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I’m recording Mare of Easttown so we will start watching next week.
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I hope you enjoy it!
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I remember you blogging about Wawa before. I still have yet to see one, but I live on the west coast.
The only thing better than seeing Kate Winslet in Wawa would be to reference it in her Academy Awards speech. “You might think that I’m going to credit my mom, dad, and those who inspired me to become an actress, but the real hero in my story is Wawa.”
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well if you get to the East Coast, it should be part of your visit.
And can you imagine how valuable that publicity would be to Wawa!
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You don’t have to sell me, my friend. I have been to the mountain top. And if ever chance should allow, the first round is on me!
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you’ve got a deal!
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i remember you fondly referencing wawa, and now this! i’m adding it to my list of places to visit in my travels. hawaii will just have to wait and move lower on the list!
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I remember “your” Wawa mentioned after I wrote about “our” Wawa in Ontario. I have to visit this institution once the borders open up…that hoagie sounds intriguing!
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I hope you like it if you get a chance to visit!
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Hmm. I feel this way about Kennie’s, a small, regional IGA grocery chain in and around Gettysburg. Although the appeal to me is that Kennie’s ‘sticks it to the big boys’ like Giant and Weis. Plus it’s employee owned. I’ve always assumed that Wawa is identical to Sheetz which in my mind is the best place to get Covid because for whatever reason, people refuse to wear masks there. I guess I’ll need to intentionally stop by a Wawa one day to understand the vibe. I don’t think there are any at all around central PA.
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None that I know of Jeff. I live near Harrisburg.
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I wonder if Harrisburg is where the transition from Wawa to Sheetz takes place…
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I think Wawa becomes dominant east of Lancaster county.
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that seems like a reasonable line of demarcation…
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I am not familiar with Kenny’s, but it sounds like my kind of place. I have not noticed a mask problem in Wawa; hopefully you get to visit one at some point…
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Interesting tidbit! Now I’m going to YouTube the delco accent lol im curious
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Jim, there is a bond between myself and Wawa in Maryland. There is one located in my wife’s hometown on the Eastern Shore, and we always find a few along the way. After I become a well-known writer (dream on), I just might be the newest Wawa celebrity.
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maybe you should start including references to Wawa in your writing!
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At first I thought you were talking Canadian. Somewhere in the back of my brain an inkling of remembrance of some Canadian Wawa vibrated, but don’t ask me for details as only the name has surfaced. Never been to Philly, but if the opportunity ever arises, I will certainly check it out. Especially now since it so dear to Kate W.
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there is a canadian link to wawa; hereis a blurb from its web site: “Wawa’ is a Native American word for the Canada Goose that was found in the Delaware Valley over 100 years ago.” The Delaware Valley is the area around Philadelphia…
It’s a must place to visit to get the full Philly experience… 🙂
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Let’s hope I get the opportunity to go there. I will be sure to watch out for the goose crap. It can be messy stuff.
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yes, it can be a bit messy…
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Wow Kate Winslet endorsing Wawa! I am going to have to keep an eye out for a movie star recommending Sheetz! LOL!
Sheetz is at the end of our street but I did grow up with Wawa, soooo…. I might have to agree with you. 🙂 They did make great hoagies! Now I am hungry.
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You may have to keep looking for a long time…
One of the co-stars of the show Mare of Easttown really liked the Gobbler hoagie, which is in limited release around Thanksgiving…
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Sounds like Kwik Trip.
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same line of business; Wawa just does it at another level…
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Fightin’ words! Funny, but here in Wisconsin everybody loves Kwik Trip, in Iowa they think Casey’s is the best. Iowa people are crazy! I’m looking forward to making my judgement on Pennsylvania in the not too distant future.
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it is funny how people become so attached to their local stores…
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It’s great to know you have that bond with one of our best actors, and that you have a mythical convenience store in your locality. As for Mare Of Easttown…I got bored half way through the first episode and haven’t tried it again…
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maybe you didn’t give it enough of a chance:
1. Lucy Mangan from The Guardian writing, “If you can have a defining performance this late in a career, this is surely Winslet’s. She is absolutely wonderful.”
2. Mare of Easttown received critical acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 92% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.97/10.
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Maybe I didn’t, but it just seemed so similar to other series that I’ve tried and given up on. I gave it half an hour of my valuable time! It’s still running, and the series so far is on catch up, so maybe I’ll try again. And I don’t always agree with Lucy Mangan either 😉
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I often don’t agree with critics either, but that’s a pretty good score on Rotten Tomatoes…
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True, but then again I don’t always agree with their scores either. It must be me 😂
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sometimes we don’t agree with the majority – and that’s a good thing…
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All Hollywood A-listers read your blog, Jim. Paul Newman told me that… cheers!
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tell Paul I said hello. Has he been to the pubs in Govanhill lately?
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Guy looks like him selling bootleg pasta sauce door to door
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and probably claiming it’s for a good cause…
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I remember your post about Wawa, Jim. The link with Kate Winslet, who I think is amazing, is really nice.
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she is a great actress, and it’s nice to see how much she embraced her time in the Philadelphia area…
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Wawa, Sheez, hoagie come on I’m a Brit…haha…that aside I did start to watch Mare of Easttown…Kate Winslett, I love but even because of that I only watched an episode and a half and frankly not for me…I hope you are having a great weekend, Jim 🙂 x
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Clive felt the same way; he only got through half an episode 🙂
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I love her even more now! So cool. And, that show is on my To-Watch List. I’ll definitely make a point to listen for her accent! I’m in West Chester, but close enough, right? 🕊
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the setting seems to be a blend of Delco and Chesco, and we are liking the show more each week 🙂
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That’s awesome!
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