Helloooooo, Tater Nation! Welcome to the 10th Annual Big Idaho Potato Tour! This is #spudicus coming at you live from the I-20 in Alabama on our way to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade! We are so excited to be traveling on a complete tour for the first time since 2019! The 2022 Team #spudracer, #tinytater, and I have been up to a lot since we departed from Boise, Idaho, two weeks ago! It’s my pleasure to share our stories, photos, and memories of our journey so far!!
Our first event was in Vidalia, Louisiana, for the eighth annual Cruising for a Cure car show. This event was hosted by Dusty Oaks and his wife D’Shay to help raise money for the American Cancer Society. Dusty himself is a three-time cancer survivor and was a gracious host giving us each his own cookbook full of some good ol’ fashioned southern recipes! It was amazing to see the small town of Vidalia filled with a wide range of fantastic cars! My favorite was the blue and yellow one with the hot wheels logo! (I don’t know a lot about cars). This event was also the tour’s first signature board event. After taking pictures and hanging out with truck visitors, we invited our new friends to sign our signature board. For every signature we collected, the Idaho Potato Commission donated $1 as part of our Big Helping program! It was great to have so much fun at the event while raising some money for a good cause!
My favorite part of Vidalia was the friendly folks we met in town! Since there are no Lyfts or Ubers in Vidalia, we met ‘Wild Willie,’ the only taxi driver in town. He drove us all over for the next three days and was such a kind and entertaining town tour guide. Willie drove us to a C&M Crawfish for some authentic crawfish and shrimp. As we got out of Willie’s car and approached the restaurant, we realized there was no seating but noticed a few groups eating their meals in the beds of their trucks. Our driver, #spudracer, approached a man and a woman eating in the bed of their truck and asked how the crawfish was. The man simply looked at her and handed her a crawfish. Without hesitation, #spudracer ate the crawfish and said it had an intense magical flavor! They told us their names we Payton and Ethan and they invited us to eat in the bed of their truck and even bought us some sodas! Now that’s what I call southern hospitality!
Our next event was the 39th Annual Hilton Head St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Hilton Head, South Carolina! This event featured hundreds of floats and cars, with about 35,000 people attending! The event was hosted by Jim Lafferierre, who was incredibly organized and helpful when it came to the parade and getting the truck around town safely. This was # tinytater’s and my first time harnessed to the top of the potato for a parade. It was a little scary at first, but we were laughing and smiling for pictures in no time! We waved and interacted with the crowd and got to see all kinds of floats in the parade! Some low-hanging tree branches just about hit us a few times, but they were no match for our superb limbo skills! The crowd cheered us on as we dipped and dodged the low-hanging South Carolina tree branches. Nothing would knock us off or hurt us, but we certainly didn’t want to get our great costumes all dirty! The parade ended, and we got to spend time and get some pictures with some fans that were trying to hunt us down all weekend!
We had plenty to do on our days off in Hilton Head! We had time to rent a car and head to Savannah, Georgia. We went to some great shops, and I ate Chicken Pain Perdu at Huey’s, which is chicken tenders, french toast, and sriracha. IT CHANGED MY LIFE. We then headed over to historic Bonaventure Cemetery. We received an engaging tour from our guide, Wanda, and learned all about the cemetery’s residents. The next day we were back in Hilton Head to meet up with # spudracer’s South Carolina friends Cheryl, Floyd, and their daughter, McLaurin. We had a blast enjoying running around the windy Hilton Head Beach and playing mini-golf! We lost track of the scores, but Cheryl, Floyd, and McLaurin got a hole in one! (The Tater Team is currently seeking a rematch). At night we went to Fish for some fresh seafood and of course, french fries! We sat there ate and watched the Boise State Men’s Basketball team beat San Diego State in the Mountain West championship! GO BRONCOS!!!
We have had so much fun in our first two weeks on the road, and we can’t wait to tell you all more! Stop by next week to get a recap from #tinytater from World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Hot Springs, AR, and the Wearing O’ the Green Parade in Baton Rouge, LA!
-Kyle “Spudicus”
