Reportage, Week 5

Gourmet Gas Station

I stumbled yesterday upon what Savannah's locals christened the "gourmet gas station." At Parker's Market, you can purchase a bottle of wine and cool it in the "chilling station" for sixty seconds, the equivalent (according to the signage) of three hours in your fridge. Grab your fruit of choice, cream cheese, a can of caviar, or sushi rolls, if you like. The deli boasts cullings of pasta salads, tabbouleh, fresh baked artisan breads, and seafood hoagies. The cheese station--all asiago, bleu, munster, gouda--contrasts with the two gas pumps, outside lane only, the modest parking splitting the fuel center from the double glass doors, open 24 hours.

Between the merlot and the rice rolls, you can indulge in the expected on the candy aisle--Snickers, Starburst, Skittles--and the unexpected chocolate-covered espresso beans sold by the half pound. The chip aisle, the cigarettes, gum, beer, lottery tickets, toilet paper, and bath soap grounding the genre. I needed maximum hold. "Sorry," the unibrowed clerk pronounced, ringing up condoms and caviar for a more satisfied customer, "we don't carry hairspray."

I hurried on to the Hilton DeSoto and into the cookie-cutter gift shop, all souvenirs and necessities, where I spent $4.89 on 1.5 ounces of TRESemmé. Taming my curls in the ladies' room, adjusting my skirt one last time before picking up my conference packet, my thoughts turned to gourmet dinner options.