On the road for the South鈥檚 best gas station food

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The word "Due" read from top-down and "South" left-right, with the U shared between them. Reminiscent of a compass.

Due South

On the road for the South鈥檚 best gas station food

By Leoneda Inge,

Jeff Tiberii

Published December 23, 2024 at 10:05 AM EST

Mark Fratesi owns Fratesi鈥檚 in Leland, Mississippi. It's one of the gas stations and eateries featured in Kate Medley's new book, "Thank You Please Come Again," about how gas stations feed and fuel the American South.

Kate Medley's new book, "Thank You, Please Come Again" is an exploration on how gas stations fuel and feed the South. It's out now, from the Bitter Southerner. — Kate Medley's new book, "Thank You Please Come Again" is an exploration on how gas stations fuel and feed the South. It's out now, from the Bitter Southerner.

Courtesy of Kate Medley — Kate Medley is a freelance photojournalist and filmmaker based in North Carolina. Some of her work has appeared on 瓜神app's website.

Kate Medley travels across the South. A lot.

It's part of her job working with national and regional outlets.

So, it was only natural when Medley started to document the places that made her want to stop. Taquerias in the backs of gas stations. The best banh mi in New Orleans. Senegalese food in a Circle K.

She knew that restaurants at gas stations were common while growing up in Mississippi, but what she didn鈥檛 know - until she left the Magnolia State - was just how unique and integral they are to life in the South.

Kate Medley joins co-hosts Leoneda Inge and Jeff Tiberii to share stories of the people she met, and the places she documented.

In 200 photographs, Medley's first book is a visual road trip through the region.

Editor's note: this conversation originally aired in January 2024.

Guest

Kate Medley, freelance photographer, contributor to NPR, The New York Times, 瓜神app and many other publications. Author and photographer of

Due South

Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of 瓜神app's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at 瓜神app as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda鈥檚 work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital 瓜神app Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

See stories by Leoneda Inge

Jeff Tiberii

Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of 瓜神app's "Due South." Jeff joined 瓜神app in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and 瓜神app鈥檚 Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary 鈥淩ight Turn,鈥� launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.

See stories by Jeff Tiberii