"I just got out of county,'' the otherwise-ordinary-looking young man told a buddy in the car parked next to mine outside the Wawa in Toms River.

It was around 2 a.m., so when I heard that the nice young man had just gotten out of jail (this time of night?), I locked my car door, but then thought, well, he met his buddy at Wawa, one of whose six core values is "Do Things Right,'' so I am not in any trouble here.

In fact, any pain inflicted on me in the past 16 hours had been self-administered.

I was near the end of a stunt the likes of which I'm pretty sure has never been attempted - visit 50 convenience stores, in this case, Wawa, in less than 24 hours, buy something and take a photo at each, tweeting the journey and letting readers tell me where to go and what to purchase.

And question my sanity.

"I wish I was on this Wawa road trip,'' Jeffrey Mead tweeted back.

Oh, no you don't, Jeff.

Why 50 Wawas? It's the convenience store chain's 50th anniversary, that's why.

Why do this in the first place?

Because they're there? Because it would be an angle no one else would have in their Wawa 50th anniversary story? Because I'm off my rocker?

Yes, yes, and I sure hope not.

I wrote a story early last year about the chain's invasion of North Jersey as it opened a Wawa in Kearny. Chris Gheysens, president and CEO of Wawa, told me the chain planned to open five Wawas a year in North Jersey "for the next 10, 12 years.''

"One of the greatest moments in the state's history,'' I said at the time, and I meant it.

There is brand-new Wawa on Route 1 in Elizabeth. Now if they can just build one, say, across the street from the office, I would be one seriously happy Wawa camper.

But back to my demented road trip. Wawa may have been hatched in Pennsylvania - the first store opened in Folsom, Pa,. on April 16, 1964 - but the chain is more Garden State than Keystone State. There are 220 Wawas in Pennsylvania - and 237 in Jersey, and counting. Lodi has a Wawa, and now that Bergen has been added to the Wawa empire, just three counties by my reckoning - Sussex, Essex and Passaic - don't have Wawas.

Breaking Wawa news: expect a Sussex Wawa in the next year or two.

So back to my 50 Wawas-in-one-day bright idea. I could have taken the easy way out and hit 50 in, say, Camden County, where there seems to be a Wawa at every traffic light.

But my first rule of thumb is never take the easy way when you can really make it difficult on yourself, so 50 Wawas I did. From Little Egg Harbor, Marmora, Wildwood, Cape May and Leesburg to Vineland, Pilesgrove, Audubon, Lindenwold, Marlton, Princeton, East Brunswick, Woodbridge, Manalapan and more.

"Pilesgrove? Don't you mean Pittsgrove?'' one reader questioned..

No, Pilesgrove, where Cowtown Rodeo is.

The trip was done without GPS, without maps, without directions. I had a partial store

locator printed out, but consulted it just once, to pinpoint the Wawa in Cape May.

"You're going to visit them all in one day?'' asked Jesse the gas station attendant (Wawa calls them "fuel associates'') at the Ocean View Wawa. ''You've got a long day ahead of you.''

Yeah, no kidding.

At a Wildwood Wawa, another employee, Sheila, posed happily with a copy of "The Wawa Way,'' a history of the chain filled with these tasty tidbits:

***Dunkin Donuts once sold its coffee in the majority of Wawa stores, but Wawa decided

to go the self-branded route.

***Wawa sells more gas than ExxonMobil, Hess or Sunoco in the greater Philadelphia area.

***There were once Wawa laundromats and Wawa Kitchens (where you could get burgers, chicken and fish n chips), but those didn't last long.

I am a self-admitted Wawa wonk (I visited corporate headquarters in Wawa, Pa. for my book on Route 1 from Maine to Florida and like any Wawa fan know the name comes from the Lenni Lenape word for goose).

But on my road trip I sampled things I've never had before: a Sizzli breakfast sandwich (surprisingly good); a Shorti (an Italian in this instance; ok); mac-and-cheese (hauntingly familiar); the cinnamon bun (needs work) and Wawa chocolate ice cream (mmmm, good).

I bought something different at each Wawa, which led to a curious-looking passenger front seat. I brought everything back to the office the next day and let colleagues have at it.

But I literally protected my bacon. That package of John F. Martin & Sons hickory smoked bacon went home with me.

I also ended up with a 2.4-ounce wedge of Big Mama Pickled Sausage, made of pork and "mechanically separated chicken,'' which doesn't sound like a good thing.

But my Wawas had Wise popcorn (my favorite popcorn), Calypso lemonade (best lemonade ever), Mounds bars (favorite candy of my childhood) and Pop-Tarts (enough said).

"It's free coffee all day,'' said a clerk at my local Wawa, "so if that's all you're getting, you can go.''

"No charge for the napkin?'' I cracked.

That was about as funny as I got all day, because the journey soon took on the aspect of a convenience store death march. Wawa to Wawa to Wawa. Park, buy something - anything - move on.

I reached the halfway point, in Camden County, at 6 p.m., which led to this brilliant thought: I will not get home until really, really late.

"What town is this?'' I asked a clerk at stop 18, where I picked up some Frosted Flakes.

"Pole Tavern,'' she replied. "P-O-L. . .''

I should have known better; the Point 40 Diner, named the second best diner salad in my Ultimate Jersey Diner Showdown story for Inside Jersey, was right across the highway.

I bought Spicy Cajun Crawtators, and wondered why anyone would call their product GoGo Squeeze (the "applesauce on the go'' is a big hit among kids, I was told).

At one point, I crossed from Berlin into West Berlin (there is no East Berlin in New Jersey). I thought the Princeton Wawa prices would somehow be higher, but no, Wawa prices (not counting gas, of course) are the same all over.

Things I learned along the away:

*** There are about 40 kinds and flavors of jerky at the typical Wawa.

*** If you're going to try to hit 50 of anything in one day, start earlier.

At the Montgomery Wawa, around 9 p.m., I had a sudden urge for potato chips (Kettle chips with sea salt), and around midnight needed a caffeine boost (Energy shots? Please; give me a Pepsi any time).

Bought a Pick-6 at the Old Bridge Wawa (haven't check it yet; if you don't see any stories from me in the next few weeks, you'll know what happened), and a package of Peeps in Milltown (at midnight, under spooky fluorescent light, they looked genuinely scary).

60s music was playing all day, and while I don't mind "Crystal Blue Persuasion,'' I really didn't need to hear ''Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)'' blasting at one in the morning.

Did I mention I visited the same Wawa twice? After hitting the Wawa on Route 9 on Lacey, I turned right and continued several miles down the road before realizing I was heading the wrong way. I turned around, drove for a bit, and spotted a Wawa on the left.

Walking in, I spotted a familiar face - an employee named Jessica I had talked to 20

minutes earlier. The Lacey store, again.

It was 2 in the morning; that's my excuse. And no, I didn't count that store twice.

"Can't wait to read the story,'' Jessica said.

"I can't wait to get home,'' I replied.

A gas main break (!!) forced me to take a serious detour to the next Wawa, and at 3:30 a.m. I walked - staggered may be the more accurate word - into the Tuckerton Wawa, where I bought a Naked smoothie (don't ask).

At 4:15 a.m., at home, I made quick work of three heated-up Wawa pretzels (tip: never eat a Wawa pretzel cold).

50 Wawas, 12 counties, 415 miles, 19 hours.

"Heroic,'' someone said on Twitter.

Crazy is more like it.

"Impressive, but how about (all) 26 Stewart's restaurants (in NJ) in one day?'' Cory Nagelberg asked.

26 in one day? Child's play.

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