I am generally not a morning person, and everyone in my life could attest to that. In fact, there are only a few things — like food, an early flight or an emergency — that could drag me out of bed before 8 a.m. But when my alarm rang at 5:15 a.m. last Thursday, I uncharacteristically jumped out of bed and started getting ready for the day ahead.

Why, you might ask, was I so eager to get moving? There was only one thing on my mind as I rubbed my eyes and brushed my teeth: Wawa.

Wawa, a convenience store chain that mainly operates in the Northeast, marked the grand opening of its first-ever travel center along Chicken Foot Road in Hope Mills last week. The over 8,000 square foot space is also the company’s largest store.

Wawa opened its first convenience store, called a “food market,” in Pennsylvania in 1964 and added fuel services in the 1990s. Today, the chain operates over 1,000 stores across the country.

The opening of the travel center just off I-95 in Hope Mills marks Wawa’s expansion of its services with several high-speed diesel fuel pumps and a weigh station for large trucks, 20 normal fuel pumps for passenger vehicles, 24 electric vehicle charging stalls, free air pumps and a pet relief area. The travel center will be open 24 hours a day, a convenience that is occasionally lacking when the whole family is crammed in the car on a long overnight road trip.

Long roadtrips, at least in my opinion, are a time warp. Much like in airports, the rules of normal behavior cease as soon as you cram yourself in the car for a multi-hour trek. You want a ham sandwich at 5:15 a.m.? Go for it, friend. A bag of Skittles and a bottle of water? Sounds like breakfast to me.

I parked my car in the already packed lot and wished that I had made myself a cup of coffee before scurrying out of my house and making the 25-minute drive to Wawa. The place was already buzzing as I stepped out and closed my car door, the sun just barely inching over the horizon.

I was immediately greeted with a growing line of excited customers, some of whom had been camped out all night or driven across states to be there. The first in line, Miguel Galan, said that he had been camped in front of the store since 9:30 p.m. the previous night, while the ever-chipper goose mascot, Wally, danced nearby.

Miguel Galan stands outside the Wawa Travel Center. Credit: Trey Nemec / CityView Bernadin Estriplet drove more than 7 hours from Philadelphia to attend the grand opening. Credit: Trey Nemec / CityView

Galan showed off a custom-made hat, gifted to him by Alex Mai, a social media creator that runs the popular “Mutha Trucker News” profiles across the internet. Mai said he encouraged many truckers from near and far to drive in for the event. Tommy Fitzgerald, owner of SEMI Casual, a company that specializes in customizing Peterbilt trucks, drove a show truck from Crossville, Tennessee to perform a ceremonial fueling at the new Wawa Travel Center. Another customer, Bernadin Estriplet, drove for more than seven hours from Philadelphia, fighting traffic in Washington, D.C., to attend the grand opening.

Kyle Watt, general manager of the Wawa Travel Center, has been with the company for 14 years. He started out pumping fuel for New Jersey Wawa-goers in high school and college and worked his way through more than 13 stores before opening this first-of-its-kind station. He told CityView that the store has created 55 jobs in the area, and will round out to about 65 employees in total. Watt said that Wawa is different from other convenience store brands because of the sense of community it establishes.

“It’s 100% always our people,” Watt said. “We focus on our people; the way we treat each other and the customers and the communities. We give back to the communities, and everything else follows that.”

The Hope Mills travel center is the second Wawa location to open in Cumberland County this year. In early August, Wawa opened a station along Raeford Road in Fayetteville, making it the 15th store in North Carolina. The company has stated it plans to open 90 stores across the state in the next eight to 10 years, an over $600 million investment in North Carolina. During the grand opening festivities, Wawa spokespeople also announced two new travel centers, like the flagship Hope Mills location, that will be located in Richmond, Indiana and Lima, Ohio.

As I was ushered inside — notably before the doors officially opened — the first thing to hit my nose was the warm and welcome smell of coffee. Before I knew it, I was handed a 24-ounce cup of steaming hot pumpkin spice dark roast, a strawberry banana smoothie made with two full bananas, and what was likely one of the first hoagies to be made at the travel center — an Italian with all the trimmings.

Let me tell you, an Italian hoagie — for which Wawa is famous — makes an unexpectedly fantastic breakfast. I sat by a window in the seating area and ate my hoagie at a reasonable 7:20 a.m.

When the doors officially opened, customers smiled as they ran through an aisle created by travel center employees, who were lined up on either side of the door.

Hope Mills Fire and Police Department personnel stand back to back, ready to compete in a hoagie building contest. Credit: Trey Nemec / CityView

After mingling and snacking on the mini hoagies, sipping tiny cups of smoothies and coffee, and checking out the new space, everyone was ushered outside for a battle of the town departments. The Hope Mills Fire and Police Departments were to compete in a hoagie-building contest. With lettuce flying, Hope Mills police officers secured the victory, making over 20 hoagies in less than 3 minutes.

As the officials cut the grand opening ribbon and confetti canons showered multi-colored paper over the crowd, I remembered someone I had met the previous day. A friendly white-haired grandmother, Wanda Stone, who said her grandkids couldn’t pronounce her name when they were young, so they took to calling her “Wawa.” She smiled as she told me it felt “great to have her name on a store.”

Hope Mills Mayor Jessie Bellflowers and Wawa Travel Center General Manager Kyle Watt smile while performing the ribbon cutting. Credit: Trey Nemec / CityView

Jackie Warner, former Hope Mills mayor (left), and Wanda “Wawa” Stone (right) pose with Wally the goose. Credit: Trey Nemec / CityView

As Wawa enthusiasts carried on with festivities around me, I was struck by the generational and hyper-local loyalty that a national chain of convenience stores can inspire. For years to come, Wanda Stone’s grandchildren will likely celebrate seeing “Wawa” overhead as they walk through the travel center doors in Hope Mills.

So, if you find yourself on the road and in need of a clean restroom, a good cup of coffee or a 7 a.m. hoagie, Wawa’s first travel center is waiting 24 hours a day along Chicken Food Road in Hope Mills. If you’re as lucky as I am, you might just get to meet Grandma “Wawa.”