Widower continues Cracker Barrel quest

Correspondent/Columnist

Ray Yoder sits at the checkers table outside of Cracker Barrel near Cassopolis Street in Elkhart Dec. 15. Yoder has visited more than 600 Cracker Barrel locations throughout the franchise.

GOSHEN — Ray Yoder and his late wife, Wilma, have become celebrities of sorts due to the quest they’ve had to visit every Cracker Barrel Restaurant in the United States.

In case you’re wondering, that's 668 to date, and the 86 year old widower has been carrying on the quest since his wife passed away three years ago.

He said the first Cracker Barrel they visited was in the Nashville area near Opryland in 1978. They had just finished setting up for an RV show — they used to travel delivering RV's for Coachman Industries.

"I wasn't too impressed the first time, but it grew on me," he said. "It's a great place to stop — convenient."

Ray said they ate at Cracker Barrels for 15 years when he decided to make it a mission to visit all of them. Wilma was game, and the couple started getting serious about it, driving out of their way if there was a Cracker Barrel they hadn't been to yet.

He said they caught up with all the existing restaurants in 2002 in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. At some point they contacted Cracker Barrel about their journey. Because of that, someone from Cracker Barrel now contacts Yoder to let him know where and when a new restaurant will be opening. Jessica Mancuso, associate marketing manager, corporate communications is their current Cracker Barrel contact.

He said they do revisit some locations too.

Ray and Wilma were also given personalized Cracker Barrel aprons — the only non-employees to have them. He said since his wife died, people tell him to still sign her name to the autographs.

In the last 6-7 years, word has really spread about their mission, and they’ve been featured on radio, television shows and in several magazines. Back in 2018, they were invited to a ribbon cutting ceremony in Las Vegas North with several dignitaries.

At the 645th opening in Tualatin, Oregon, which happened to be on Ray's birthday, they were given a royal welcome. A big banner said "Welcome Home Ray and Wilma" and they sat down in a couple of porch rocking chairs and were told everything near them were gifts for them including the chairs, a Coca-Cola cooler with coke bottles, three cast iron skillets and two Stanley thermos bottles among them.

Ray said they’d called their daughter, who lives in Portland, and arranged for a limousine to take the couple door to door.

Shortly after that the couple appeared on the Steve Harvey show in 2017, the show sent them an all expenses paid trip to a new opening in Cold Spring, Kentucky.

The "Cracker Barrel Couple", as they’ve come to be known, has gained some fans around the country. There's a west coast group, one in the Portland area and one in Sarasota, Florida, where Ray will be appearing in their Christmas parade.

But he said there's also been some "imposters" who’ve claimed to visit all of the locations, only to find out they may have visited 10.

In June 2019, at the 656th visit in Santa Maria, California, "Inside Edition" featured them and even sent a camera crew to their home in Goshen. Once asked if he could prove he's visited all the locations, his reply was, "I can prove it easier than you can prove I haven't."

Yoder said they’ve circled all the locations on a big map of the restaurants and he collects menus and business cards from the restaurants, too.

"We didn't do it to prove anything, we just enjoyed it," Yoder said.

The visits now are all organized by Cracker Barrel, but Ray said he makes his own travel arrangements. He gets to eat free and his guests do, too.

After all these visits, Ray knows a few fun things about Cracker Barrels, like how only 10 of the restaurants are right-handed while the rest are left-handed (restaurant to the left of the entrance).

His favorite meal for breakfast is blueberry pancakes with blueberry sauce. As for lunch or dinner? He kept it simple — meatloaf.

"No one has beaten their meatloaf — my niece came closest to it," he said.

If you go on Sunday he recommends the Sunday pot roast.

"The meat is so tender," he said.

As for the gift shops, he said Wilma used to like to shop the half-price sections, while he has a hard time passing up the double-dipped chocolate pecans or black walnuts.

He said when Steve Harvey asked him why they did this, he said he should have replied, "Because it's the best food in the country after a long day's drive — the food tastes like home."

He's been to two this year — El Paso, Texas just a few weeks ago was the latest. He said the corporation plans to open 20 new stores in the next two years and he’ll go as long as he's able to travel.

"Meeting all the new people we’ve become acquainted with, but nothing beats the Steve Harvey show," he said when asked what's been the most fun. "It's sure made our golden years happy ones."

Denise Fedorow is a columnist and correspondent for the Goshen News. Readers may contact her at [email protected]. Follow Denise on Twitter @DeniseFedorow

Correspondent/Columnist

Correspondent and columnist for The Goshen News

The U.S. Congress recently passed a bill raising the debt ceiling to $31.4 trillion, at least until January 2025. Congress created the debt ceiling in 1917, and since 1960 has raised the limit 78 — now 79 — times, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Do you believe the debt ceiling still serves a useful purpose?