As A Good Man Is Hard to Find opens, a family prepares to embark on a trip together. The family consists of Bailey, his wife, their three children—John Wesley, June Star, and a baby—and a grandmother. Most of the family, including Bailey and his wife, want to go to Florida.

The grandmother, who is Bailey’s mother and the protagonist of the story, wants them to travel to Tennessee instead so that she can visit her “connections” there. In an attempt to persuade them to change their plans, she reminds them that a dangerous criminal called "The Misfit" has just escaped from the Federal Penitentiary and is likely headed to Florida as well.

This fails to garner any concern from the family, and they all prepare to leave for Florida the next morning.

In preparing for departure, the grandmother takes special care with her appearance so that her clothing reflects her status as a proper “lady.” She wears a navy blue sailor hat, a matching navy blue dress with organdy trimming, and a spray of violets pinned to her neckline. She also hides her cat, Pitty Sing, in a basket to travel with her.

Sitting between her grandchildren, John Wesley and June Star, the grandmother points out interesting scenery along the drive. As the car passes a Black child standing in the door of a shack, the grandmother finds the scene particularly endearing, yelling that he is a “cute little pickaninny” and confidently informing her grandchildren that he doesn’t have “things like we do."

After traveling and telling stories for some time, the family decides to stop for dinner at The Tower, which serves barbecue and acts as a filling station as well as a local dance hall. After ordering, the family is greeted by Red Sammy, the owner, who comes in from performing some mechanical work on a truck outside. He commiserates with the grandmother’s feelings that society has fallen to shambles. When he mentions that it’s hard to know who to trust, the grandmother once again mentions the Misfit. “A good man is hard to find,” Red Sammy concludes, and as the children play outside, he and the grandmother continue to chat about the better days of the past.

Back in the car, the grandmother naps periodically as the family continues their journey. When she awakens, she looks out the window and believes that she is in a neighborhood that she visited in the past. She shares her recollections of an old plantation with a secret panel in the house. This proves to be a compelling mystery for the children, who beg their father to take a detour to visit the old house. Bailey tries to refuse the side trip but eventually concedes after the children begin kicking his seat and loudly whining.

The grandmother directs Bailey to what she believes is the correct road, and they travel for some time as the grandmother recalls a time when all roads were dirt, and it took all day to travel thirty miles. Suddenly, the grandmother realizes that her memory has failed her. This is not the neighborhood from her past; the place she visited was in Tennessee.

Startled by this embarrassing realization, she jumps, which upsets the cat she’d hidden away. Pitty Sing emerges from the basket with a snarl and leaps onto Bailey’s shoulder. This shock causes Bailey to flip the car, ejecting his wife and their baby.

When everything settles, the family is surprisingly intact. The children are excited by the accident but disappointed that no one has been killed, and the grandmother is convinced that she has...