Holiday R & R, get some

 


Get some Holiday Rest AND Re-Creation
so 2005 doesn't see you looking like this bubbas twin blubber brother .
(photo is from a year ago, Ano Nuevo, California)

Mudbone the Marsh Dog

 

Ready to battle the tide.

Encounter with tribal elder

 

Elder islander ponders my craft. She spoke in an odd patois and allowed me to proceed after staring several minutes.

Q in FLA

The building was more interesting than the food. Concrete block structure, I sat in the add-on wing that used to be the porch. The owner sure eyed me when I pulled into the parking lot, he was working on draining a mud puddle. (this is Florida)
He looked at me like I was selling something.
 

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Overheard:
Two guys come in, it's about 3:30 PM.
First guy says: I'm not hungry, I'll have a salad.
Second guy goes: Wha? I thought you liked it here.
First guy orders: I'll have a pound of gizzards and a salad.

that's Gizzards, not livers, a pound of gizzards and a salad!

Oh and the food. I almost forgot to review it.
SO: forgettable. Good because I was hungry and the alternative was Burger King. The tea was good. Cole slaw was fine.
Basic fair for the unenlightened. No real problem, nothing was particularly good, just there.

Willards Smokestack
Hwy 301 Baldwin, GA
OK, I said FLA in the title but this is Cracker-Georgia, it's kinda a Georgia/Florida hybrid.

last morning packing & leaving a motel

 

The road may be my home but now I gotta get somewhere for the holidays. Yep, I am getting on the on-ramp. Time to make time on the Interstate highway for the first time in over 5,000 miles.
I-10 to I-95. Retire my gas charge card.
Photo taken in Florida.

the road is my home

 

Eureka! Perfect BBQ is Found!

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Pig Out Inn
Natchez, Mississippi
601-442-8050 They Ship.
I knew it had potential when I walked by and smelled smoke.
After ordering I sat on the deck at a picnic table by some ladies that were camping along the "Trace", the Natchez Trace parkway. This place had the kind of overheard conversation that can keep you focused on the table behind you.
The plate arrived, styrofoam with plastic cutlery. In the past I have pooh-poohed the "to-go" disposable serviceware but not now, this BBQ smelled too good for such petty blabbering.
The 1st taste was so good I ran out to the car to unpack my camouflage cap so it could get in the photo too.
BTW: if you want to blend in east of the Mississippi River, wear camouflage. I don't mean in the woods, works in Wall-Mart or at the gas pumps too. In the west I called this cap my "psycho-cap" because only crazed unibombers care about camouflage unless actively on a hunt, but I'm no longer in the west. I blend in with my psycho-cap.

The Q:
Smoked, tender, hand cut and cleaned of anything but deliciousness.
Twin dollops of cole slaw and potato salad proved that the tastes of cabbage and of potatoes need not be drowned by vinegar or mayonnaise. Delicious!
Tea: sweet but not diabeties inducing.
Note: the white bread wrapped in sticky wrap. It comes in twos in a nod to Noahs Ark.

Best all around, 5 stars *****.
#1 Pig Out Inn Natchez, Mississippi
#2 Memphis Minnies, San Francisco, California.
#3 Corkys, Nashville, Tennessee
#4 TBD (to be determined)
Anyone have any advice on where to go from here, BBQ-wise??

Mississippi Riverboat

The American Queen on the Mississippi River in Natchez, Mississippi


It's fun to spell Mississippi.
It goes M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i.
M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i. There, I did it again.
One more time: M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i.
Last time:
M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i.

the tree Elvis used to climb when he was a boy

How he got to Memphis

This is the actual car used by Vernon (Daddy of Elvis) to get out of Tupelo when he got caught writing bad checks. They went to Memphis because "it couldn't get no worse".
Note: the Pathfinder is in background, in the same parking lot as Elvis' Daddys car!

porch swing of Elvis

Tupelo, Mississippi  

We sat in it & we was swinging!
The staff worried about how to charge us for our fun, they cut their eyes at us and recommended that we come inside for the tour, but no! The porch swing was free. Everything else had a price tag.
Total outlay for a trip to Elvis' Birthplace = over $100.

Who wouldn't want to live here?

Tupelo, Mississippi

It is the house of a neighbor of Elvis, when he was growing up.

we're getting closer to Holy ground

along Natchez Trace Parkway

444 miles from Nashville to Natchez.
40 to 50 mph, easy hills, NO traffic. Plenty of stops to overlook or tell your story to the locals.
In French Camp, Mississippi I wowed 'em with some whoppers.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

The road between

Corkys BBQ in Nashville

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Corkys BBQ in Nashville Tennessee.
GO and savor! This place is very good.
[hint: my score says #2 in America, could be #1 in ribs.]

First let me get this out of the way: they have deep fried corn on the cob and she brought me mine on a stick! Food on a stick and I'm not walking around a state fair! This novelty food was tasty after peeling away the fried breading. Later I was informed that I would have liked it better if I had eaten it while it was hot, but I had to get to the Ribs and Q immediately when served.

The meat re-defined tender & tasty.
The ribs were so tender even the bones were tender! I ate the bones! Yep, mongreled my way past the outer inch or so of the rib-bone, done without shame.
In some cultures it's a complement to the cook to belch post-meal. I didn't belch, just gnawed away at the smoked bones.

Dry rub or wet? Both, yee-haw! Thinking of the dry rub ribs is making my mouth water right now!
French fries were crisp outside and tender inside.
Nice hot vinegar sauce and red sauce.

I saw a fellow diner order tamales. Please explain.

If you are ever blessed with a reason to be in Nashville, Tennessee you can grace your palate with this meal.
We thank thee for this good food.
Bless those who prepared it.
AMEN.
-------------------------------------------------------
ps: comments tell us that Corkys is located in more places than just Nashville! Christmas came early for me!
Thank You Corky May I Have Another?

Smoky Pig, Bowling Green, Kentucky

Is it too much to ask for a place named "Smoky" to actually cook their BBQ over a fire? Fire - one of those stone-age elements like earth, wind, & FIRE.
This Q was pretty good crock pot pork but come on and rename your concrete block diner from Smoky Pig to "Crock Pot Pig" and you will have no beef from me (clever wording? or too clever for anyones own good?)

Potato salad - was it bought by the tub from a grocery store?
Cole Slaw - interesting, it was called vinegar cole slaw and that's all I could taste: vinegar.
To-Go plates - cheap. Never get any repeat customers? Figure everyone is stopping in from the big highway? How serious can a BBQ place be if they serve their BBQ with a plastic fork? Losers!
Another white bread hamburger bun serving as a sponge. I didn't order a sandwich!
And then the Hot sauce (in that little Styrofoam cup beside the sole potato chip provided by a fellow diner). The "sauce" was interesting and the proprietor sure was proud of how hot it was. I agreed and sweated around my eyes to prove it. Hey Dude - Hot does not equal flavor. Any gonad can make a dish spicy, remember the plethora of pseudo Cajun restaurants a while back? Blackened this and Cajun that meant it was hot hot hot but not not not good cooking. And certainly NOT true Cajun, but that's another subject.

I know how they make this prideful hot sauce because I've done something similar: Get out the crock pot (their only cooking device?) add a bit of vinegar with some dried hot peppers, crock for hours, strain, serve as hot sauce.
Also works well using olive oil for dipping bread, but don't expect to see any olive oil in these here parts, yah hear?

BTW: we got directions to this place from the National Corvette Museum, which is the bestest Corvette Museum I've ever seen.
Decision: This place was right on the mark if you aim low. Move on. No Q to savor here . . .

Load limit 6 people

The way this suspension bridge bounced and swayed I figured the BBQ tour had caught up with me! Seemed like someone was behind me jumping up & down. A rope swing of a bridge with white water below made for a fun ride. Dizzying & extra fun in the fog.

at Falls Creek Falls

A high drop on a foggy day gave us a secluded spot to chill out. Glad to be in Tennessee. Getting used to being out of the West, getting in a better mood.
I get by with a little help from my friends.

Further along the trail we could hear falls and cascading rapids but it was too foggy to see it. That was an experience itself, misty and dreamlike.

tripping to the falls

Nashville Skyline

Nashville is a great place, beautiful homes, plenty of live music, parks galore, and a nice location between Kansas and the rest of the USA.

Ozark Q.

An example of that mid-west style BBQ. Much needed, I was very hungry and needed a place to chill out.
What I got was a to-go plate (ordered "for here") and a sample of the pulled pork. Was OK, but when is OK really okay?
The Q was fine, sauce was kinda sweet and they had a bottle of store-bought on the table. Served on white bread hamburger bun that was soaked beyond use - maybe it was just a sponge anyway. Best treatment of customer was the wet-nap on the side.
Overall rating: move on, try again in Nashville.

The name of the place was "Sweetwater BBQ of the Ozarks".
I asked the proprietor for the best route to Nashville. The routes I planned were through National Forests, I wondered if there was a favorite of his and wanted any advice. His answer was "I ain't been to Nashville since I was a kid, my Deddy took us." He stooped forward a bit and made a palm-down horizontal motion with his hand, indicating he was a short, small, kid when he last went to Nashville. So I took this to mean he had no idea and could not be expected to know, since Deddy drove.
Looking at the map, St. Louis and Nashville are the closest cities. I guess he sticks near the BBQ place.
Beside the restaurant there was a camper trailer, a big truck, and a black metal cooking contraption. Looked like a retired Army guy living there, splitting wood and smoking the pig.

The best thing about Sweetwater BBQ of the Ozarks was the building, a stone structure that was small and tall. Seemed like a good roadhouse when Route 66 was important. - Oh yeah, it was on Route 66.

Not going well anymore

Out of Kansas, into the east, the south, out of the West for sure.
Had my 1st law enforcement officer encounter of the trip in Missouri. While photographing a sunset I was suspected of having an interest in stealing fertilizer for use in making Methamphetimine. Was an appropriate intro to the state.
Stayed in the worst Motel of the trip here - I wondered if I was going to be kidnapped - the door did not operate well, got locked in to my room. The lights flickered, the walls were concrete block, the window did not open. Trapped like a rat where no one can hear you scream.
Worst roads of the trip, bumpy, bouncy, and not well marked. Got lost due to detours of "road construction". I left Piney Grove, drove 45 minutes, approached the Same Town again, knowing I was not on track but never would have guessed I had looped around.

While in Rolla, Missouri every single person at their many traffic lights was eating from McDonalds wrappers while behind the steering wheel.
and talking with their mouth full.
Fat from junk food
and so were their stupid ugly children. Gross!

Saw the 1st Waffle House.

I miss the West. Feeling closed in, roads are too congested, sites are slight and not so impressive. The Blues were not created in the West. I want Western Swing, not oppression.

This is the point where I quit drinking the water. Nuff said.

Worth getting arrested for?

Stop to take this photo in Missouri, risk getting arrested

Below the scene are metal tanks reflecting the sunlight.
The tanks contain fertilizer used in making meth.

Leave me alone! For 6 weeks I've been able to stop and go as I wanted. Now I must watch my step. Don't like it here.

OK, to be fair, the law man was a fine example of law enforcement.
He did his job well.
There.
It's not his fault he's stepping on my road trip buzz.

I Love Kansas

We've had some fun "seeking riders to cross Kansas", acting like it was undesirable.
Let me be clear: Kansas was a highlight of my trip.
Beautiful, clean, and the people sure did seem to like me. They sure did stare at me. I've not experienced being stared at by dozens of locals since walking in Hungary in 1992.

A memorable image were the girls with dual pony tails, hair tied back on each shoulder. Very farm-girl fresh, very nice. Didn't see that anywhere else and let me clue you in: it's worth going to Kansas to see for yourself.
So if you get a chance to go, to see a Jayhawks game for example, GO! And don't think that wearing all black is going to make you look sophisticated or tough, you'll look like a colorblind thug.
Guys: flannel.
Girls: pony tails, 80% are blonds.

Frozen custard cone served by a smiling young thing that really really hoped that I enjoyed it. Really!
Kansas is fresh air.

Lawrence, Kansas

What a beautiful town, and a great time to visit - early November. A Kansas Jayhawks B-Ball game was going on when I arrived, everyone was listening to the radio broadcast. They'd just lost the day earlier to the Colorado Buffs in football, no one seemed to care about the football game, just round-ball.
I blond coed working the toll booth night shift engaged me in about 2 minutes of conversation after I paid my 85 cent toll, nice kid! Try getting that kind of attention in the Bay Area!

1212 Louisianna Street

A great home for a college student

Yellow Sub

Best club ever

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The Country Club
Yellow Sub, Lawrence, Kansas
crumbled bacon, mushrooms, turkey, ham, with shredded lettuce and onions on the side,
on home made sub roll, with soda refills AND that good crushed ice.
Walking distance from 1212 Louisiana Street, University of Kansas campus.

The Crossing

Answers the question: "Where did the Band "Pink Bike" play? (Lawrence, Kansas)

hey hey my my
rock & roll will never die

mecca

Welcome to Bennington, KS

small town grain elevator

.

the ol' school

Bennington Sports Complex
at the all-in-one
Elementary / Middle / and High School campuses.
This is a small town in the middle of Kansas.
You Betcha!

Kanorado, Kansas

= Kansas + Colorado

West Kansas

153 miles from Denver

and the Front Range is still visible!

West Kansas

Call for Riders across Kansas

Ok all Y'all -
ask any prior rider and you'll learn that a trip avec moi across the backroads grid of Kansas could change your life.
Highway only, no I-70 for us!
Keeping it real
with the Kansans / Kansians / Kansasites / anyone? Anyone?
Destinations include:
Bennington & 1212 Louisiana Street, Lawrence, KS.

ghost town door series

(sampler)

red door

humor me, I'm not posting the full outhouse series!

B & W

getting artsy

I'm in a Denver wi-fi coffee shop getting ready for an art walk.
So, . . .