Best BBQ we've ever had

Saturday: Woke up early!!  too damn early.. this routine is starting to wear on me.. NO! it's not the 400-500 miles of riding everyday that's wearing me down.. it's Jeff getting up too damn early.. He says "Can't ride all day if you don't get up early".. Did he bring me a cup of coffee?  no, of course not.. we got packed up and headed downstairs for the FREE breakfast. 46 degrees outside, and Dawn hasn't bared her crack yet.

Elsie's crankcase was getting a little thirsty and needed a 1/2 a quart of oil.. so we rode down the street a little and got her a drink. Gassed up, and we left Mountain Home AR just before the sun peeked over the mountain. We were headed East.. Last time I looked the sun rose in the East.. it was a beautiful mountain morning all be it a little chilly but the road was twisty, curvy and hilly only draw back was as we would come over the high parts we'd get blinded by the sun in our eyes. One time I looked back to check on Jeff and he was gone!!!   "OH NO" I said.. "Did he go down on that last curve?" So, I whipped Elsie around and roared back down the road only to find him in a abandoned gas station parking lot cleaning his windshield..  Whew!  he's not dead.. or injured.. he just can't see through his windshield when the sun hits him (damn thing is too tall anyway, or he's too short!).. Back on the road, we enjoyed the ride! a beautiful run in the crisp mountain air on a great road. Stopped for gas about 100 miles later in Jonesboro Arkansas..

One of the guys we had lunch with in Eureka Springs yesterday is on a online forum called "The Slackers"  that we both frequent and post on.(To Slack is to ride your motorcycle regardless of work or family responsibilities. Jeff and I have been Slacking for the past 6 days!) There is another guy on there that also rides a red & white Suzuki Intruder just like Elsie.. His name is BBQ Steve.. I knew he was a manager at a BBQ place in Memphis but wasn't sure which one. Last night I posted up on the Slacker forum if anyone knew what the name of it was and how to get ahold of Steve.. While stopped in Jonesboro I checked my messages and sure enough someone had answered. Larry from Nashville (whom I had met last year in TN) had given me the info. I told Jeff we were going to Corky's BBQ in Memphis for lunch. Tears came to his eyes and he said: "Corky's!! Are you Serious?"..  Well, hell I didn't know that Corky's was WORLD famous for being the Best BBQ in Memphis..  but apparently Jeff did.  So, I called Steve and he was excited to know we were headed that way and told me to ask for him when we got there.. So off we went to Memphis.. This just proves the "Bubba Network" is alive and flourishing in the biker community!

About an hour and a 1/2 later we were crossing the Majestic Mississippi river out of Arkansas and into Memphis Tennessee, I had been there several times but this was Jeff's first time.. We rolled slowly across the bridge so Jeff could take a good look and about 20 min later we pulled into the parking lot at Corky's.. it was about 11:30 and the place was already packed. Went in and asked for Steve, the lady at the front kinda dropped her gaze to the floor and took a big sigh and said "you guys are Steve's buddies?"  She walked off and another guy was standing there so I asked "Should we follow her?" and he said, "If you wanna eat, you'll follow me" so we did.. He led us to a table and Steve met us there. Greeting us like long lost friends he pulled up a chair and we started talking about our ride.. The waitress came over and looked a little surprised that Steve was giving us such personal attention.. Then Steve told her to get our drink order and bring us some Pork nachos and that he would go back in the kitchen and "Put together something for us".. Jeff just sat there grinning like the Cheshire Cat.. Steve sat with us for a few more minutes while we devoured the nachos, telling us all about Corky's and the amazing amounts of food they cook everyday.. Then he got up to go back and fix us "A Little Something"..  OMG!! it took four servers to bring us the massive amount of food he got for us. People in the restaurant  we looking at us funny.. Steve was just happy as a clam to see the looks on our faces.. Jeff was surrounded in a bright glowing white light with the sound of angels singing "Hallelujah...  Hallelujah.... Halle.. lujah!!!"

We had dry rub ribs, brisket, turkey, pork, sausage, catfish, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad and bread..and truly was "The BEST BBQ we ever had" Just a couple of hogs in Hog Heaven! we ate until we couldn't breath..  LOL.. Steve sat with us and we talked about rides, bikes, BBQ and Corky's..  we had a great time!! it could not have been better. Then as we were about to leave Steve handed us a sack with our leftover rack of dry ribs, four bottles of rub, and two Corky's T-shirts.. and all this on the house!!  Jeff asked to see the BBQ pit and without hesitation Steve took him back to the kitchen.. Can't beat that kind of hospitality and personal attention.. What a great experience!!

Steve is the guy to the right of Jeff in the pic to the left. the one below is Steve sitting with us at the table. What a great guy!!  a definite highlight of the trip.







 



















Stuffed to the gills we decided that since we were in Memphis we MUST ride by Graceland and pay our respects to "The King"..  so off we went to visit Elvis.. it was only about 12 minutes away, but the traffic was a nightmare, and you know how Jeff gets in traffic..but we made it unscathed and got our pictures next to Graceland!

It was about 2:00 now and we needed to get as far south as we could.. I wanted to get through Birmingham Alabama before we stopped for the night. from there we could make it home on Sunday. So, we headed down Hwy 78 toward Birmingham.. 78 is not the best road in the world, but it has it's scenic moments and is 4 lane divided highway. Birmingham was about 4 hrs away.. Just before Tupelo MS we pulled off to take a break.. All that heavy BBQ and shear amounts of food was making us tired and sleepy, so we had to shake it off before we could finish the ride. Rolled into Birmingham about 6:30pm and worked our way over to Hwy 280.. Birmingham sits in the Heart of the Appalachian Mountains and is VERY hilly and has some very steep roads.. Beautiful but you have to be careful. Talladega Speed way is only about 30 min from there but I think most of the residents of Birmingham think the city streets are mini NASCAR race tracks.. it was a little hairy getting through the traffic on 280.. as you can imagine Jeff was whining like a girl with her vagina full of sand.. We only had 30 miles to go.. but you'd think I was making him plow a 10 acre field with a kitchen knife..  OH!! the DRAMA!!

We pulled in to Childersburg AL.. just as the sun sank below the horizon. I wanted to go about 10 miles further to Sylacauga AL but there was a rain storm sitting right over it. We stopped at a Key West Inn to see if they had rooms and they had one for $65...  SOLD!!  we were done for the day.. bellies full of The BEST BBQ we ever had.. and we didn't get rained on...  it was a great day!