When you think of Water Valley, Mississippi, and I grant that you may not think of it often, you probably think of Casey Jones, the railroad engineer immortalized in song and story. Jones was coming around a blind curve at high speed when he spotted four boxcars that had been left on the track right in front of him. Jones told his fireman to jump to … Continue reading The Rebel Barn, Water Valley, Mississippi
I’ve never reviewed a gas station. I visit gas stations fairly often, but I do so to get gas, use the restroom and, if I do the latter without the former, buy two packs of two-for-a-dollar peanuts or some local specialty. Many gas stations also sell food, usually hot dogs and the like. Some also sell fried chicken. I try to stay away from those foods, … Continue reading Lindsey’s Chevron, Oxford, Mississippi
The reason we were in Oxford, Mississippi, was the wedding of my youngest nephew, David Tanner, to the lovely Taylor Montague. The bride and groom to be had reserved Southern Craft Stove + Tap for their rehearsal dinner. I’ve written about Southern Craft as a restaurant, and just loved it, especially the turnip green and artichoke dip and what I have decided is the World’s … Continue reading The Montague-Tanner Rehearsal Dinner at Southern Craft Stove + Tap, Oxford, Mississippi
Back to Memphis…and then to Oxford. After the three days of the Great Memphis Region Barbecue Sandwich Tour, I headed to the Memphis Airport to pick up Liza, Michael, Ella, and Lily, and headed to Oxford, Mississippi, for the David Tanner-Taylor Montague wedding. I’m an easy-going guy, and I didn’t want to insist on a continuous diet of barbecue places for everyone else. Also, or perhaps … Continue reading Bouré, Oxford, Mississippi
We pause at the close of the intensive period of the Great Memphis Barbecue Sandwich Tour for a Special Report from our Senior New Mexico correspondent, Jon Berry. Jon is Nancy’s nephew. He works in Los Alamos or somewhere like that — I’m not sure exactly where. If he were more specific, he’d have to kill me. And if I told you … Jon was willing … Continue reading Mad Jack’s Mountaintop Barbecue, Cloudcroft, New Mexico
After my lunches at B.E. Scott’s and Ramey’s, I was thinking of going on to Nashville — actually Murfreesboro — to try Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, another whole hog place, chain, actually. (The original is in Murfreesboro.) But that would mean a lot more driving and the danger of not getting back to Payne’s Bar-B-Que, the one spot in Memphis proper that I definitely planned to hit. It … Continue reading Payne’s Bar-B-Que, Memphis, Tennessee
Well, heck. If you’re in Lexington, Tennessee, at around noon on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday from March 1 to early December or January, and all you’ve had to eat all morning is a truly wonderful barbecue sandwich at B.E. Scott’s (okay, and some chips and slaw), you might as well — should — drive on a ways to Parsons, Tennessee, and have a … Continue reading Ramey’s Bar B Que, Parsons, Tennessee
You should go to Lexington, Tennessee. It’s a town of about 7,700 souls, situated midway between Memphis and Nashville. John McAfee, the guy who started the computer security company of that name and could live wherever he wants, has chosen to live there, so it clearly has many charms. Maybe he likes barbecue. Some local folks claim that Lexington is the barbecue capital of the … Continue reading B.E. Scott’s Bar-B-Que, Lexington, Tennessee
What a day. Day 2 of the Great Memphis Region Barbecue Sandwich Tour started with a planned sandwich at the excellent Dixie Pig in Blytheville, Arkansas. Then I learned about the barbecue at the Kream Kastle in Blytheville, and had to try their sandwich. I headed to Helen’s to try her barbecue, but was delayed by a heavy thunderstorm that I decided to wait out over another … Continue reading Helen’s Bar B Q, Brownsville, Tennessee
I went to Chubby’s by accident. Sort of. My original plan was to visit family and eat at the Dixie Pig in Blytheville, Arkansas, and then cross the Mississippi just above Blytheville en route to Helen’s in Brownsville, Tennessee, on Day 2 of my Great Memphis Region Barbecue Sandwich Tour. The first hitch in that plan was the suggestion that I try the barbecue at … Continue reading Chubby’s B-B-Q, Hayti, Missouri
