Readers here will know a couple things about me. I love my wife, I love my two daughters, I just got a new Harley (perma-smile) well in place, I like to shoot guns, I fashion myself as some sort of wine sophisticate, and I am an original movement conservative.
I also love Bar-be-que.
Mad about it actually. So much so, that during my involuntary sabbatical a couple of years ago I ordered a couple 50 gallon steel drums, borrowed my brother in law's killer saw (I think he calls it a Saws-All), and proceeded to cut, punch, and screw until one drum was horizontally in place above the other drum with a big ole chimney coming out of the top. World's greatest smoker people, and its called the Big Baby.
So anyway, this year my 15 year old daughter is not going to camp and somewhere along the way I suggested a Dad and Daughter vacation while her sister is a way. Didn't really have anything planned, just kind of figured we'd put something together that would be fun. And I ended up looking at some pretty cool trips; Hiking in Utah, a dude ranch in Wyoming where we could ride, shoot and eat, Fishing in Alaska are just a few of the things we considered.
Yet none of this stuff seemed right. I mean it would have been fun, but I just didn't think a structured sort of "we ride at 8am to a chuck wagon breakfast" was really my sort of thing, and frankly PD1 (Pursuit Daughter 1), didn't seem into it either. So we talked and came up with all sorts of ideas, but nothing clicked. Nothing, that is until PD1 uttered the magic words.
"Dad, what about the BBQ tour".
For years, you see, I've been promising (threatening?) to take the family on a road trip that hit all the major BBQ spots in the US. Starting in Chicago we'd travel south to St. Louis for the famous pork steak, over to Kansas City where they do magical things to ribs with smoke and sauce, down to Texas for beef brisket and hot links, and then up to Memphis for the chopped sandwich. The cool thing about this trip is not only the food, but the side benefits. We can hit Graceland, go to the crossroads and share a beer (she is 15 after all) where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul and became the world's greatest bluesman. Speaking of the blues we can hear some great blues in Memphis and damn, if we plan it right, we could even stop by Dollywood for a hoot.
Sounds great eh? Of course it does. And the fact that my daughter thought it would sound cool to be in the car with her old man for a week of BBQ, blues and good yuks makes it a fantastic way to sample some of the best of Americana!
Here's where you come in. I need names. I must have the names of the best BBQ joints each of these locations has to offer. No spot is too seedy, out of the way or obscure for this tour. In fact the more obscure, the better. The only thing that counts is that the que must be among the best there is.
But get me this info pronto people, because like any good road trip we haven't planned the dates. We will leave at a moment's notice and hit the highway for our great adventure!
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