ROAD TRIP REVIEW

 by Drbbq (Ray Lampe)

I just got back from a really good road trip. I started out by driving to Frankfort, Kentucky. I chose Frankfort so that I would be in position to attend part of the 127 corridor yard sale. This is a series of yard sales on route 127 and it goes through all of Kentucky, all of Tennessee and part of Alabama. I saw 200 miles of it and I was not disappointed. I thought that once I got away from the Interstate it wouldn’t be a big deal. Boy was I wrong. It was a constant string of yard sales. Some were mowed fields with encampments of 20-30 vendors, many of these vendors were pretty smooth and a long way from home. Other sales were much less formal, like a group of neighbors just having sales on the same weekend. Still others were totally impromptu, I saw a lady on the side of the road with some clothes folded and sitting on the ground. If you enjoy looking at other people’s junk you really should try to make it to this sale. FYI I bought a great big platter, a nice big copper saucepan, a small Le Creuset pan, an Edlund can opener and an empty Jack Daniels bottle (a gift). I saw all kinds of interesting things, I think the most out of place was a snowmobile. Probably didn’t get much use in Tennessee. Here’s their web address http://www.127sale.com/#benefit1 

From there it was on to the Amazin’ Blazin’ BBQ Cookoff in Lebanon, Tennessee.  I’ve probably been to a hundred cookoffs in a bunch of different places but I don’t think any of them have ever treated me as well as this one. Kristina McKee, Wanda Bates and Mike Watkins are the nicest, hardest working contest organizers I have ever seen. I don’t mean to put anyone down, there are many real good ones but these folks are the best. Anything you ask for you get and it comes with a hug.

They gave us each a little Butler statue with our team name on it, a handmade box carrier for those cold windy contests and a good quality apron. Any of these would have been a nice gift. There was a goody bag too, some local promotional stuff in a canvas bag. There were hamburgers on Thursday night, catered dinner on Friday and continental breakfast on Saturday. Saturday night they even got a bunch of chicken salad sandwiches for the hangers on. They introduced every team for a bow at the awards ceremony. I’ve never been to another contest where the cooks pitch in to buy a gift for the organizers. It was presented at the awards.

You can’t forget the award winning Wilson County Fair that this cookoff is a part of and the great facility that comes with it. Showers, 30amp electric and a really nice pavilion that serves as home base throughout the contest. Did I mention 100% certified and experienced judges and table captains? The only thing that was missing was the qualifying proclamation from the Governor and they surprised us all by presenting it on Friday night. I am a fan of these new big money RV Park contests but they’ll never match the charm of this one. I can’t imagine how, but I’d bet those girls are planning on making it better next year. I’ll see you there. BTW I’ll be using my free entry that they raffled off at the cooks meeting. 

The last leg of my trip was a visit to Graceland.  It is surely a piece of American history. What struck me the most were the priceless items on display in the museum areas. Can you imagine what that pink Caddy would sell for? What about some of the movie clothes? Elvis’ DEA badge? Priscilla’s wedding dress? Lisa Marie’s high chair? Lots of really cool stuff to see. It was actually less tacky than I was expecting. It isn’t exactly run like Disneyland but it’s worth the $25 for the whole tour.  

On a scale of 1-10 I’ll give this trip a 10.

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