Back When Goin’ Way Out West Meant Going to Kayntuck
Right now I’m waiting for Julie’s flight back from Hawaii to get closer so I can leave to pick her up from Dulles International Airport. She’s travelling at 518mph at 25,000ft over Indiana and her flight is running 7 minutes early. Gotta love Apple’s flight tracking widget! After that, I’ll be picking up my old roommate, Goose, from Reagan National Airport.
Our trip to Illinois was good…
. We got alot of wedding stuff done and now it’s just down to the finer details, like what music we want for everything and the order of worship for the ceremony. I think my grandpa, as long as he’s up to it, is going to do the short sermon. Mui coolio!
It was good to see y’all the other weekend. Julie had a great time seeing where I spent most of my days chilling out and meeting my cool Iowegian friends. The Hu Hot we had was also very good.
The rest of last week we got our engagement pictures done for free by our official wedding photographer. My eyes were burning from the intense light in the outdoor pictures so none of those really turned out well. The light wasn’t really that intense, but for some reason, my eyes were going crazy and I couldn’t keep them open well enough to get a good shot. Oh well, the indoor ones turned out well.
That Tuesday, I left bright and early for Tennessee. I went through Cairo, Illinois, stopping to see Fort Defiance, the meeting point of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. I then drove through western Kentucky. Western Kentucky is alot like Virginia if it had corn. I left Kentucky to wind around Fort Campbell into Dover, TN where I visited Fort Donelson, the site of the first major Union victory of the Civil War. After that, I headed westward to Memphis.
My first stop in Memphis was Graceland, just in time for Elvis Week. I got there too late to tour the mansion, but I did pick up some souvenirs and snapped some pictures of the mansion. I stood in line to get into the cemetary and meditation garden next to the mansion, but the line wasn’t moving for a long time and I was worried about my car getting towed, so I left. I don’t think I missed much, though.
That night, I drove downtown to make a pilgrimage stop at Charles Vergo’s Rendezvous. I had read online that it was the best BBQ place in town. The trick was finding it. As I drove downtown, I called the restaurant and asked them their address. “52 South Second Street” was their reply. OK, easy enough! Well, the building was only marked by some frosted white text on the window, which I only saw after I finally parked my car, tired of endlessly circling around. A sign pointed around the corner to a back alley entrance. From there I entered Rib Heaven.
The place was packed. To avoid the wait for a table, I sat down at the bar and decided to order the beef brisket, a good BBQ standby. A guy sitting next to me at the bar refused to let me order the brisket, telling me I had to get the ribs. He flagged down the bartender and changed my order for me. This guy, I think his name was Kenny or Kelly, was a regional salesman for Mitsubishi printing machinery. He had come all the way from Florida just to have some ribs at this place. He told me he had driven through southern Tennessee on highway 64 and happened across the town that the actual events of the Walking Tall story occurred in. I didn’t care much at the time.
I got my ribs and they were delicious! I never really liked ribs before, but these were so good! They’re dry-rub ribs, which means that instead of being smothered in BBQ sauce, like we’re used to, they’re basted in vinegar, then charcoal-grilled with a dry seasoning sprinkled on top. They were so tender and yummy! I can’t wait to break out some fat ribs on my own grill!
I paid, thanked my new friend, and left. My next stop was Shiloh Battlefield where I would stay the night, visit the battlefield the next day, then drive home. From Rendezvous, I started War Driving so I could find a hotel via the Internet. I found an open wireless network within a U-shaped building that enclosed a small parking lot. I sat in the parking lot with my laptop out, looking for hotels. After a while, a cop car pulls into the lot and parks right next to me in a little, sloped entrance way. I thought, “crap, I’m busted - someone reported some suspicious guy with computer!” I sat there for a while waiting for the cop to get out of his car, but he just sat there on his cell phone and proceeded to play with his spot light, shining it against the wall. He must have been hiding so he could talk on his phone. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I kept a page up with a list of hotels in Savannah, TN. I talked with Julie for a bit, grabbed some Starbucks, and wandered my way back onto the Interstate, headed for Southern Tennessee.
Southern Tennessee is where you really meet the South. Rickety old shacks, river smell with a hint of hickory aroma on top, and some freaky towns. As I posted earlier, a town I drove through was the one mentioned by my bar friend - the town where Walking Tall took place. It was kinda freaky to be there late at night. Savannah wasn’t much better. They had a cool, historic downtown, but outside were some creepy abandoned lots where truckers were all parked, hanging out or something. I finally found my hotel, a comfort inn and went to sleep after being chased by a massive cicada. The room was a smoking room and the shower only output cold water. I did get a free breakfast, though.
On Wednesday, I left the hotel and visited the battlefield. It was a nice, relaxing time. The interesting part was seeing all the memorials to Iowan soldiers. Apparently they held out the longest against a massive Confederate assault for most of a working day. After seeing the battlefield, I drove all the way back home to Annandale. Tennessee is a very long state. In fact, it’s 400 miles long. Virginia is also a long state. Just to get from the southern border to DC was 350-some miles. I finally got home at 12:30am on Thursday.
I took the rest of the week off.
Now I have to leave for the airport.
