Blue Suede Shoes

Well, since I am temporarily semi-retired from the fishing tour, I found a new tour, a world I never knew existed, the pro BBQ tour, they got sponsors, and equipment, etc. Just coming home from Memphis and enjoyed an evening at BB Kings on Beale street before I got to get in the festival working zone of 7 am - midnight vending shoes and clothes at the world bbq competition. Over 285 teams compete, in all categories, whole hog, wings, bbq, etc. Saw the largest group of unhealthy people ever, they are professional eaters! The guy set up behind us, big guy, I hear his buddies come up to greet him and they say, man you are looking good, what are you weighing now, he aswered, well last weigh in was 508, they said, how are ya doing it, and he said, I cut calories to 1700 a day and walk 4 days a week, but I really don't think I can get any smaller! Yep.
The other side of memphis was a darker scene, lots of abondoned buildings, homeless and gangs everywhere. First night in after a brutal wait to get set up in the knee deep mud, we walked to Rendevous, an established bbq house recommended by a vetern of bbq and travel, basement of a building, underground, laid back staff, old black man comes up, come sit in my house, we gots bbq, brisket, and chicken, get one or all, you get cole slaw and beans, that's the choices babee, as he slaps down two waters, a picher of coke and a pitcher of beer-he was fun and nice, singing and telling jokes as the room (one of about 6 dining rooms) filled up. Def. the best bbq we had in a long time, if not ever, we thought about getting out early each night if it rained and going back for another meal, but the festival ran until midnight or later each night, so our one meal a day consisted of mc donalds all night drive through! Last day of the event, one of our customers brought us plates of food from her booth, and Rendevous quickly got replaced by the nice folks from Brandon MS, homemade potato salad and cole slaw that tasted as good as ice cream, and the ribs and brisket, man, literally, melted in your mouth, followed by perfectly seasoned pulled pork, we were in food heaven! Enjoyed my only 15 minute break of the festival, late sunday am, and walked along the mississippi, current was rippin, and I thought, I wonder how long on a tom sawyer raft, it would take this huckleberry to float all the way to venice lousianna, bbq for lunch, gumbo for dinner, in one of my favorite destinations in the world-hmmm, my calculations were interrupted by a huge train chugging across the bridge of the ole mississip, kinda cool, I love trains!
No Elvis sightings - boo hoo!

Funny Team Names:
sweet swine o' mine (won the 10,000 purse)
pork fiction
tangled up in que
rub me tender
the pig lebowski
pork illustrated
count basie and the porkestra

and my favorite
big al and the butt rubbers

First thing when I get home: (in order of imortance!)
nelson! miss him!
pedicure - 4 days in the mud, dirt, and heat standing
shower
vegetable!
extra sit ups and crunches, maybe a 2 h our spin class,
100 times on a wall- I will not go all the way to Memphis for a BBQ festival again
buy a map, maybe a GPS
(long story, very repetative, but lets just say I saw all of memphis, top, bottom, middle, industrial, suburbs, and half of mississippi-daily)

peace love and pigs!