My Trip to Memphis! - Part 1

May has been a whirlwind tour of bbq, I'm just finally getting a chance to sit down and blog my incredible experience on one of the greatest trips I've ever embarked on. I decided one evening after possibly a few too many beers at the end of April to see what the deal was with Mephis in May's Pork bbq contest, everything seem to line up just right. This was the first year that they offered something called the "VIPit Pass" which as a bit of money with a parking pass ($400!) and my first hurdle was that they would not ship the pit pass to Canada, so I jumped online and booked myself at the local KOA campground about 20 minutes from the contest and had my ticket shipped there.  I just bought my first car in about 12 years and have not driven very much in the last 10 years, and thought - hey drive 2000 miles in a week, make up for those years not driving in a hurry!  I didn't actually have my full drivers license as I'd let it expire and had to take a driving test 5 days before I embarked on this wacky trip.. if I had failed the test I would not have been able to (legally) drive to Memphis, I did pass my driving test however so that was taken care of.. next on the list - getting a car stereo with a gps, check... now for the trip!  I left on a rainy Tuesday afternoon and did a 5 hour drive to the middle of Ohio, it started raining the moment I hit Ohio and when I reached my first campsite it was very water logged and just above freezing.. not ideal for my tent, I opted to spend the extra $20 and get a cabin at the KOA campground near Toledo. I figured this would be an easy way to do a test of my  recently acquired camp gear, plus I'd have power to watch a movie on my laptop in the evening if the rain decided to come back.  I asked about good local bbq and was told to go to "chillis" there was no way I was going to go to chillis for bbq. I punched in BBQ into the gps and found a place called smokey bones, and had some really really amazing ribs, I told the bartended of my plans to make it to Memphis eating bbq as much as possible, and they comped my meal!   If you are traveling in the USA and feel like some bbq I have high praise for this place, I was astounded when I discover they were a chain. I had both wet and dry ribs and both were cooked perfectly and had lots of great flavor.  I had a great rib-filled sleep and in the morning took a crack at using my new stove top coffee maker which resulted in the possibly the worst coffee I've ever consumed, clearly there was a learning curve to this. I managed to hit the road at about 7:30 am with a belly full of bacon and eggs, and my aforementioned crappy coffee. It rained the entire drive through the remainder of Ohio, I mean crazy cant see 30 feet in front of you rain. As soon as I passed into Kentucky the rain seemed to stop, thank god!  Kentucky is one of the greatest places to drive through, the grass is better than some golf courses, and that's just on the side of the freeway, long rolling hills, everything was lush and green, the highways were not busy and everyone drives really fast! I looked down at the speedometer at one point as I followed a caddy and I was doing 155 k! I arrived at my campsite in Kentucky and quickly changed into my shorts, crocks and a t-shirt, what a difference a day of driving makes in weather! The locals down here know about REAL BBQ! I was directed to a roadside stand called Knoths BBQ which was in the middle of a "dry" county.. no booze!? how can the bbq be be good without a beer I asked myself?  This was a tiny little place that served beef and pork on wonderbread buns and there were 2 kinds of bbq sauce provided, one was yellow thin with fruit and mustard and the other red and peppery.. I ate 3 of these wonderbread sandwiches, and was amazed on the great flavour of the the pork and beef, it was moist and grandma was in the kitchen pulling the meat fresh off the pork shoulders with her bare hands and piling them on my wonderbread. So glad that I found this place! I made it back to the camp and had a few beers and my first campfire of the season, still in my shorts and t-shirt, it was hot out! I managed to get some of the sauce from knoths and had a campfire weenie with a mix of the pepper and mustard sauce on it, my spirits were high and I was looking forward to getting to Memphis the next day.  I couldn't sleep, I was too excited. The sun baked my tent and I was packed up and making much better coffee early in the morning, the campground owner came over to chat with me as told me about the "dry" county thing, she said something that made me laugh and that I will remember: back when I was a kid there were "Honky Tonk" drunks all over the place" thats why we are dry now.  My belly was full of proper coffee eggs and bacon, and I was ready for Memphis, less then 4 hours of driving to go! Driving through the remainder of Kentucky, into Arkansas was a joy, great weather. I have to mention the rest areas, there's a clean beautifully landscaped rest stop around every 100 miles. It would be a shame to not stop, as they are great break for driving and every single one I stopped in had stocked vending machines and bathrooms you could eat off the floor. I made it to the west Memphis KOA around lunchtime I was a little out of place on one of the only 3 tent sites on this large campground full of motor homes next to a busy highway I brought my BIG tent and a queen size inflatable mattress so this was enough luxury for me anyway, I'm still in disbelief that I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt sweating like a fat kid at the fair setting up my tent, it was HOT! I had a nice cold beer and a red bull and headed off to the contest..  TBC...