Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings

With the BBQ Championships behind us it was time to move forward.  I did another weigh-in prior to leaving the hotel.  For those of you who didn’t see my first weigh-in I have included both the before and after pictures.

We packed up and headed for Nashville.  But first we had to stop by the Pink Palace.  This is a collection of museums and originally was a home owned and occupied by the man who started the Piggly Wiggly chain of stores.  We didn’t have a lot of time to peruse the collection but I did see this cartoon that caught my eye.  Apparently it was drawn in about the 1880s when Memphis was decimated by an outbreak of yellow fever.

After the Pink Palace it was off to Nashville but I couldn’t leave Memphis without passing along one more tidbit.  Apparently  people around here like their guns and sometimes need to be reminded that they are not appropriate everywhere.  You already saw the billboard at the entrance to the BBQ Festival.   Here are a couple more examples.

The drive to Nashville took about 3 hours.  We did see some interesting signs but I didn’t get any pictures so you will have to take my word when I tell you we saw two (yes, two not one), “Adult Super Stores” advertising “DVDs, Magazines and Much More” along the highway.

We are not staying in downtown Nashville where much of the action is located but instead by the Grand Ole Opry.  We have tickets to a show on Tuesday night so more about that in a couple of days.

Today was the big day at the World Championship of Barbecue Cooking.  It was time to bring out the pork. There are 3 categories that are judged: 1.) Ribs, 2.) Shoulder and 3.) Whole Hog.  This morning we were assigned to do “Blind” judging (you receive a box of meat and have no idea who cooked it) of shoulder.  Both Patrice and I were disappointed because “On Site” judging (when you visit the competitors at their booths) is where the real fun and excitement are located.  I talked to the head of the festival to see if somehow they could find two more spots for On Site judging and my negotiations (aka whining but called “swhining” here) paid off.  Patrice and I were both assigned to do On Site judging of ribs.

The Festival park is laid out with all the competitors arranged into groups. They are separated by competition categories (Ribs, Shoulder, Whole Hog) to make it easier for judges to get to the three sites they need to judge within the limited amount of time allotted for the process.  The sites are numbered with Rib booths starting with an R, Shoulder booths starting with an S and Whole hog with an H (I guess for Hog instead of Whole).

The competitors have very interesting team names such as “The Pit and the Pigulum”; “Kill-em and Grill-em”; “Pork Illustrated”; “Swine and Dine”; “The Hogfather”; “Natural Born Grillers”; and “Pork and Bean Counters” (my friend Steve assumed these guys must be accountants).

When judges approach a team site they are greeted by a team member who then introduces you to the Head Cook and the other team members.  All of these people greet you as if you are visiting royalty.  Then you are brought to the cooker and the chef explains their method of preparation.  After 2 years of doing this we are learning things like what type of smokers are used (3 of the 6 we judged use Backwoods), what type of marinade they use, how long they cook the meat and little tricks they might have (who would have thought Mott’s Apple Juice would make pork taste so good?).

I arrived at one team’s booth while the judge before me was still reviewing their work. So while I waited I was entertained by team member, Jimbo Billy Bob.  I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!   Before I even got into their booth Jimbo Billy Bob explained to me how he got his name.  Sorry I don’t remember about James but William was after William Jennings Bryan and Robert was after Robert E. Lee.  Need I say more?  When it was my turn to judge I was given the tour and the rundown on how they cook their pork. Then I got to taste possibly the best ribs I have ever had the pleasure to eat.  All the teams I judged were excellent and it was hard to choose one over the other.  After leaving the booth it is not uncommon to get a round of applause (but it is a bit embarrassing). Unfortunately none of my teams made it to the finals.  After turning in my scoring cards I went back to my competitors to introduce them to Patrice.  I had to have her meet Jimbo Billy Bob who was very happy to see us come back.  He also shared with us some of his homemade moonshine.  Jimbo Billy Bob is my new BFF.

Our friends Steve and Becky joined us after the judging and we fixed them up with some great pork and just hung out talking to other judges and hoping that our stomachs did not explode.  Steve promised that he would join us as a judge if we come back next year.  If?  Is he kidding?  As I have told many of you I will not eat BBQ in Los Angeles after experiencing Memphis in May.

After getting back to the hotel we met Patrice’s cousin, Margaret and her husband John. This was not preplanned.  On Friday (today is Saturday isn’t it?) we received an email from Margaret asking for recommendations of places to eat and things to do in Memphis knowing that we love this city.  Neither of us were aware that the other was going to be in Memphis at this time.  So we met them for dinner.  I AM NOT KIDDING! Unfortunately my brain was still under the influence of Jimbo Billy Bob’s moonshine and I forgot to get a picture of our happy group.

Tomorrow we leave for Nashville.

 

Today was supposed to be day 2 of the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. But before we get to that let me tell you about this amazing hotel at which we have been staying.  At the recommendation of our friends Steve and Becky we decided to forego the Peabody Hotel and their ducks and stay at the River Inn of Harbor Town (50 Harbor Town Square).  The place is lovely.  Our room is very large with the usual comforts that you would expect in a classy hotel.  In addition there are some very nice bonuses.  For example we get a first rate breakfast every morning at the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, Paulette’s.  This is not a Residence Inn type breakfast but rather a first rate meal including croissants, muffins, freshly squeezed orange juice, choice of eggs (we had omelettes this morning), pancakes or french toast.  Each morning we have fresh bottles of water at our bedside and at night we get a turndown service which brings a carafe of port and chocolates.  I might not be much of a drinker but I sure like chocolate.

After enjoying our breakfast we headed off to Day 2 of the Festival.  We arrived early, as instructed, for Judge check-in and completed the first round of judging.  We were then informed that there was a storm warning and the entire festival was going to be closed and all visitors were to evacuate immediately.  Patrice and I have tremendous respect for locals and their knowledge of their own natural hazards.  In California we know how to deal with earthquakes but this isn’t our home turf so when told to evacuate Patrice and I were at the head of the pack leaving the park.  When we started walking toward cover it began to rain. Actually this was a savior.  It has been so hot and having the water from above to cool us off was a tremendous relief.

When the storm warning had passed it was very late and we had dinner plans with our friends so we were unable to do any further judging.  It was disappointing that we couldn’t judge more but a bit of a relief that we weren’t stuffed and unable to enjoy dinner.  We had  a great evening at dinner (yes more eating), talking with Steve and Becky about old times and meeting their friends Careen and Tom.

Tomorrow is the main event.  In the morning we will have blind judging (we just receive boxes of pork to taste) and in the afternoon we will have on-site judging (where we go to the contestants booths to meet them, learn their techniques and of course taste their pork)

Today was the first day of the official BBQ competition.  Before heading off to the festival I decided to use the hotel room scale to make sure that I was in good shape to start some serious eating.  This is my kind of scale (see below).

After the weigh-in it was off to Tom Lee Park for the BBQ Festival.  Upon arrival we were greeted with a warning of what cannot be brought into the park.

After checking in at the judges tent we got our assignments (Patrice was assigned to Tomato Sauce and Vinegar Sauce and I was given Mustard Sauce and Hot Wings).  Patrice was a little disappointed that she was only given sauces to judge but her disappointment was short-lived because they needed some extra judges for hot wings.   The first two days of judging are for the so-called accessories, the main event (pork) isn’t until Saturday.

Judging was lots of fun and we made some new friends and connected with some old ones like Lance from “Tastin Round Town” (www.tastinroundtown.com).  Lance is the guy who got us involved in all this craziness.  He is one of the few people in the world who can out talk me.  We loved his tour and strongly recommend you plan to visit the city with him when you are in Memphis.

Although the judging was fun it was not without injury.  I managed to get some BBQ sauce on my shorts.  Since I didn’t pack a lot of back ups we decided to head to the Bass Pro Shop at the Pyramid to see if we could pick up some shorts.  Patrice recommended I look for some dark red shorts so the sauce won’t show (she can be painfully practical sometimes).  The Bass Pro Shop at the Pyramid is a store like no other.  It is located in a building that used to house the Memphis Grizzlies and Memphis University basketball teams (seating 20,142 fans) until 2004 when they both moved to the FedEx Forum. Obviously the place is huge.   The building is said the be the 10th largest pyramid in the world.  It has shopping, restaurants, a hotel, bowling alley, shooting range and an archery range.  There are numerous large boats on the showroom floor.  They have lagoons that serve as an aquarium with a variety of fish and three alligators.

After leaving the Bass Pro Shop we decided to try to walk-off some calories since we were less than a mile from the hotel.  We received an unexpected bonus when we saw a raccoon outside the shop (see below).

 

Since we were deprived of BBQ we headed over to a restaurant recommended by Lance. I wasn’t with Patrice when they were discussing the place so I asked “Do you think we need to make reservations?”  Apparently they don’t take reservations.  So we took a chance and headed over and this is what we found.

The owner, Desiree, was celebrating her 80th birthday.  She is called GG by her family because she has 3 great-grandchildren.  I told her that we also call my mom GG because she too has 3 great-grandchildren.  I told her that our GG recently celebrated her 101st birthday.  Desiree was very impressed.  We enjoyed a superb meal (BBQ ribs and chicken wings, BBQ spaghetti with a chaser of a piece of sweet potato pie and banana pudding) and it was a great way to end the night.

Life as a judge can be so challenging.

We got up early this morning to travel to Memphis.  Not that I don’t love baseball (which you know I do) and not to say that visiting New York isn’t always a blast (weather permitting) but the main focal point of this trip is about to begin.  Yes, we are in Memphis, the home of the WCBCC, the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. Patrice and I were judges at the WCBCC last year and had so much fun we decided to come back.

In November 2015 we became certified to be “Memphis in May” barbecue judges.  The first thing they told us was “In Memphis we are all about pork”.  At lunch today that message was reinforced.  Notice what they say about their veggie plate.

One of the traditions at the Festival is the “Big Hog Run”.  This is a 0.2K run (yes about 200 yards) and is mostly downhill.  There is also a mandatory hydration station.  The winner is based only partly on time.  They also factor in age, body weight, gender and BMI (body mass index).  Here is a picture of the start of the “race”.

And as I mentioned there is a mandatory hydration station at about the half way point of the race.

After the Big Hog Run we walked around the festival grounds.  We saw some old friends such as one of the teams I judged last year.  They eventually made it to the finals.  The head cook didn’t remember me (but did a good job pretending he did) but one other team member remembered we were from California and that I am a doctor.  I was impressed because I thought the whole team was drunk.  I guess at least one guy was sober.

We also saw some of our fellow judges from last year.  Here is one reviewing  the strict judging criteria.

You might recall that I ended yesterday’s post saying that today would involve a meeting with a woman of my past.  Those of you who have followed our travels for years might recall me once saying that we were going to have dinner near the Erie Canal with a woman with whom I had shared some of my deepest and secret feelings for about 20 years but had never seen or met.  My readers love scandal and dirt so they were very disappointed to find out that my friend Zara and her husband Chuck, like us, have a child with Crohn’s disease (we have 2 but this is not a competition I want to win).  I first met Zara through a website called “IBD SUCKS”.  I am not sure if it still exists (actually I just checked and it does) but the site http://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org is MUCH more useful. We had a delightful dinner that night and have remained in contact since.  Chuck is a retired DDS (who has a sense of humor very similar to mine) and Zara is a retired nurse.  They have relocated to this area having previously lived in Rochester, New York.  Zara and Chuck, unlike Patrice, are baseball fans.

People have asked me why in the world I would fly down to Miami to see a game.  Part of the reason was of course to continue our (my) quest to visit all 30 MLB parks (12 down; 18 to go) but it was also to visit Chuck and Zara.  We had a delightful evening talking about baseball, Crohn’s disease, living in Florida (vs New York or California) and retirement.  We also saw a heck of a game.  The Astros won 12-2 but more important than that was that again we had incredible ballpark food (Dodgers get your act together!) and I didn’t see one beachball in the stands (Dodgers get your act together!).   Zara also told me of the real draw of Marlins Field is their Bobblehead Doll Museum (see below).

Prior to the game Patrice and I did some more exploring of the city.  We went to an area known as “Little Havana” and had lunch (at Chuck and Zara’s recommendation) at Old’s Havana Cuban Cocina (1440 SW 8th Street).  We both had sandwiches and they were excellent.  My sandwich was names after me, “El Guapo”.    For dessert we got some ice cream across the street at Azucar (1503 SW 8th Street).  How could we resist a place that looked like this (see below).

We also wandered into a cigar factory where we saw Cubans (so we were told) rolling cigars by hand.  It was fascinating to watch.  See below.

This sign outside of the cigar shop was also of interest (see below).

Travel day tomorrow.   Hopefully we will get to Memphis but our schedule is a bit tight so we need to pack and get off to bed.

All baseball teams have travel days when they don’t play but just relocate from one city to another.  Well today was a travel day for Patrice and me.  We got an early start and made it to JFK airport in plenty of time to make our flight to Miami.  It was fortunate that we were early because we saw, Dwayne Johnson (“The Rock”) at the airport and he was kind enough to let me snap a photo of him with Patrice (See below).

At the airport I found the bathrooms rather tricky.  Sorry but the high tech equipment in public restrooms can be difficult for an old guy like me to understand. I am sure you are familiar with the systems that start water flow once your hands trip a sensor alerting the equipment that you are in the proper position.  Below you will see a picture of a sink in a bathroom at JFK.  It took me a long time to finally figure out how to turn on the water (see below).

We had a rather uneventful flight to Miami.  Upon arrival I wanted to immediately return to New York.  It was 82 degrees when we landed but the humidity was about 12,000%.

After checking into the hotel we rested for a bit.  After all we were sitting in an airplane for 3 hours, and needed a rest from all that hard work.   We then decided to explore South Beach before dinner.  Apparently weather can get a bit strong down here so trees need to be supported (see below).

They also have some interesting observations about the surroundings.  Note they want you to stay off the grass (see below).

But take a better look at what they call grass (see below).

Also I think they have an interesting opinion about health food down here.  Possibly the humidity has gotten to their brains.

Now Patrice is trying to get me to go to the hotel gym to work out.  I am trying to convince her I need to write my blog.  I better go, it wasn’t easy to get her to leave “The Rock” when we were at JFK this morning.  I need to get into better shape.

Baseball tomorrow.  And a meeting with a woman of my past.

This morning we decided to get in some early exercise so we walked to “Ess A Bagel” (831 3rd Avenue) for breakfast.  The place was very crowded.  They got our order wrong but with 20 people in line we were just happy to get food.  The bagels were scrumptious, and of a quality that you don’t see in Los Angeles and definitely not in the Beach Cities.  We then got chocolate dessert at Teuscher Chocolatier (620 5th Avenue).  Their chocolates are imported once a week from Switzerland.  They sell for $112 per lb.  To translate to clearer terms, Patrice got a small chocolate covered hazelnut confection (about the size of a Reese’s peanut butter cup) and it sold for $3.70.  After that we returned to the theater district where we saw the play “The Little Foxes”.  The play was written by Lillian Hellman and debuted in 1939.  It was a successful movie with Betty Davis and this edition has been nominated for a number of Tony awards.  Patrice enjoyed it a lot but I thought it was a bit dated.  There were a number of name actors in the production (Laura Linney, Cynthia Nixon, Michael McKean and Richard Thomas). Patrice didn’t remember Richard Thomas so I tried to jog her memory.  Robert: “He was John Boy in the Waltons on TV”.  Patrice:  “I don’t remember, I was too young for that show.”   Grrrrrr, this woman is flirting with danger.

After a quick and uneventful dinner we headed uptown to see “Spamilton” a spoof about the Broadway hit musical “Hamilton”.  They also poked fun at a number of other Broadway productions and stars.  I thought it was good but Patrice and most everyone else in the theater thought it was spectacular.   Now we are back at the hotel packing for our trip to Miami in the morning.

Patrice had a good mother’s day.  We both called our mothers to tell them we love them and wish them a happy day.  I found this picture on my computer.

A word of thanks to my niece, Shaynee.  As I said I found this picture on my computer.  I wasn’t sure where it was located on my computer or how to access it.  Somehow I posted it somewhere (not sure where it posted or how I did it) but my niece, Shaynee saw it.  I confessed to Shaynee that I couldn’t find the picture and asked her to download and email it to me so I could post it today.  Many men my age are impressed with my computer skills.  Clearly I have a lot to learn.  Thanks Shaynee.

It’s been a long and tiring day so please forgive me for quickly writing down my thoughts then turning the post over to my editor (Patrice) to proofread and publish.  I have a bunch of other things to do and know I leave my work in the trustworthy hands of my editor.

This morning we met Patrice’s friend, Diana, for breakfast along with her son, Mark and his wife, Kelly.  We had a fantastic meal at Bouchon (10 Columbus Circle).  Mark is in medical school and Kelly works for Google.  It was fun discussing how fulfilling a career in medicine lies ahead for this young man (Patrice here:  Doesn’t a discussion mean more than one person talking?  I don’t think Robert came up for air more than once).

After breakfast we contemplated what next to do.  It was raining heavily so baseball was not an option (Patrice: Thank God!) so I felt it was Patrice’s turn to decide on an activity. She suggested a Broadway show.  I cautioned her on how expensive these shows can be and asked for another idea.  “Well how about if we do some shopping?” to which I replied, “What show would you like to see?”

We decided on seeing “Come From Away” a musical about 9/11.  A musical about 9/11?  It sounded awful to me.  Of course readers might recall a couple of years ago Patrice recommended we see a musical about one of our founding fathers.  I balked at that but was very happy seeing “Hamilton” long before it became a national phenomena.  So it was off to see “Come From Away” but the tickets were sold out and we had to wait (in the rain) for possible cancellations.  We got lucky but had to sit apart.  The musical was amazing.  It was funny (yes funny), informative, and the music and staging were spectacular.  It was also incredibly touching at times and frequently I found myself on the verge of tears (Patrice: Don’t get too taken by this.  After all we are talking about someone who use to well up when reading “Green Eggs and Ham” to our kids at bedtime).

In the early evening we worked out at the hotel gym and earned us a hearty meal. Tonight we dined at The Modern (9 W. 53rd Street) and had what might have been the best meal we have ever enjoyed. The restaurant was beautiful, the service was beyond words (seemed like we had a different server for every course) and the food tasted even better than it looked (see below).  The dinner was a 4 course meal with tip included in the price.  There were some other tidbits between courses but here are the highlights.

Like I said, the meal might have been the best I had ever eaten.  If it hadn’t been such a classy place I might have even licked the plates clean.  Trust me, I was very tempted.  That is all for tonight.  Loving your comments and hope to see lot’s more tomorrow.

This is Patrice here again.  OMG, “tempted to lick the plate”?  See for yourself.  I caught him with my cell phone when he wasn’t paying attention.  I have never been more humiliated in my life.

Today we had a wonderful day in New York.   First we got up nice and early at 10:00 AM. Hey, we are still on Los Angeles time so cut us some slack.  We then took a short walk to Thalia’s (828 8th Avenue) where we had a wonderful lunch with wonderful people.  We were hosted by our daughter-in-law’s mother, Carol and two of Carol’s sons, Corey and Marc.  We spent most of our time arguing about who was luckier.  Carol insisting she had the best son-in-law (David) in the world and we insisted we have the best daughter-in-law (Robyn).  We finally agreed that we both have amazing grandchildren.

After lunch we did some exploring of the area near our hotel and then met Corey and Marc for our trip to Yankee Stadium to see the Astros take on the Bronx Bombers.  We took the subway and it was fantastic, taking us to just steps from the stadium.  Although this is not the “House that Ruth Built” is was still exciting to arrive at the stadium.

The game was fantastic.  The Astros won 5-1 which is of course a big plus.  The food at the stadium was actually very good.  All those people who ask “Why do Dodger Dogs taste so good?” the answer is very simple…………THEY DON’T.   I had an Italian sausage in a fresh bun (yes, fresh bread, try that for a change Dodgers!).  Patrice and the guys had chicken cheese steak sandwiches which they said were also very tasty.  Not that it bothers me, since I am not a drinker, but beers which cost $8 at Dodger stadium sell for $15 in Yankee Stadium (Ouch!).  The game was filled with excitement; there was a 3 run home run (by former Yankee Brian McCann), a diving catch (by Astro centerfielder, George Springer) and Patrice’s favorite, the grounds crew dancing to the Village People’s rendition of “YMCA”.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow so we most likely will look for an indoor activity.  More about that later.