Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings

Today was the big day.  We arrived very prompt and early for our 8AM check in.

There was a little confusion yesterday when Patrice asked what time we needed to arrive and one of the organizers told us that, “Chicken’s at 8”.  Both of us were confused and asked for clarification, “Chicken?” to which she said, “No, chickin.  Judges need to chick in at 8”.  “OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH, you mean check in at 8?”  “Yes that’s what I said, judges chickin at 8”

So this morning we arrived promptly at 8 and received our assignments.  Judging is either “Blind” where you are given boxes of food and judge the quality or “On Site” where you go to the contestant’s booth.  On site seemed much more stressful to me.  Here a know-nothing like me goes to a cook site and meets someone who has been doing BBQ for 20-40 years.  Then I have to judge them?  Waiting for my name to be called I was praying for a blind judging assignment.  Well only fitting for a Jewish judge at a BBQ festival my name was called for on site judging of Whole Hog.

I nervously paced until my time for judging approached.  The teams spend large sums of money to produce these elaborately decorated booths and cook ribs, shoulder or whole hog.  I heard that some teams spend as much as $40,000 for equipment, supplies (including the pork), building and decorating the booth in addition to the entry fee.   One of the most popular booths was “3 Taxi Guys”.  This is their booth.

 

Finally my time arrived and I introduced myself to my first team, Rick and India from Macon, Georgia the owners of the “Dixie Que” booth.  They were very friendly and fed me some amazing pork.  It was easy to talk to them about their entry because it was incredibly tasty.  Rick asked me the question I dreaded, “How long have you been a judge”.   He didn’t seem to cringe when I told him this was my first year.  I returned the favor and asked if he owned a restaurant.  “No I sell toilets”.   At that point I didn’t want to hear any more about the cooking process.  As Jack Nicholson said in A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth”.

I then visited the “Cotton Patch Cooking Crew” a team from Columbus, Mississippi who also produced some very fine pork. My final team was “PLP” from Nashville, Tennessee.  PLP stands for Peg Leg Porkers because their team leader, Cary, had a leg amputated as a teenager (due to cancer).  At first I couldn’t find their booth thinking that booth 237 would be located between 236 and 238.  Apparently there was a mix up and their booth had to be moved and they wound up in a non-booth area sharing space with the local news crew.  PLP didn’t spare any expense to decorate their booth.  Actually let me rephrase that, they didn’t spend anything to decorate their booth.  See below.

While they didn’t spend much on decoration their pork was fantastic.  After judging I took Patrice to meet the cookers and they were incredibly excited to see me.  Apparently they made it into the finals.  They could not stop thanking me.  They asked me to pose for a group photo.   The results of the final judging are still pending but I will let you know once I find out.

Tomorrow we have an early flight for Phoenix.  Enough talk about pig.  Now it is on to the National Park portion of our tour.

 

 

If nothing else goes right this trip it will still be a success. The reason for that is because Patrice got compliments today about her shirt, hat and pants (see below).

After checking in at the judges tent we received our Friday assignments:  1:00 pm Tomato Sauce Samples;  1:45 pm Seafood Samples.   Huh?  Where’s the pork?

While waiting for our tastebuds to be called to duty we ran into our friend, Lance, from the Tastin’ Round Town tour.  Last year Lance gave us our crash course into Memphis BBQ.  He also told us how to become judges and thus is responsible for us being here this weekend.  If you are in Memphis I would strongly recommend you take a tour with Lance.  A word of warning, do not eat before the tour and do not plan to eat after the tour.  Check out his website at http://www.tastinroundtown.com.   

Our judging time finally came.  Patrice and I first judged BBQ sauces which was a good introduction to the process.  The seafood judging that followed was amazing.  We were at different judging tables and thus judged different items.  Patrice had 6 dishes all of which she said were amazing.  I only had 4 items to evaluate and they were beyond description.

After our judging duties were completed we decided to visit the various booths.  The cookers were incredibly gracious inviting us into their cook areas and sharing their methods.   We got to see a variety of “Whole Hogs”.  If you have a weak stomach area you might not like to look at the pictures below.

Tomorrow we get to judge pork.  I don’t think my Grandpa Sam would have been very proud.  Good thing he is dead because if he heard his grandson was judging a pork cooking contest it would have killed him.

Until tomorrow.

Today we picked up our BBQ Judging credentials (see below).  I think our attempt to blend in with the locals is not working as planned.  As soon as we walked into the office a woman said to another woman “Their credential packet is on the desk”.  I hadn’t even said hello and she already knew who we were.  I think the fact that we had an umbrella was her first clue.  We are walking the streets in the rain and we are one of the few people using an umbrella.  That seems to be a clear tip off that we are from out of town.

The main festivities really don’t start until tomorrow but we missed an event on Wednesday, that we had hoped to see, “The Big Hog Run”.  The run requires male entrants to weigh at least 175 lbs and females 150 lbs.  The run is a 0.2K (about 219 yards) and we are told it is all downhill.  Runners have a mandatory hydration stop at the halfway point where entrants can choose between beer, water or sports drinks. Needless to say this is not a healthy week in Memphis.

Patrice is always on the lookout for things to do.  You might recall she had me spend $20 on a show in New York, a musical in rap about Alexander Hamilton. That worked out pretty well. Of course there are some things that have not worked out as well and for the sake of our marriage those activities don’t make it to the blog.  Well today she suggested we go to the Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art.  You didn’t misread that.  You don’t need go back and read it again. What?  You never heard of Asian and Judaic Art in the same museum?  I was less than enthusiastic with this idea but how can I say no to a woman who went with me to 3 baseball games (all extra innings) on our last road trip?  So it was off to the the Asian and Judaic museum for me.   Much to my surprise the museum was incredible.  I took pictures (see below) but they don’t do the place justice. There were multiple works of jade, cloisonné, cinnabar and ivory (sorry elephant lovers).  The Judaic portion of the museum was much less impressive.  That section had a small collection of art and a rather impressive dedication to holocaust survivors who lived in Memphis (a surprisingly large number).   The place is a definite “must see” if you come to Memphis.

Tomorrow is the big day.  More about BBQ judging in my next post.

After an early start and a relatively uneventful flight from LAX to DFW then DFW (after a 1 hour delay) to Memphis we arrived at our hotel.  I was really happy about using points and a few dollars to stay at the Hilton Doubletree Hotel.  We are saving a lot of money but we are not at the Peabody (our home for two of our last three visits to this fine city).   Hilton advertised all the amenities one would expect of a class hotel but apparently they have a little trouble following up on the hype.  It is very hot and humid in Memphis but looks like we won’t be swimming (see below).  We are across the street from the baseball stadium but I won’t push my luck (no minor league baseball this trip).

We arrived in the city too late to pick up our BBQ credentials but we did get here in time to walk around the city and have a wonderful dinner at Gus’s Famous Fried Chicken.  Gus’s didn’t look like much but they had  people waiting outside and we were given an estimated wait time of 25 minutes.  When seated we felt that the place lacked some of the things we have come to expect at a fine dining restaurant.  The table was set with plastic forks and knives, paper napkins and water in plastic cups.  As they say looks can be deceiving (see below).  The fried chicken was amazing with very good side dishes of fried okra and macaroni and cheese (I ate mine before I thought of taking a picture so below is someone else’s dinner).  For dessert we shared sweet potato pie which was delicious beyond description.

After dinner we had to do some serious walking to burn some calories.  We headed to Beale Street where every Wednesday night they close off the street and let it remain open only to motorcycles.  There were at least 200 motorcycles parked along the street (see me next to a Harley).  Of course the streets were also lined with people in spite of it being very early (late for us, after all it is almost 6 pm in Los Angeles).  Enough said, we need sleep.

See you tomorrow.

Hello followers,

I am very grateful for all of you who have asked, “When are you going away, I really enjoy your blog posts”.  Nothing major has been happening of recent note in regards to travel.  Of course we have had a couple of visits to the Bay Area to visit our son and his family.  Those are brief visits that I don’t want to bore the reader with me boasting about my grandsons.  We did have a nice getaway weekend in La Jolla which gave me lots of material to discuss but my mom was ill and most of my attention was focused on her and contact with her doctors.  Fortunately, mom is back to her usual amazing self and she had a spectacular 100th birthday party in March.  As many of you know this blog started as a simple email to keep my mom informed about her baby’s travels.  It has grown significantly but is still limited to my friends and family.

So where are we going now?  Tomorrow morning we will be on our way to Memphis and the “Memphis in May BBQ Festival” http://www.memphisinmay.org/barbecue.  You might recall that last November we flew to Memphis to become judges and passed the rigid qualifying exam (“Future judges, if you don’t pass the test you can take it again until you do pass”) and have been invited to judge at this year’s festival.  This will be our first time judging food of any sort but apparently the story has grown in regards to our qualifications.  A patient told me that she heard that I am a nationally known BBQ judge.  Well, my friend Steve in South Carolina, who is from Memphis and has attended the Festival knows I will be a judge……. yes, I think that does make a nationally known BBQ judge.

We have an early flight so it’s off to bed.

What’s a better way to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to the people in my life that matter the most than to write on my travel blog?  Today we travel to my favorite place on Earth, that of course is a family home for a wonderful dinner.  For many years that was my sister Annette and brother-in-law Morty’s home.  I can remember many amazing evenings spent there.  Lots of fantastic turkey, stuffing and extras.  And how could I forget the desserts.  Typically there were at least 7 from which to choose but occasionally Annette would slack off and only give us a selection of 6 (all homemade, of course).

This year my brother Stephen and his beautiful wife Fayla are answering the call to duty.  I am writing now because with all the spectacular cooks in the family I will have very little energy to do anything after dinner.

We are very lucky to have my son, David, and his wife, Robyn and their boys in town.  Our girls are still in Madrid but we plan to do a Google “Hang out” to talk to them.  Madrid is 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles and they say they won’t be available until after 4 pm (1 AM in Madrid).  Ugh, being a father can be such torture.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family.

Our trips for 2016 are in the planning and I promise you will hear from me again soon.

Robert

P.S.  I was in too much of hurry to post before dinner and I have a bit of energy left so here goes.  Tonight was amazing.  Our “Hang Out” with the girls was not perfect but it was great seeing them even it was just briefly.

Saturday we left to visit our grandson, Charlie, to celebrate his 3rd birthday.  No trip is complete without a visit with our friends at TSA.  For some reason the TSA seems to have their eyes on Patrice. Hardly a trip goes by without her being singled out at one of the check points for closer scrutiny.  Saturday was no exception.  In addition to the usual pat down she had her carry on luggage completely emptied. Does TSA know something about Patrice that has evaded me all these years?  Am I married to a mole for Isis?  If the security of our country involves intense investigations of a grandma of XXX years of age (I know better than using anything but XXX here), who has raised 3 wonderful children, dedicated her life to helping others, not the least of all is married to an amazing guy like me, our country is in real trouble.

Our flight was relatively comfortable except for the crying baby 2 rows behind us.  I didn’t think it was possible for a baby to cry for an entire flight but this little guy proved me wrong.  The one good aspect was that it wasn’t my baby who was suffering.

Arrival was uneventful.  Our pilot failed to alert the flight attendants to “prepare for cross check”.  I have no clue want that means but we seemed to arrive without incident in spite of his failure to prompt the crew to do their job.  Upon arrival we were welcomed to SF by the crew to the best of my knowledge they were arriving at the same time as us and as my friend Gary has pointed why are they welcoming us since they are arriving too?

Sunday was a dream day.  Charlie had a wonderful party at Rock N Jump.  It was a pleasure watching him and his brother romp around on the trampolines.  I even got to coach and root on grandma Patrice scale the climbing wall (no doubt part of her terrorist training).

We had a great weekend visiting with David, Robyn and the boys.  We are now waiting for our flight home.  Our 1:20 pm flight was cancelled.  I assume because they didn’t have an air marshal to monitor Patrice’s activity.  My boarding pass had “TSA pre check” printed on it but somehow it was deleted from Patrice’s.  I need to check this woman’s background, no?

Robert

 

 

 

With our BBQ certificates in hand we headed home.  Memphis Airport is small and very easy to negotiate.  The first leg of our trip home took us to Dallas (DFW) Airport.  That place is much bigger than Memphis and of course the terminal in which you arrive is not the same as the terminal from which you will depart.  That would be too easy.  After a short wait (I first typed weight, I guess I am still feeling guilty about all the eating we did this weekend) we were on our way.  A little lightning as we took off from Dallas got my blood flowing.  There was turbulence which was also a bit unnerving.  The remainder of the flight was uneventful.

One thing is clear, all our traveling these past 3 years has made us very much into spoiled brats.  For example I was annoyed there wasn’t wifi on our flight from DFW to LAX. Unfortunately I asked the flight attendant if there was wifi and she told me, “I don’t think so because this is one of our older planes”.  That got me thinking, lightning, turbulence, older plane……..  why didn’t I just keep my mouth shut?

Also the hotel was not to our liking.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn which was where the seminar was located.  It was clear that we were not at the Peabody (where we stayed during our first 2 trips to Memphis).  First of all, no spare toilet paper in a cloth bag (How uncivilized!), no safe (This is the Holiday Inn, leave your valuables at home) but most important, no chocolate on our pillows at night.   Also we missed the Peabody Ducks.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwo9L8L_i3U

The trip and training was a lot of fun.  We look forward to the BBQ Festival next May.  I hope if you can’t go with us you will at least follow along via my blog.

Robert

Patrice and I prepared for our BBQ course by going to a restaurant we previously visited on our BBQ tour last May, the Blues City Cafe.  The place is nothing special to look at but the ribs are great (see below).

With that great experience from last night still fresh in our guts, I mean our minds, we attended the BBQ seminar and received our Ph.B. (Doctor of Philosophy in Barbecue).  There were about 100 people attending the training (which is a prerequisite to becoming a judge at the Memphis in May BBQ Festival).  They honor the people who come from the longest distance to attend.  Seminar organizer, Mike Davis, announced “I thought my people from California where going to take the honor but today a man came in from Australia”.  Damn Aussies!

Most of our classmates were from Memphis or the surrounding area.  Many have already been certified by the KCBS.  I thought that was our local Los Angeles TV station but it stands for Kansas City Barbecue Society.  A couple of ladies sitting behind us, who are KCBS certified, recognized us as a couple of newbies.  “You are much too thin to be regulars.”  They shared that they judge some sort of competition almost every weekend (“We do steaks in Texas!”).  They also confessed that they had each gained about 25 lbs since starting to judge food competitions.

The course involved a pretest followed by a review of the syllabus.  We also had a demonstration of both “On Site” and “Blind” judging.  The “Californians” were honored by being permitted to be the “Judges” for the Blind Judging demonstration.

Then came the final exam.  The pressure was taken off when the organizers said if you don’t pass the test you will take it again until you pass.  Patrice finished first and when she returned with both her and my certificate I knew I was okay.  We both did quite well but I did manage to miss two questions that I previously answered correctly on the pretest. I guess I didn’t get as much as I could have from the training.

Training accomplished, now it is time to get to working out.  We can’t come here next year unless we’ve done some serious exercising prior to arrival. They don’t encourage health around here.  They even have a run called the Big Hog Run during the Festival.  Male entrants have to be over 175 lbs and females over 150.  The run is a 0.2K (200 meters) and I am told it is all downhill.

Fun times ahead.

Robert

Baby back ribs from The Blues City Cafe on Beale Street

Today we leave for what has become a home away from home, Memphis, Tennessee.  This will be our 3rd trip to the city since June of 2014. Tomorrow, Patrice and I will be attending a seminar.   You all know how committed we are to education and even as our ages advance we want to learn new information and new skills.  If successful, tomorrow’s seminar will qualify us to return to Memphis next May to be judges at the “Memphis in May BBQ Festival”.

Our loyal blog followers might remember the amazing BBQ tour our guide Lance, from Tastin Round Town (www.tastinroundtown.com), took us on last May.  If you recall (or even if you don’t recall) we enjoyed BBQ ribs (pork and beef), a pulled pork sandwich, BBQ egg roll (yes egg roll), BBQ spaghetti (yes spaghetti) and BBQ nachos (yes nachos).  We learned an incredible amount of information about BBQ from Lance but the one thing we found most valuable is that we could become judges for the BBQ Festival.  All we needed to do was to apply, be accepted, and attend the BBQ judge seminar.  What he didn’t mention (or maybe I conveniently forgot this part) is that we need to pass a test after the seminar (you mean we actually have to learn something?).  I just hope they don’t ask us to regurgitate what we learned because if we eat as much as we did with Lance last May, regurgitation might be a real possibility and I am not talking about regurgitation of information.

Currently we are at about 30,000 feet over San Bernardino, California.  I had plenty of time to write and publish this entry while still on the ground but you all know how much I love to use the internet from way up high.  It is my version of the “Mile High Club”.

If any of my readers are superstitious they might be worried that we are flying on Friday the 13th.  We obviously don’t seem to mind (see picture below) because we are seated in row 13.  How is that for tempting fate? My pal, Allen, was born on Friday the 13th (actually November 13th, Happy B-Day Allen) and it seemed to work out okay for him. Actually he is working on his birthday so Patrice and I could have our little getaway.  Thanks, Allen.

Enough for now (some of you might have already said that a paragraph or two ago).

I hope all is well.

Robert