Our flight out of Madison was uneventful and we had a fairly short layover in Memphis. We stopped in at the Blue Note Café which offered smoking at the bar and BBQ. I was surprised to see that Sam Adams and Yuengling were prominently advertised there. And so I had my first Yuengling.
It was their Traditional Lager and, while it hit the spot after a flight and a brief exposure to the ungodly hot weather outside as I disembarked the plane, I was underwhelmed. It was nice and crisp with a malt base accented by just the right amount of hops, the malt wasn't sweet enough. It was flat with no depth. The BBQ was better. Blue Note Café serves BBQ from Interstate which I gather is one of the big names in Memphis with a good reputation. I had the pulled pork sandwich. The meat was tender and nicely smoked and the sauce was a very pleasant surprise in that it had only a hint of sweetness. It was tomato-based as I'm used to but was over on the savory side which I enjoyed greatly. A nice way to lose my Memphis BBQ virginity.
A short plane ride later we were in Birmingham where I grabbed car, turned the AC on high, and headed down I65. We got to Montgomery a bit later that we'd hoped and found our hotel. I discovered that it was right next door to the Hank Williams Museum.
I never did wander inside but it's on my list for the next trek to Montgomery.
We met up with The D's dad and drove over to the house of one of her aunts on the north side. I'd told the kids to be prepared to have their cheeks pinched and I think they were ready. (It had been some 8 years since they'd seen this side of the family so they were sure to get pinched cheeks and hear "Look how you've grown!" many times.) I parked the car a few houses down but you could hear the party from there and see a driveway full of people.
Now, The D comes from a big family. Her father is one of like 12 kids which means that, in addition to several aunts and uncles, she's got about a million first cousins. I received tons and tons of hugs from lots of people and feel bad that I can only remember a pitiful few names of all the people who welcomed me with open arms. Since The D keeps in such good touch with her family (/sarcasm), some mistook me for her ex-husband which forced me to explain that I was the new model. But no matter. Everyone's spirits were high.
We had missed most of the grilling action, although there were a few turkey burgers and hot dogs to be had. However, two propane burners were cranked on high heating two pots of oil. Right on time for the fried fish. Martha made sure we got some fresh pieces. Cousins Nyrone and Shawn live in Memphis and gave us a standing invitation to visit with the promise of BBQ, music, and whatever else the city offers. I chatted with one of The D's aunts, Georgia Mae, for a while. She looked to be in her early 70s but revealed that she had just turned 83 a couple months before. I am hoping that The D inherited the youthful gene. Georgia Mae heard that Des was going to get his learner's permit in a week and spent some time trying to convince me I needed to buy him a car. Luckily I was able to fend her off.
My belly was quite full by the time we headed back to the hotel and I considered my first introduction to The D's family a success.
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