Double Feature Today!

The first video is the MHS 1960 Class, or some of them, having a luncheon at The Varsity yesterday.  I drowned out their conversation with music for your protection, I don't want you to be offended.   They were talking about you.*

* Just joking.  The noise level in the room was unpleasantly high, it was mostly a roaring racket.









The second video was taken last Sunday on the Square in downtown Marietta at the Whole Hog Barbecue and Music Festival.  Please be sure and watch the solo dancer.  Also, the cooking demostration was done by Sam Huff, local lawyer and barbecue expert (owner of BBQ #1).

Sighting of the Invisible Man at GC BBQ

We went to our favorite barbecue eatery yesterday, Grand Champion BBQ.

This was our 4th visit. As the other times we entered the first person we saw was one of the owners smiling as always. She instantly recognized us. She remembered what I had last time and the time before that. This time I tried the pulled pork.

She told me there was somebody there that knew me. Me? Nobody knows me! I thought. She said somebody was there that reads Chicken-fat and he was there because of my recommendation.

Did I get that right? Somebody actually followed my recommendation. Wow! And what is even more amazing they just happened to be there, in mid-day, with only two other customers in the dining room. Is that synchronicity or what?

As we were about to sit down a man walked up to me and said something witty like, “They don’t have chicken-fat on the menu!” He was a real chicken-fat reader. I didn’t know if I should have walked around him and pinch him or pull his nose to see if he was real or what.

It didn’t take too many sentences for me to know who he is. We have communicated on at least two occasions. He has made comments via emails about things as I said on the blog and he is also a neighbor to an ex-postal coworker.

His nice wife walked up and we talked to her also. She had her pocketbook, so I think that was a signal to him it was time to go. It was a nice conversation. At the end, he punch-lined it by saying, “See? you are not so invisible after all.”

They left and I sat there dazzled thinking a real person with no ties reading Chicken-fat. Unbelievable!

The pulled pork was very moist and delicious. The bbq baked beans had a body of its own and the coleslaw was chunky with apple chucks.

I meant to say this in my last posting about GC BBQ but when typing it slipped my mind: They play good old fashion Delta Blues, which seems to complement good BBQ.

I guess he was right, I’m not invisible after all. Oh by the way, here is a picture of my favorite GC BBQ part-owner and me. How do you like my new ballcap?

Pigging Out at Grand Champion's BBQ

Coupons are good advertisement tools. When we find a coupon for a new BBQ establishment, you know we HAVE to try it, and it was close by to boot!! On our first visit to G.C. BBQ (Grand Champion), we decided it was highly ranking, so we went back the very next day. That is an endorsement of the highest caliber!

After finding the coupon, the next thing to do is check it out online. People could not say enough good things. I ordered a half-rack of ribs. They were the meatiest, tender ribs I have ever sunk my teeth into and delicious! The next day I was going to try out their sampler platter, but they were out of beef brisket. They would just double up on anything else that I preferred. Nope! When I want to sample I want to sample everything – I want to be a hog about it, so to speak, so I ordered the ribs again. The ribs were just as meaty as they were the first day. Anna asked did I want some barbecue sauce, and I said no, it didn’t need any sauce. The rub was coming to life on my taste buds. Anna had a taste and said they might be a tad salty, but I thought it was still excellent.

The wait staff are friendly and appear to be accommodating. Grand Champion BBQ is in a shopping center close to Publix on Shallowford Road, one block east of Johnson Ferry Road. If they were one block west of Johnson Ferry, they would have a Marietta address and not be stuck with a prestigious Roswell, Georgia address.

Their address is 4401 Shallowford Road, Roswell, Georgia, and phone is (770) 587-4BBQ (4337- get it?).

Good BBQ!

At the corner of Briarcliff and Clifton Roads near Emory near Decatur there was a little non-pretentious restaurant. We had lunch there once. We didn’t go back. It wasn’t that bad, but not that great either. We didn’t go back, partly because the restaurant closed down and the building was empty.

Yesterday we noticed a new name in front of the little restaurant. It was Pig ‘n Chick BBQ. Anna and I instantly remembered the name. There is Pig ‘n Chick BBQ on Roswell Road in Atlanta in the Tuxedo/Chastain Park area. We remembered how delicious their pulled pork was.

We had lunch there. As soon as you walk in you can smell the sweet smell of smoked pork. I’m sure it is a branch of the other Pig ‘n Chick. It was just a good. The rock/blues music wasn’t bad either.

The dining room is small but there is a deck or a porch outside with tables.

And another good thing is that they are new to the area and eager to please.

Old South is Old South

We’ve been going to The Old South BBQ Restaurant in Smyrna since it opened in 1968, just after we were married. We ate at Old South when they were still in the learning curves and liked it. It became memorable to us on January 1st, 1969 when we called around looking for black-eyed peas, ham-hocks, and greens, the traditional Southern New Year’s feast. We ate at Old South that day and became regulars for several years until moving to East Cobb.

On the back of their menu they claim to be the oldest restaurant in Smyrna. They also say if you thought other-wise, you were probably thinking of the restaurant that was on Pat Mell Road before it moved to Concord Road. It states technically Pat Mell has a Marietta address, so the other restaurant didn’t become part of Smyrna until moving to Concord Road. Howard’s is the restaurant they were talking about. I remember it as good place to eat too – you couldn’t beat their corn-beef and pastrami sandwiches. We still go to Old South a couple times a year.
Through the early years I remember any time we were there it was not unusual for two or three kids in the neighborhood to come running in, stumbling over each other to get a coke and chase each other out. It is a family-owned restaurant for sure. You can tell that from the moment you walk in. The Llewallyn family founded Old South with the next generation running things now. Someplace on the menu a female Llewallyn is given credit for all the photos of customers all over the walls, another note gives a male Llewallyn credit for building the booths. The building is a modified old house on Windy Hill Rd with one bathrooms made into two. That’s not why you go to Old South. They have good food.

The menu also claims an interesting note that one of their employees lost over 100 pounds – can you guess which one? That must have been hard with all the good food.
When we took our seats, we were greeted by one of the Llewallyn daughters by saying she had to first give us a big hug. She is full of positive warmth. I read in The Wall Street Journal that a study was made finding if a waitress makes body contact with the person paying the bill, the tip goes up. If it is an opposite gender body contact, the tip goes up even more. Old South patrons are from all walks of life - businessmen, Smyrna Policemen, firemen, ambulance drivers, funeral home directors, military men from nearby Dobbins and retired folk like us. She knew a lot of the people that came in and occasionally asked, “Do you want the usual?” She knew the man sitting alone next to us, sharing the latest antics of her grandson and ending with, “I love him so much!”

We each ordered a salad with chopped BBQ pork using their sauce instead of dressing. Anna had the sweet and regular and I had sweet and spicy, both served warm from the pot. When she brought our bill I told her about having New Years black-eyed peas and greens in 1969. Her first comment was “bless Momma’s heart.” They didn’t have black-eye peas this past year, and she has been having a bad year. The Old South still lives at Old South BBQ in Smyrna. Bless their hearts!!

A Visit to the Hickory Pig BBQ

During a recent joy ride to Gainesville recently to test our "new-to-us" car, we came upon the barbecue dive "The Hickory Pig" which was rated #1 by Atlanta Magazine. The owner, Phil Beaubien ,is a laid back former insurance man who seems to enjoy life as it comes. As we read the menu on the wall (why waste money on a fancy menu?), he told us a couple of times we could sample anything. We didn’t ask for any samples. I ordered ribs and Anna ordered a pulled pork sandwich.

After we received our plates and sat down to eat, he and his assistant sat down at the next table and talked to us as if we were in their dining room. The place is a good example of a homemade building. It goes by no architectural rules that I could tell. He told me he started with “these two planks” that he apparently sat up as a counter about 20 years ago. Then he added a room around it, then another room and so on. The walls are covered with little pictures, signs, pigs, kid's drawings and anything they happened to like. An interior decorator would faint in shock, then quickly disassemble everything that makes the room unique.






My ribs were pretty good. The coleslaw was good, and to be truthful, the Brunswick stew and I didn’t get along. By the way, the banana pudding is pretty good too. It was a topic of discussion preceded by the question, "can you handle the truth?" He preceded to tell us the evolution of his recipe which we labeled "semi-homemade". He liked that description and had the menu changed to reflect the term. Guess we left our mark on "The Hickory Pig".

Hog Heaven

Some pigs recently sacraficed their lives for our enjoyment. There is just nothing like old fashion barbecue.


In the parking lot of White Water Recreation Park yesterday was the WHOLE HAWG HAPPENIN’ BBQ & MUSIC FEST.

I think there were at least five, maybe six, BBQ shacks or booths that represented larger restaurants in the area; there was a stage for bands to play, but during our two hour stay I don’t think we heard live music. I’m not complaining, just commenting.
There were also about thirty or so crafts and arts booths-tents.

And also a whole section was for big blow up rides for kids to bounce on, slide down, and whatever else. They all resemble castles, monsters caves, cliffs, and other high adventurous things that could have an air puncture any time. Thar she blows!

Four of the five barbecue shacks we have frequented their restaurants often.

Anna and I had bbq at Dave Poe’s booth. I had ribs. They were very tasty. Also they were not very plentiful. There were only two or three ribs, which I suppose is about right for lunch.

As I mentioned above, this was held in the White Water Amusement Park parking lot. Across North Cobb Parkway, aka, the 41, aka The 4-Lane, is Richard Street. I lived on Richard Street for about 7 or 8 years with my parents.

As an early teenager Gene Brown, Milton Martin, Don Lawson, and I would hang out in what would be White Water Amusement Park. Then it was a closed rock quarry in the middle of the woods. Sometimes we camped out there and other times we slept in the hut we built.

One night in my late teenage years my friend Larry Holcombe (1942-2000) was carrying me home from Varner’s. He had just bought a car, 55 black Chevrolet, from our friend Bobby. Back then very little traffic traveled on the 4-Lane late at night unless it was a big truck traveling intrastate. At the foot of the hill, in front of what would be the drive into White Water on the right, on the left was Richard Street. Larry slowed down to make a left-hand turned. His car went dead. We turned out the lights and started pushing, trying to get the black Chevvy off the road.

While we were pushing we heard a truck way up at the top of the hill. We tried pushing harder to get the car off the road. It was bearing down on us quickly. We quickly decided to quit pushing and get the hell out of the way of the soon-to- be flying debris.

Just as we jumped back I thought the tail lights. If the taillights were on the truck driver would see the car in time to pull dodge. It and avoid a disaster.

As you know, I’m not very bright. I jumped back into the car and put my foot on the brake pedal…. Just as the truck’s headlights were blasting in the back window.

The he swerved and I heard a horrible groan, screeching, and skidding noises. He rumbled by us and almost turned over but kept on going.

It wasn’t my turn. Butvery recently it was the turn of the star hogs at the festival. I thought of that near-death happening yesterday when thought of the all the hogs slaughtered because of our love for bbq. They died for a cause. Then I came up with the name for this post: HOG HEAVEN.

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I'll Tell'ya About Tellus

Yesterday, on my birthday, Anna treated me with a visit to the Tellus Museum in Cartersville, Georgia.

The Tellus Museum is several museums in one: The planetarium; the mineral museum; the giant prehistoric creature museum; the men in motion section showing a good wrap up of man’s travel machines, such as antique cars, Wright Brothers aero planes, astronaut capsules, all electric cars, etc.; a mining for minerals section where you are given a mining pan and your dip your pan into the water and scoop up sand and shift around for a unique shiny mineral or something. And probably more I don’t remember.

The Tellus is just off the I-75 in Cartersville. When you turn into Tellus Drive you have probably a half mile or so of a pleasant drive with a lot of well sculptured trees and bushes. As you enter the parking lot you see there is about as much, if not more, parking space allotted for school buses as for private vehicles.

In the lobby there is a big pendulum in the lobby that swings back and forth in very long strides making a slight change in direction each time. The slight change in movement is credited to the earth’s gravity pull and the earth’s rotation. Right in the path of the swinging pendulum is a huge circle of little wood blocks, about the size of domino tiles. Every 21 minutes it moved just enough to knock another one down.

I wondered how they down set them back up when they are all knocked down. It kind of reminded me of the old bowling ball alleys where a “pin boy” would hop out and put the bowling pins back upright. It also reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum.

You pay according to what you are: student, senior citizen, etc, and how many of the planetarium shows do you want to catch. There are four shows, each with a different theme, like planets, the constellations with Greek mythology, beyond our solar system, and Big Bird. We skipped the Big Bird show.
We went to three of the planetarium shows. I noticed in each show the narrator would give a quick run down of the planets in our solar system and show how you can quickly locate them with your naked eye. They are all in a row. If you can spot Venus you can see directly to the left Mercury, Mars, and on in order as they are from the sun. I didn’t know that… that you could see them all in a line like that, and actually confuses me a bit – aren’t we suppose to be in that line too?



I also wondered what the reaction would be around me, sitting in the dark, if, when each time the narrator named off the planets when she said “Uranus” I burst into a giggle… being likely the oldest looking person there, I’m sure it would cause some stares.

In the mineral section displayed many types of stones and minerals. It also had a lot of visual educational displays about mining and what we use in our food and medicinal supply, which we couldn’t live without, that came from mining. This reminded me that Cartersville always has mined stuff since I remember. Every time we drove by Cartersville in the old days you could see high hills, stripped which we assumed to be mining operations. Is this section the city defending itself?




Also, while we were in the mineral section we sort of fell in step with a crowd of young kids, all with the same color t-shirts, who were listening to a museum docent explain to them about different type of rocks and minerals. It was interesting. I wondered if I should raise my hand and ask permission to go to the bathroom.





The prehistoric giant creature section was very good. There was one giant skeleton of a mole looking creature that was found in a nearby mining cavern. It was about the size of a Winnebago. They had maybe eight or nine huge skeletons of prehistoric monsters. I think some of them were casts from the bones of the actual critters.

The Man in Motion section had quiet an collection of old turn of the century (1890s-1910s) cars, horseless carriages, one of the first airplanes, a space satellite, a helicopter, and more. Also in this same section is a small art show, with maybe 15 or 20 canvases on display. And also is a tub or well looking device with round walls with a hole in the bottom. The directions said if you put a coin in a lot above it will travel a unique path down to and through the hole. It said all money will go be donated to some worthy cause, I forgot what. I was searching in my pocket for a penny and a nearby guide pulled a quarter out of his pocket and demonstrated. Thank God, I was trying to decide about using a quarter myself. The man’s quarter went around and around the inner-wall of the tub, and each revolution would go a wee bit further forward. Each rotation would be a little shorter, as the wall got smaller as it went down. It was interesting to watch…with someone else’s money.

They had a type of make believe house with a make believe playhouse to attract probably toddler age kids. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time there.

We got to mine for minerals. In one of the rooms you are given a pan that you dip into sand at the bottom of a water trough and shift through it looking for shiny little minerals and things, maybe a button or a coin… not really, it was all minerals. Anna and I each found a nice number of little fragments of some pretty precious stones. Now, what do we do with them?

The dining area is void of any sign of a place that food is prepared or cooked. It is there, but just not in view. Looking around the room on the wall is a menu and on the menu are cooked things, such as hamburgers, hotdogs, and hot sandwiches. I asked the lady that worked there where was the kitchen. She said “behind that door – you tell me what you want and I’ll bring it to you.” Why hide a hint of a kitchen? I didn’t realize it but no kitchen with humans cooking takes something out of it.

It was a very interesting educational trip.




After that we went to Euharlee, Georgia, to eat at Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse. We arrived before 4:00 and thus were the only paying customers there. We were welcomed by everybody there, including Johnny. Johnny and I share the same birth date. The birth day boy (or girl) gets a free generous slice of a Coca Cola cake oozing with richness. I had a sampler platter with had smoked barbecued chicken, ribs, and barbecued beef. The beef and ribs were excellent. They had a strong spiced dry-rub smoke taste that is, well, just very good, if you don’t eat them every day. The chicken I cannot say yet, I was stuffed so I carried it home to eat today.

Just about a block away from Johnny Mitchell’s Smokehouse is the Euharlee Covered Bridge. The road going though the covered bridge has been detoured now the covered bridge is just for show. The bridge was built by a freed black man Horace King (1807-1885) in the mid 1800s during slavery. Before Horace was freed he helped his master build bridges and became more knowledgeable and better at it than his master. The master freed him and help get him started in his own business. He built regular bridges and covered bridges in west Georgia and in Alabama.





The next time we were in the area and had the time I wanted to look up something. I wanted to look up Allatoona Pass. A Civil War battle went on at Allatoona Pass. It was almost a century before Allatoona Lake was created. My great grandfather William A. Trammell/Hunter’s unit, NC 39th, Co. I fought at Allatoona Pass. I wanted to see for myself the layout of the land.

I have tried to find Allatoona Pass before and went to the wrong road. This time with guidance from the Red Top Mountain Park ranger I found it. I think the worse part of the battle is very deep in Allatoona Lake waters but around the edges are the markers and things. One thing I saw changed my thoughts. The fight took place in September 1864. That was about two months after William was shot in the knee during a skirmish at Kennesaw Mountain. After that he was sent to a private home near Woodstock, Georgia, recuperate, and he sat the rest of the war out. He couldn’t have fought at Allatoona Pass.

However! Up on a high spot near Allatoona Road is a grassy area that overlooks the lake and on the other side of the lake appears to be Allatoona Landing. Allatoona Landing is where one of William’s favorite grandsons, Herbert Hunter docked his boat, many years later…. I just thought that was almost coincidental.




High up on top of one of the mountains or ridges looming over Allatoona Pass and on top of Kennesaw Mountain, in top of a tree, Sherman’s men communicated with mirror reflections. Sherman would send them orders and they would report back what was happening. They were instantly relaying orders and news long before electronic gadgetry.

For the next phase of my birthday we will meet the family tonight.

BBQ Joints in Georgia - a Pig Out

THE ATLANTA MAGAZINE this month reviews the top barbecue joints in Georgia. Of the 37 listed we have been to 18. That means there are 17 BBQ joints we have not visited.

We are studying the Georgia map now.

It is a thankless job but someone has to do it.

Pigging Out at Sam's BBQ #1

Recently we read that Sam’s BBQ#1 had opened a dining room. We have been there several times before. The old dining area was cramped. Yes indeed. They had one long table that would sit about six and over to the side a small table that would seat 2. And maybe 3 could stand and eat.

It was mostly designed as a takeout BBQ place. But now they have a dining room. Hot dog!

We had to try out the new dining room. It is in the same location, on Lower Roswell Road, near Johnson Ferry Road, sort of behind Krogers. The dining room is a good size. The food is just as delicious as it always has been. I think Sam is an expert at picking the right meat. All his pork is very tender and chunky.

Sam is Sam Huff. He is a lawyer also. His father was a judge. I remember once when I was on jury duty Sam was an tender young assistant DA on the case I was a jury member. It was one of his first cases. I think he was as nervous as the defendant.

Sam grew out of being nervous. Now he seems laid back and relaxed. He and David Poe, and maybe another Dave, owned Sam & Dave’s BBQ, which is the one in the same location as we went yesterday was #1 and #2 was on Whitlock Avenue.

Both are delicious.

Sam and Dave have been known in BBQ cook-offs for many years before they went into business together.

For reasons unknown, Sam and the Daves went their separate ways. They split the business. David Poe kept the one on Whitlock Avenue and Sam Huff’s half was the one on Roswell Road.

Sam is on the east side of Marietta and Sam is on the west side. I would guess they are 7 to 9 mines apart. So, they are almost not in competition with one another, in case they want to remain friends.


As I said the pork is very tasty and we were given so much we carried half of it home and had it for dinner. You have a choice of North Carolina or Kansas City BBQ sauce.

The coleslaw and bake beans were good too.

Pre-Thanksgiving Warm-Up At Brandi's

Today, while in the area with my mother-in-law, we dropped by Brandi’s World Famous Hotdogs for lunch.

We were there at 1:00. There was not a parking place available. I drove around the block three times and finally lucked out… I caught someone backing out.
We went in and it was cramped standing room only. Finally we got a table. I think there were some people before us waiting… but all is fair in love, war, and getting a table in a crowded eatery.

The tables are small square tables that sit four. We asked an elderly feeble looking couple standing would they like to share our table. Sure!
Come to find out, we had a lot to talk about. They live in our area from Smyrna 20 or so years ago. Before that they lived in Atlanta.
They told us they are having Thanksgiving tomorrow at one of the Williamson Brothers of Williamson Brothers Barbecue farm near Canton. They said their son-in-law was a Williamson Brother, but he is not part of the barbecue restaurant, he owns a fabric store.

Then a lightbulb in my head turned on. I said, didn’t their son-in-law own a catfish restaurant between Clay Street and East Dixie Avenue in an old house? Yep, he is the one.

And didn’t their son-in-law own a race car parked behind the restaurant? Yep.
The restaurant was in an old house at Sycamore and Garrison Drives. As a child the that same house was empty and scary looking. We thought it was haunted and played in it. There is a posting someplace on this blog about that.

We discussed Brandi’s spicy chili as culinary art. I told them a friend of mine told me his brother believes the chili is better on Monday morning because it had all weekend to simmer in itself. Someone else told me it is better on Friday, because they kept piling it on itself…each time soaking up more fumes. Somebody else told me he believed Brandi used lots and lots of pepper to simmer with the chili.

The man we were sitting with said he always requests that the chili is strained. That gets rid of the runny burning stuff he said. That makes sense.
I noticed today there was a cute little girl about 5 or 6 that is sort of a roving hostess. She had on a black Brandi Tee-Shirt and would circulate among the tables asking did anybody need anything and I noticed several people gave her their empty cups to fill up over at the Coke dispenser. She did a good job. If she is Brandi Jr. I remember when she was born… her picture, much younger, was on the cash register.

Good meal. I made a promise I would not order onion rings…. And I didn't I’m proud of me.

That Is Mr. Colonel Poole

Here I am squeezing a little more mileage out of short trip.

On the way back we stopped in Ellijay at Colonel Poole’s BBQ to eat. We have eaten there a couple times before. In fact, here is Colonel’s Pool’s postcard that I blogged one time: Col Poole's BBQ postcard

The barbecue was OK. The Brunswick stew I had remained with me in the form of little burps the rest of the day.

We chose Colonel Poold’s because he has an outside eating area. With outside tables our dog Willow could dine with us.


As you would expect pigs and more pigs of one form or another are all over Col. Poole’s establishment.





When we walked in to the order window two blue-uniformed firemen were ordering. We placed our order with a innocent looking teenage girl. Colonel Poole was right there beside her on the phone, being very serious. Not a smile…. Which is just the opposite of all the Col Poole’s pictures on his official souvenirs he had for sale. He had some CDs for sale with him smiling at the piano and also some cassettes. You better hurry and buy some of those cassettes, they will be collectors items someday. I looked at the songs, some were patriotic and some had a religious theme…. One thing for sure, Colonel Poole was a man of many talents and a merchandiser to boot!

Looking at him talk seriously on the phone he reminded me of Harry Dean Stanton or aka Roma Grant of HBO’s BIG LOVE.

The first time we ate at Poole’s we noticed at that time in history he was a hot well-known person for politicians to nose up to. Then, there was a picture of the colonel and Jimmy Carter, he and Zell Miller, and a couple of presidential and Georgia governor candidates here and there.

Now, the only political picture I saw being displayed was he and Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue.

When a middle age woman called out our number we went and got our food. We told the lady that the hotdog on the tray was for our dog. We were going to eat outside on their tables. She told us she wished we had come about ten minutes earlier. A bunch of hotdogs was dropped on the floor and the dog would have all the hotdogs she wanted. That was very neighborly, I thought.

In the back of the bbq joint is a hill full of make believe tombstones. Once I thought the tombstones looking woodcuts were pigs names that supposedly gave their lives for your barbecue gourmet enjoyment…. But this time I got a closer look at some of the markers and the ones I saw were not the names of pigs, but of people who enjoyed their meal, had more money than they knew what to do with, so had someone, probably one of Col Poole’s employees put up the marker with their name on it…. Their claim to fame, being on the famous PIG HILL OF FAME.

We parked near the back – mainly to get some pictures of the pig markers and before taking off we poured out some of our water into a little collapsible rayon dog water container and suddenly a Latino man materialized and told us he could bring out a container of water if that was OK with us. I think he was probably one of Poole’s cooks. I thanked him and said she only drank half of what we gave her… I thought that was very humane of the fellow.

Colonel Poole has a good staff.

Bub-Ba-Q is BBQ

Today while on Hwy 92 in Woodstock we glanced up at the place that Slopes BBQ was at before they vacated, remember how nice it was. The storefront has been closed since they moved out, over a year ago.

Wait! There was a sign up. A business had moved in. The sign said BUB-BA-Q! Another sign said GRAND OPENING!

Who can drive by a new barbecue eatery and who can drive by a grand opening?

However, was it barbecue? we wondered. Maybe Bub-Ba-Q was a new process. We decided to investigate.

It was just like the old Slopes, nothing had changed, the tables, the pig decorations, the counter to order - all the same. The meat looked the same too.

Anna said her sandwich was a little fatty. I said mine was a little lean which made it a little dry. I solved the dry problem with some of their own bbq sauce labeled "Hot" and Anna solved the problem by using the "Sweet" bbq sauce.

I had Brunswick stew which was delicious and meaty. Anna had bake beans which she said was good. It was pretty good.

The hyper owner or manager looked like Wally Cox, not Bubba.

Slopes BBQ Is Back!!!

“I didn’t know it went anywhere” you might reply.

Wait, wait. There are several Slopes BBQ, mostly in the north Fulton County area. There was one in nearby Woodstock which we went to often. They closed down a year or two ago.

When we wanted Slopes barbecue we had to drive over to Roswell.

Their pork seemed less fatty than other barbecue restaurants. And what delicious taste is missing from less fat Slope’s barbecue sauce more than makes up for it.




I like Slopes for the food but there is something non-pretentious about them that I like also.

Now, there is a newly opened Slopes BBQ at Cobb Place Shopping Center on Earnest Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw. We have been there twice. Now, as a get-reacquainted offer you can buy one rib for a buck to go along with our meal. The rib I ordered on our first visit was meaty but the one on the second visit was not quiet as meaty.

They have good Brunswick stew and coleslaw too.

Dave Poe's and Sam & Dave's BBQ

We went to one our favorite barbecue eateries tonight, Sam & Daves’ BBQ #2 on Whitlock Avenue in Marietta

We pulled into the nearly vacant shopping center and were surprised to see that Sam & Daves’ BBQ #2 is not longer there. It is still a barbecue eatery, but the name of it now is Dave Poe’s BBQ.

Dave Poe, before uniting BBQ forces with Dave and Sam was a prize winner barbecue cooker with Stump and Sons BBQ. “Stump” is what they called their mama, Mrs. Poe. Stump and Sons had a big long smoker with wheels that they transported it by pulling it like a trailer to various Cobb County functions that would have hoards of people.

We went to the counter to check the menu on the wall. The menu seemed to be the same. We asked the cashier what happened to Sam * and she said he has the Sam & Dave’s BBQ #1 on Lower Roswell Road.

We ordered pulled pork salads and they were as delicious as always.

I am not sure, this is just my theory but I think there are two Daves involved in the Sam & Daves’ BBQ enterprise up to this point. Now, with Dave Poe having his own BBQ eatery the sign on the other Sam & Daves’ on Lower Roswell Road can still be technically correct. Just take the apostrophe from the in back of the word Daves’ and put it between the e and s to become Dave’s – thus you will have Sam & Dave’s BBQ. Picky picky.

*Sam Huff is a lawyer and his father was a judge… and maybe Sam became a judge too – I forgot.

The Community of Euharlee, Georgia

We went to Euharlee, Georgia, today to help celebrate my sister-in-law Thelma’s 70th birthday.

Euharlee, according to the Postal Service serving the area, is part of Cartersville but has its own distinct rural personality.

It has a rural personality that is in the shadow of a nuclear power plant…. I think it is nuclear, maybe I am wrong.

I noticed while driving around Euharlee looking for the birthday place an unusual amount of barbecue joints in the area, in fact, one road is named Barbecue Road. I’m going back!

Also, there is a covered bridge in Euharlee. It wasn’t far from the birthday party festivities, so I walked down and looked around. I think I have been there before years ago. This covered bridge is known to be haunted. I forgot the details, but I remember Natives Americans are involved. Which may have something to do with the Etowah Indian Mounds just a few miles away, also very near the Etowah River.

This covered bridge is one of only twelve covered bridges still standing in Georgia.

I also remember it was built ex-slave Horace King (1807-1885). Horace was a slave in Alabama. His master was a bridge builder and he learned his expertise from him and perfected the bridge building techniques. His master was so proud of him he gave him his freedom and he started a covered bridge building business and built a name for himself.

Hoorah! No More Mud-Throwing! and BS Slinging!

For a while anyway. Today is the real election day which also is the final election day for a while. No more political mud throwing … for a while.

Speaking of election days. Barbecue and elections sort of hand in hand, like a horse and buggy, love and marriage, fork and knife… what? We voted almost two weeks ago and also had barbecue for lunch at Sam & Dave’s BBQ #2 that same day, but a couple hours apart.

I remember going to a political kick-off when my late cousin Frank Hunter announced he was running for commissioner – he did it over a Williamson Brothers BBQ (catered).

BBQ always have mixed well with politics - I think they are both laced with bullshit and both have a lot of pig in them.

Getting back to Sam & Dave’s. We had friends for dinner last night and they told us Sam & Dave’s went out of business. We said we just ate there about a week ago.

I finally realized we were talking about two different Daves BBQs. Famous Dave’s BBQ was closing down. The menu ahead that we picked up shows that Sam & Dave’s BBQ#2 is still going strong – and I bet Sam & Dave’s BBQ #1 is too – we ate there about 3 weeks ago.

Friday - Fatback Almanac and Atlanta

click on pictures to enlarge

Yesterday we went to the big city of Atlanta. The purpose of our trip was to find the parking lot that jurors can park free while on the Federal Jury – which is coming up for me.

That morning our computers could not get on-line. We left them that way.

It was pouring down rain all day so it wasn’t the best conditions to go for a ride to Atlanta but I’m glad we did. The parking lot wasn’t hard to find, according to their directions and it is my old stomping grounds – the parking lot was only one or two blocks from my old work place, the Postal Federal Annex.



Then, afterwards, content, knowing I will know my way around we drove down Peachtree Street which is always interesting. There is always something new – a new building, new big sign or something. This time we saw a new sight: a big Arc(h) de Triumph in the Peachtree Center area. It had Carnegie’s name on it. I suppose that is the same steel industrialist Carnegie who was ruthless in business but then gave away fortunes building libraries and other things the public will remember his name for.

On up Peachtree at 12th Street was a huge Egyptian figure – part human and part animal – the kind of creature that is buried with the elite to protect them – was looming and advertising the upcoming King Tut exhibit that will be at the Atlanta Civic Center.



Then we got on Piedmont Road at Piedmont Park and stopped at Fat Matt's Rib Shack for lunch. We have heard a lot about this place – how it was one of the best barbecue places in Atlanta and all. I got to say, it had its own style… good blues music on the speakers. But we were unimpressed with the bbq sandwiches – which looked more like a sloppy Joe or a Manwich. However, the ribs looked good I saw other people eating. And it was crowded. After we got our food the lined piled up out the door. This is something that happens regularly with us – we walk into a place and walk right up and get waited on and minutes afterwards the line goes out the door.



To have such a big lunch crowd they must be doing something right.

The name Fat Matt's Rib Shack reminded me of a name I considered for my blog: FATBACK’S ALMANAC.


Unique looking church across from Fat Matt's.

We rode on down Piedmont. A place we used to go when we were dating was a place called The Great Southeastern Music Hall where we seen several good shows – such as Steve Martin (before he was white headed) – Joan Baez’s sister Mimi Farini (or something like that), and others that either made a name for themselves or didn’t.

There were so many new buildings we could not figure out exactly where the Great Southeastern Music Hall was… we knew it was in Broadview Plaza – but it looked like it has been eaten up by big buildings.

I remember across the street from Broadview Plaza was a Shoney’s. Next door was a closed Sinclair Station. At the time I worked for Sinclair. I remember a little short guy with the last name Partain, a gas truck driver, was sent out to that closed station to pump the gas out of the underground tank. He was such a humble little polite guy… always nice and apologetic and yielding. That morning, next door, some of the breakfast diners at Shoney’s saw Partain run across the parking lot in flames.

Something went wrong.

Partain probably died, burnt to a crisp before he hit the ground from running. I hope he died or lost conscious before he even got running good.

We rode down West Paces Ferry Road. We were looking for the long driveway that has dogwood trees lined up on each side and in the spring time it is beautiful…but we couldn’t find it – I wonder if that yard and house was bulldozed to make way for a bigger house or houses or what?

postcard of the missing dogwood-line driveway


By the way, the governor’s mansion is on West Paces Ferry Road and many other huge mansions. I noticed several Vote for Saxy Chambliss signs on that road, who claims to be a fighter for the middle class… hhmmfff!

We did some shopping and then back home in the afternoon. The computer on-line was still down. I called Bell South’s help desk. A very patient Indian lady walked me through everything and we got the line back up by reconfiguring the modem. However, to do it, we had to by-pass the router. She gave me the 1-800 number of the router’s help desk. I called them and ended up talking to a very excitable shrill sounding Pilipino lady who was very good and knowledgeable. Not only did she walk us through reconfiguring the router so it would work she also had us pull out our old laptop which we haven’t used in years because we could not get it to get it to jive to our jive and walked us through it. I think she spent over two hours with both us on the line.

It was a well spent day.

Atlanta Rising From the Phoenix

Yesterday we went to Atlanta.

Years, ago, BK, we went to Atlanta often – as a matter fact, daily, we both worked in Atlanta.

Now, many years later Atlanta has changed and we have to. I think there is a movie, and if not, there should have been, called “MA & PA KETTLE GO TO NEW YORK”. That could be us.

Or, when Tarzan went to London; or think of King Kong in New York tearing down subways and letting out mighty growls at the things he didn’t understand. That’s us!

Seriously one of the things I would have let out a mighty growl at if it concerned me and that was parking. We rode down Northside Drive, near the Georgia Dome, which was about to host a football game between Clemson and Alabama…and up and down the street for blocks were people holding up signs saying PARKING $50 and PARKING $60. That is a high price to rent a 5 by 12 piece of land or pavement for a few hours. Outrageous! Greed!

It seemed the graffiti art was coving old buildings, some houses, and a lot around MARTA (rapid transit) structures.

Many things were covered in graffiti. Although, I thought most of the graffiti pieces were artistically good – still the bottom line is that it is damaging or defacing somebody else’s property.

We had lunch at Fox Brothers Barbecue on Dekalb Avenue, which is known for their quality cooked pulled pork. I thought the meat was delicious. And I thought the Brunswick stew was delicious. They boast on their website about their mouth watering homemade tater tots. They were a disappointment. The many signs hanging were interesting as well as the many types of people hanging out with one thing in common: Good BBQ.

They piled so much meat on our plates we had enough left over to carry home for dinner.

We told the waitress “No.” when she asked what I think is the most common question asked by waitresses at barbecue eateries: “Did you save enough room for some banana pudding?”

Other things we noticed on the 4th.

Near our sitting place watching the parade there was a grandmother there along with her son or daughter, and their his or her spouse and grandchildren. During most of the parade she was very kind and considerate and had a very motherly smiled. Then Obama’s group came by and she jumped up and down and hooted and hollered and cheered. Her son or daughter and his or her spouse kind of nervously looked embarrassedly around, knowing they were in the middle of Republicans. The old lady had balls, good for her.

Later in the evening we went to Williamson Brother’s Barbecue. You could tell by the amount of cars it was crowded. We put our name in with the hostess and we were told it would be about a twenty minute wait. Well, we are not ones to wait at a restaurant like that, but there are exceptions: It was getting late, and after all, BBQ on the 4th is something we traditionally do. So, we waited with the many other people.

Outside was a young man in a tuxedo. Inside, people were standing and sitting around. On a bench was a young lady dressed in a white wedding gown.

In not too long of a time their name was called. I bet it was the first time the bride heard them addressed as a couple. I saw them at a table ordering. No lavish $10,000 wedding reception for them… but I bet it will be remembered just the same.