Hello everyone. I am sorry it’s been awhile since I have posted. I’ve been making my way westward. In life, sometimes there are little snafu’s. I had one happen just days before my scheduled leave. The heater in my car broke. To be more precise the door that switches your car form hot to cold got stuck in the cold position. I took it to my regular guy and he said I should take it to the dealership because my entire dash was going to have to be taken apart, and they have people trained for such work. The dealerships in the area were backed up so the earliest appointment I could get was February 22nd. After driving my car around Rockland for a few days I figured I could go ahead and make the trip because it wasn’t that cold inside the car once the heated seats were turned on and I wore a warm jacket. I was headed south and west so the weather should be warmer. However, I failed to think about two key problems. One was the effect on my body driving for eight to ten hours a day in a constant 28 degrees, the other which I had thought might happen but hadn’t while in New York was my windshield fogging up.
On the first leg of my journey from New York to Tennessee the weather stayed between 26 and 34 degrees. Tennessee was having a cold snap for them but I thought I was use to colder weather so I’d be ok. About four hours into my trek I realized my feet were getting very cold. The rest of my body was ok. I had on multiple layers and gloves. The feet weren’t getting enough circulation, so yes I started stamping my feet to the music as I headed down the highway. I stopped every two hours and moved around as much as possible. The trip was manageable, but not recommended by any means! It wasn’t until I was at my destination in Tennessee in a nice warm house drinking a cup of hot tea, that I started feeling extremely fatigued. The more I thawed out the more I felt what driving for that long in a car below freezing did to my body. I was completely wiped out. Luckily I was staying with family so I was able to rest as long as I needed. That was a good thing because I needed two days before I felt like I could start out again.
The day of departure the weather was going to be cold but only for a couple hours. I had driven in 26 degrees and knew I could go a few hours before feeling the cold, so off I went on a course for Little Rock. When I left Knoxville it was a pleasant 34 degrees. I knew I had to cross over the Cumberland Mountains before dropping into Nashville but, I once again miscalculated. Mother Nature has a way of humbling us. If you’ve ever been to Tennessee or heard of The Great Smokey Mountains, you know that there are patches of fog all over the mountains there. As I began the climb through the Cumberland Mountains, the weather started getting colder. I had gone from 35 degrees to 29 in a matter of a few minutes. Then I began to notice my windshield was fogging up from my breath. I can only guess it was because of the humidity, as my windshield never fogged over on my first day in colder weather. Then I noticed that my breath was no longer fogging the windshield but it was actually freezing on the inside! At first it was a clear frost and I was able to clean it using a paper towel. As the temperature dropped crystals began to form. I now know that at 25 degrees ice will start forming on the inside of your windshield, at 22 degrees you can actually see it creeping closer and closer forming beautiful patterns! I took out the entire roll of paper towels and began wiping my windshield free of any moisture. I was losing the battle and was about to pull over when I crested the mountain and the sun started to rise. I had managed to keep a spot big enough to see the entire road open, but once again, this form of travel is not recommended and actually I will never do it again! By the time I got to Nashville the temperature had risen to 42 degrees and I knew I was headed to 65 degrees in Little Rock, so I settled in and drove away to warmer climes as my feet slowly thawed out.
This is a food blog so I’d better talk about some now. If you’ve been following me you know I’m a fan of southern BBQ. I decided to drive past the home of famous BBQ and Elvis because I remembered a lot of restaurants in Memphis were closed on Monday and this was a Monday. In this modern age of smart phones you can actually talk to your phone and ask it to find you specific styles of restaurants. I had seen signs in Arkansas after crossing the Mississippi for a Catfish restaurant, so I asked my phone. Nick’s BBQ And Catfish Restaurant was my phones choice. Nick’s had been in business since 1975. Sounded like a perfect place for me to try, however they were closed on Monday’s as well. Then my phone did a search for BBQ joints along I-40. She read me a list and the name “Delta Q” sparked my interest. I thought that was a great name for a BBQ joint in the south and to top it off the place got 4.5 out of 5 stars on Yelp. I had my phone dial the number and I asked the woman who answered how far off the highway they were, she told me about a mile. What she failed to mention was that the town was so small there wasn’t another on ramp for the highway for 8 more miles! I didn’t know this till I had placed my order and had it sitting in the car smelling amazing.
Delta Q in Forest City, Arkansas, is one of those places you might drive by without giving it a second glance. The sign is tiny and the building looks run down and it’s hard to tell if the place is open or not. Had I not called ahead I may have passed on this place just from the looks of the outside. I’m glad I did place a phone order because the food stood up to the expectations of it’s name. When I phoned in my order they didn’t ask if I wanted sauce on the meat or not. In BBQ country most places serve sauce on the side with each region having its own version of sauce. I saw one sign in Memphis that sums it up for me,” Smoke is my sauce.” So when I picked up my food I wasn’t happy about sauce being on all of the meat. However that changed once I tasted my sampler platter. Each of the meats in the platter had their own unique taste. I could taste the difference between the pulled pork and the brisket. The beef flavor of the brisket came through the sauce surprisingly well. The ribs were also cooked to perfection and their taste wasn’t over powered by the sauce either. The hushpuppies were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with a burst of onions. I really enjoyed the potato salad, it was like a warm German potato salad with a little bit of a kick, maybe black pepper or cayenne. I was also impressed with the portion size. At first glance I thought it wasn’t very much meat for the $22 price tag, but I had lunch and dinner out of the sampler platter and was full after each meal. Overall I was happy I went off the beaten path. I would recommend Delta Q to anyone looking for real authentic southern BBQ while driving down I-40. Don’t let the grungy outside fool you, the inside is full of gastronomic delights!
If you’ve been below the Mason-Dixon and have a BBQ joint you’d like to share with us, please do so! As more people hit the highways it’s always great to have information on good places to eat. I don’t know about you but I get tired of seeing the same old chain restaurants in every town. Spice up your road trips and try something new! As always, if you have any questions or comments please leave them in the box below. Until next time, Boone Appétit!
Travel safely, Charlie! It might be a food blog, but your story was very exciting and more than a little worrisome!
Enjoy the eats, the views, and the road,
Jenn
Thanks Jenn, I didn’t mean for this to become an adventure blog, but sometimes things happen!
Charlie,
Here in frigid NY. I was reminded of trips in the 70s in my then boyfriend’s unheated Volkswagen. Yes, I scrapped the windshield so he could see.
The food looks scrumptious. Your trips fill me with wanderlust. Safe journeys and happy eating.
Valerie
Hi Valerie, maybe it’s time for you to take a small road trip? I’m so glad you could relate to scrapping the windshield it’s hard to imagine unless you’ve experienced it!
Hey, Charlie! The first part of your trip sounds just like one I took to New England, “way back in ’75”.
It was a frigid weekend in the dead of winter and I was driving our brand new FIAT 131, a wonderfully nimble little sedan with major quality issues. Among the many egregious problems it had was a hole left somewhere when the dealer installed the air conditioner required for the dilettante American market. We began noticing a cold gale on our feet as winter set in, but I decided to tough it out anyway with a weekend visit to friends in the Boston suburbs. I brought along a warm blanket just in case and set off. Much partying ensued, and I didn’t leave on my return trip to New York until late Sunday night.
Looking back some 45 years, I see a hardy, mid-20s boomer, shakily checking his watch at 1:00 am on a deserted, blustery I-84, screaming along at 85 mph while using a dirty sock to scrape ice off the inside of his car’s windshield. Fidgeting with frozen fingers, he finds a wee hours college radio program playing a very early version of Japanese electronic music– perhaps a nascent Kitaro. As AM stations do at night, it’s waving in and out. A blanket is wrapped tightly around his feet– which are stamping cold, nonetheless; He is grateful to be on a highway where he need not shift gears often, caught in a Hobson’s choice, “forever moment” where rushing to an end is also forcing more artic wind into his little Mediterranean capsule.
The effect of being a lone traveler in a broken-down spacecraft, lightyears away, has been brought home again by the weather we are experiencing in NY at the moment — even though a 40 degree uptick is on its way.
As it happens, my predilection for ancient cars puts me in a 1998 Oldsmobile (AKA, “Rocket 88) with a broken HVAC switch. So, we two have the frosty windshield in common, old pal.
But, there is one novel innovation –borne of the world’s current crisis — that I have found to be an excellent preventive measure against internal frost creep on a windshied.
Reach into your pocket, and put on a mask…!
Hey Barko, that was amazing story! For some reason I think you were colder than I was because your car was lower to the ground. I had my face tucked into my hood and tried not to breath directly onto the windshield but I think it was the humidity inside the car coupled with the fog on the road. Certainly two adventures we don’t need to relive! I’m going to the dealer ASAP. Hopefully your car will be an easy fix. Stay warm!