Funny what all twists and turns await us along our journey of life! Much of what happens is totally unexpected, yet the surprises are often major leaps forward, rather than the disasters we fear they may become… Sure, we all encounter bumps and bruises, set-backs and disappointments, to be clear, but many times things actually lead to future highlights for the testimonials to be delivered in our eulogies… I wouldn’t change a thing!!!
It was on May 4, 2004, that the judge’s gavel pounded and heralded a completely new chapter… my next foray into the total unknown of an entirely unplanned direction. I was no longer matrimonially engaged, and everything shifted in a frightful way… I’d just spent my entire life up to that point plodding along the well-known path of… a more or less traditional life and lifestyle. No more… From that moment on, life would never be the same… and I didn’t have a clue what that would entail…
Prior to that seminal event, decades of repetition and familiarity had produced a sort of vague comfort in that there didn’t seem to be as many profound surprises to confuse and perplex me… Of course, there were plenty, but at least there was a track record to rely upon to suggest response alternatives and possible choices… Then… in an instant all bets were off! Recently fate has led me back to the place I was before that tsunami had washed me out to sea…
There was a time after special early retirement when my dearly beloved and I lived and… missed the signs pointing to what lay ahead for us… With work no longer draining away all of my mental and physical energy and effort, I had turned increasingly to riding as a suitable pursuit. ALI and I fell in love early in that period, and riding accelerated more than I could have imagined… Even when not on a long ride to some distant corner of our continent, I still rode almost daily.
Visits to various BBQ restaurants around Florida mostly, but the southeastern states, too, had offered me a destination and purpose… A carrot on a stick to prod me to mount-up and head-out. Since I’m at the moment sort of walled off due to rain mostly, from the rest of north America, I’ve fallen back on an old reliable undertaking to keep me rolling and engaged… I’ve re-embarked upon the Great Florida ‘Q’ Quest…
Yesterday, for example, I rode to Keystone Heights, FL, and to Johnny’s BBQ restaurant. The first time I’ve visited that place since before the great exodus from all that had come before… I sat in that booth after ordering and recalled the first time there…
johnnysbbqcatering.com
I’d met Terry & Iris on one of our frequent culinary explorations, and that time we were to be the only ones who made the ride… Florida RTEs were just getting started at that time, so it was always an unknown if anybody at all would show up or if a large group would collect from all directions. The sliced pork had been quite good, I recalled, and I was looking forward to verifying it still was. It was…
I give this place a ‘4.5 Pig Rating’. It is good and well worth a visit… and revisit… I’m spoiled, though, as I’ve visited the Woodyard Grill twice recently, and… well… that place has become the benchmark by which all others will be judged. They have set a very high standard, too!
The first thing I noticed was how ‘fresh’ everything appeared… in terms of the building and interior… Although this place had been open many years before we had discovered it almost twenty years ago, it still looked to be nearly new! Clean and nice… the sort of place one would be happy to take mom to following Sunday services or our kids to for a Saturday-night-out family meal. The staff was very friendly, and the service appropriately attentive without being intrusive… I got a really good vide right from the git-go!
The meal, while quite good, was pretty much standard fare for a BBQ place… not a joint at all, but a good place. The rub and smoking method are good, but not exceptional. Two sauces were offered, sweet and original… both good, but again, not exceptional. I had a worthwhile experience there, and I did very much enjoy the food… and I thoroughly enjoyed the memories!
Today I’m pondering where to go this time… One thing is starting to occur to me, however… I seem to be relying upon revisits to old destinations… We did do a fairly thorough job back in the day of seeking out all the good ‘Q’ places around central and north Florida… even some in south Florida too. I’m thinking, though, it may be time to go find some new ones… so… hmmmm… Reckon I’d better GTS…
DDT
