DDT (12)
Member
Posts: 4120
Sometimes ya just gotta go...
Winter Springs, FL - Occasionally...
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« on: February 13, 2018, 08:42:16 AM » |
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Not so bright but quite early, I pried my delicate derriere off the mattress and began the normal routine… probably like so many other folks… OK, the smart box was on and ‘booting-up’, the coffee maker was issuing forth gurgling noises… I couldn’t help but wonder and worry if Gig might have ever stayed in this room…? I’d already visited the necessary portal, so I slipped into something suitable to wear outside the room… I had one more chore to perform!
Oh, what a relief it was! ALI was still completely puddle-free, no moisture was descending from the heavens, the temperature was shirt-sleeve comfortable, and all was right with the world! Heck, even the ebony elixir preparations were probably complete, so one more admiring glance at our girl, then back inside. I yielded to the powerful urge to giggle with glee, as I returned to the room feeling ‘pert as a ruttin’ buck’…
Once everything had been readied and the three Ss completed, we loaded up and went KSU… The day ahead would be a much easier day than the one before, and the forecast presented no risk to us, if we arrived ‘home’ that day… another night out would likely alter that rosy outlook, however…
No sweat, it even appeared we could comfortably veer off the slab and do most of the ride on more regular highways… We even had sufficient time for a pig parts stop along the way! The previous evening’s repast had been but a prelude, a warm-up! I had another fab place or two on my mind, that I was pining to revisit… The future looked bright indeed!
East of Tallahassee, FL, we made the turn onto US HWY 19 South… no potty break necessary, motion lotion supply ample, ALI eager to continue with our goings on… AND, my fanny was holding up quite well! I gotta tell y’all, since TD and I made that seat exchange a couple of months ago, things just have not been the same tush-wise for this ‘sensitive’ fellow. Nope, the range and comfort extensions afforded by that new to me Russell Daylong saddle have been nothing short of remarkable. Yet another example of leading a charmed life, I suppose…
About ten miles or so south of the slab, US 19S merges with US HWY 27S, and together they take one to Perry, FL, where they split again. US 19S continues southward along with US 27A to Chiefland where they in turn split. US 27A turns southeastward through Bronson to Williston, FL, where it ends at US 27.
In Perry, US 27 splits off and goes mostly eastward to High Springs, FL, then continues south through Newberry to Williston, then southeast to Ocala… and ‘home’… Or, as I think of it, my temporary resting spot that houses my danged ol’ recliner… There is a reason for all this being mentioned…
BBQ Bill’s in Chiefland is one of my favorites, while The Back-Porch BBQ Restaurant in Newberry is also a great place for my purposes… A decision had to be reached by the time we arrived at the split in Perry, though, about which road to take.
I was leaning heavily towards visiting the Porch, mostly because it had been several years since my last visit, while it had been several years since I had not made an annual visit to Bill’s place. The Porch choice had the added benefit of offering a two-lane road to travel all the way from Perry to Williston, while selecting Bill’s would result in four-lane travel all the way the rest of the day… The Porch won the coin toss…
I’d stopped at the rest area just before Perry, so there was no need to stop again until after the upcoming, eagerly anticipated dining extravaganza! Have I ever mentioned that I’m more than a little fond of BBQ? I like most of it, too… but chicken, brisket, and pork mainly. Other meats are also worthwhile, but those are my favorites. I usually go with pork when I’m in the southeast, beef otherwise, especially west of the Sabine River, with a ‘yard bird’ serving now and then to provide some variety…
This was a really great day to be in the saddle! No foul weather on the horizon; in fact, the weather turned out to be one of the highlights of this day! The entire day would not be challenging or difficult, nor would its length be fatiguing. The biggest question before me was which BBQ joint to visit, and whether to ride two-lane or four-lane roads!
ALI was ‘hitting on all cylinders’ again, and she seemed extremely enthusiastic, approaching ecstatic, to be out there romping around the country-side!!! She didn’t even seem to mind not running more than about 3.5K on the tach… Just being mobile is her passion... the details are of far less concern.
Newberry has some interesting history… OK, a quick snippet about some of its notoriety… Another yellow fever epidemic had hit Florida and the southeast hard just before the dawn of the twentieth century. This was at a time when the cause or source of this deadly disease was still unknown, but the seeming contagious nature was no mystery at all!
Actually, that scourge of earlier times was spread by mosquitoes… Still ‘contagious’, however, in that mosquitoes would bite an infected person, then move on to uninfected victims, and… the deadly scourge spread…
Well, fearing what was reportedly going on in Jacksonville and other parts of the state, especially larger cities and towns, spreading to their community, the city of Newberry had a deputy armed with a shotgun posted at all times on the loading platform at the railroad depot. Passengers were allowed to board, but nobody was allowed off incoming trains for any reason. They meant business, too, according to reports!
No such official guards any of the routes of ingress or egress nowadays, so I confidently rode into town and made the turn onto the street where the Back Porch had been the last time I’d dined there… Huh? Closed?! Dang! And, it was a Saturday, too! No BBQ purveyor with any hope of prosperity would ever close on such a day, so something else must be going on, I mused…
Moot point, as I had no inclination to intercede or any illusions about changing anything; besides, my focus was solely upon consumption anyway… We rode on with a ponderment crisis on our hands… Should we cut west back across Alachua and Levy counties to Chiefland and BBQ Bill’s? Nah…
I recalled a conversation I’d had with a guy in Washington last summer… He’d spotted the Florida license plate on ALI’s posterior, and had inquired of me where we might call home… Turns out he'd recently relocated from Williston, about 25 miles or so from Ocala, and right on my way home from Newberry…
Naturally, we’d gotten around to comparing notes on a couple of BBQ places there, and he’d asked if I’d ever tried the newest place, Bubba Q’s… At the time I didn’t recall that swine dispensary, but later as I’d pondered that chance exchange, I did remember having visited there one time after all just before leaving the state several years ago! Hey! It had been pretty good, too, as I'd thought about it, and what with this former local’s endorsement… well, that became our new ‘plan’…
Yep, it was open and not crowded, as is usually the case mid-afternoon… There was even a convenient parking place for us to slip right into near the entrance… Good omen, I’d thought to myself… An attractive but way too young lady greeted me at the door and showed me to a seat… She then took my sweet tea order, and handed me a menu… I had a very satisfying meal, then ordered two sammiches to-go… How’s that for a positive commentary on my experience?!
A quite pleasant but brief drive later, I was pulling into the driveway of my former home and current occasional temporary lodging… Once unloading and settling back in was accomplished… I lapsed back into that terrible habit: Yep, my tush hit the seat of that danged ol’ recliner, the TV remote started to surf automatically, and my eyelids descended…
Sometime later, the remote had mysteriously wound-up on the floor, and I was scratching my noggin’ totally perplexed as to why in the world I might be watching ‘Say Yes To The Dress’… Welcome home, I guess…
DDT
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