My head's in Mississippi

Now THAT was a Roadfood Trip!

I always look forward to these reports, Cliff.  You have a excellent reportorial ability and a good eye for the unusual.

Thanks, again!

Buffetbuster, The only thing better than enjoying the great food you present in your reports would be to enjoy the company of the extraordinary people you meet along the way.                                               

joerogo-
Thanks for the compliment!  But meeting interesting people in such an eccentric state like Mississippi isn't too difficult.

Louis-
Sometimes I think the unusual follows me around!

buffetbuster -

This is a GREAT thread.   Your photos are terrific too.  I am sure we will consult this thread when we make our way back to Memphis and Mississippi. 

Thanks!

 We look forward to you returning to Doe's and some of the Memphis activities in February. Thanks for a fine report.
AL

 Susan, in my part of the South we have limas(green) and butter(beige and bigger)

Cliff, if you are into cupcakes, I have found a great new bake shop.  (saying something for Memphis).  Let me know if you want the details for your next trip south.

Al-
I can't wait!  This is obviously one of my favorite areas of the country and it will be great to be back with my Roadfood buddies.
 
susanll-
If the cupcakes are that good, I want to try them.  Please give us the details!
 
Sandy-
Thank you very much.  If you do go to some of these places, please report back! 

BB - Actually Sandy and i have eaten numerous times at abe's and ground zero and once at hick's. we pretty much agree with what you said. abe's has always been very, very good. pork and tamales both. we have had some good meals at ground zero, but they are really inconsistent. never actually bad, but often mediocre. we found the proprietors at hick's to be very gracious. we arrived on a blisteringly hot afternoon. the dining room was closed but the drive thru was open. when we saw that we started to walk back to the car. the person at the drive thru called us back. i explained that we really didn't want to eat in the car on such a hot day. they immediately opened the dining room for us and guess what - no tamales! they were about an hour away from being done. well, we had the pork and it was quite good, but the tamales are still on our to-do list.

and i thought this was a great report, too. really looked forward to it. - Bill

BillC-
Not surprisingly to hear that story about Hick's.  Both the owner and the woman in the kitchen were very pleasant to deal with.  Too bad you didn't get to try the tamales.  They are worth a return trip!  Thanks for the kind words.

Al-The Mayor-Bowen


BB,

I use your report as a great example of what I think a Trip Report should be. Granted we all can't take these epic journeys around the country, but a Trip Report should include some travel in it's content. You, Elise, DavyD,TTM and his partner WJ, and a few others take that format seriously and the result is really great. Running down to your local chain restaurant or deli once a week is Not a Trip Report (IMHO). While these great travel reports aren't within the reach of all of us (all of the time) we can look forward to making our contributions in the same format.

Keep up the good work ! BTW Homemade Pie Shop is doing local TV commercials right now in Louisville offering a warm slice of Cherry (lattice-crust) Pie for $1.49 at any of it's NINE Louisville Bakeries!! The pie looks wonderful !

I agree Al; they do not belong in the “Trip Reports” thread.  But what about the local mom & pops everyone looks for when traveling? Should those posts be in the "Where should I eat thread"? After all, what difference does it make if someone travels thousands of miles and posts about the Brickyard, as several have done, or I travel 10 miles and do so? What better way to discover those places than a local’s recommendation.  Often you would either go by without stopping, again I use the Brickyard as an example as it’s not in the best of neighborhoods, or you would never see them.
 
 

susanll


Susan, in my part of the South we have limas(green) and butter(beige and bigger)

That shows the regional differences in our South Miss Susan ... Here in the Deep South it is just the reverse ...
Butterbeans are little and green or little and colored and sold fresh picked or frozen
Lima beans are big beige and in cans or sold dried
 
Either way they're great with homemade hoe cakes and sliced homegrown tomatoes and Vidalia onions !
And , don't forget the glass of tea !

Here 'baby limas' and 'butterbeans' are used pretty much indistinguishably, or at least to my hearing.

What a great trip report. I really enjoyed the pictures

Nancypalooza


Here 'baby limas' and 'butterbeans' are used pretty much indistinguishably, or at least to my hearing.

 
Nancy , that's what they're called in the grocery store frozen food aisles and in canned goods , but we've always called them butterbeans in this area ...
The best ones being presented in early June at our local produce stands and in the little family - owned Southern markets  advertised as fresh home-grown butterbeans !
I guess the farther you get into the Deep South people typically have been referring to  lima beans as butterbeans for generations ... I know that that has been the tradition  my whole life ....

 Perhaps a forum for neighborhood trips for those of us that can't venture far from home or work.

Sometimes a person will get a feeling for a place from some of these short/local trips.  We really don't have to  (or can't)  travel the states to take a trip.

If I repeat myself, pardon me.This has been among the best trip reports I have followed.Food looks good, narrative has been wonderful as to what IS good or not so good, and I always enjoy my fellow roadfooders adventures.Thanks guys!

John A


I agree Al; they do not belong in the “Trip Reports” thread.  But what about the local mom & pops everyone looks for when traveling? Should those posts be in the "Where should I eat thread"? After all, what difference does it make if someone travels thousands of miles and posts about the Brickyard, as several have done, or I travel 10 miles and do so? What better way to discover those places than a local’s recommendation.  Often you would either go by without stopping, again I use the Brickyard as an example as it’s not in the best of neighborhoods, or you would never see them.
 
 

Those "reports" are exactly what the specific areas of the "Lunch and Dinner" area is for...here is the description for the BBQ area:

Discuss ribs, brisket, pulled pork, smoked meat and other BBQ you’ve encountered during your search for Roadfood BBQ.


So if you made a visit to a local (or otherwise) bbq place and want to post pics, recommendations, etc - that would go in the BBQ area.

mar52


Perhaps a forum for neighborhood trips for those of us that can't venture far from home or work.

Sometimes a person will get a feeling for a place from some of these short/local trips.  We really don't have to  (or can't)  travel the states to take a trip.

Unfortunately , in these difficult economic times many more folks than not won't be able to afford the expense of travel and eating  trips .

Exactly!  

buffetbuster


Sam and Marilyn were extremely easy to talk to. He is an archaeologist, which has always been an interest of mine.

I had the pleasure of "roadfooding" with Sam and Marilyn a couple of times a few years back when we lived in Laurel, MS and Sam was my daughter's supervisor (she is also an archaeologist). They are delightful people, a LOT of fun, and they are still great friends of my daughter.
 
I might be wrong, but I think that one of the places we ate about 8 years back was "Letha's" when she still cooked at her old house by the railroad tracks in Columbia, MS. I had not discovered the Roadfood forums at that time. 

RibRater

John A


I agree Al; they do not belong in the “Trip Reports” thread.  But what about the local mom & pops everyone looks for when traveling? Should those posts be in the "Where should I eat thread"? After all, what difference does it make if someone travels thousands of miles and posts about the Brickyard, as several have done, or I travel 10 miles and do so? What better way to discover those places than a local’s recommendation.  Often you would either go by without stopping, again I use the Brickyard as an example as it’s not in the best of neighborhoods, or you would never see them.
 

Those "reports" are exactly what the specific areas of the "Lunch and Dinner" area is for...here is the description for the BBQ area:

Discuss ribs, brisket, pulled pork, smoked meat and other BBQ you’ve encountered during your search for Roadfood BBQ.


So if you made a visit to a local (or otherwise) bbq place and want to post pics, recommendations, etc - that would go in the BBQ area.

 
Aha, Thanks Larry. Apparently I do not have a keen grasp of the obvious.

Buffetbuster,

Being from the Hattiesburg area, I can tell you that you pretty much can not go wrong with anything you order at Leatha's.

I do hate that you were sent to the wrong Mack's. They have two and unfortunately, from what I hear,  the original one is almost always disappointing.

You actually managed to dodge a second bad experience by skipping our Wintzell's. The service at the one in Hattiesburg is lousy and the food isn't much better. The ones in Mobile, where this small chain began, are the best. However, when it comes to seafood in Mobile I always send everyone I know to Felix's and suggest they order the fresh catch, prepared Greek style and covered with Crab Oscar -- oh  my  god doesn't even begin to describe it.  The green beans almondine are an especially nice side item to request with this entree. Their camp salad is a nice touch as well.

I was also laughing at your drunk driver, not because drinking and driving is funny, but because probably less than 24 hours before you had your experience with one, I was hit head-on by one. My SUV was totaled -- however, lucky me, I walked away without a scratch. The police are still trying to figure that one out seeing as my vehicle was reported to have performed Matrix moves during the collision. Of course the drunken idiot who hit me had no insurance... Which is usually the case I hear.  Oh, and he had a suspended license due to prior DUIs. Anyway... Just sharing. lol
 
 
 
Edit to add:
 
I forgot to say that I have had the coconut pie at Bayless' many, MANY times and it's reputation for those pies is well deserved. I'd almost dare to say that it would have been worth the wait.

EFP4ME-
Glad to hear you walked away from your accident with the drunk driver.  That is amazing how lucky you are, considering the damage to your vehicle.

I had no idea that there was a second Mack's Fish Camp.  So the food is better at the other one?  And now I am regretting now waiting around for the coconut pie at Bayless.  That and the fried chicken at Peggy's were the two things I really wish I hadn't missed out on.

Yes, actually the food is better at the other Macks. Well, passable anyway.

I just reread your road trip and it's amazing how many places there are in this state to eat that I still have not heard of. Your road trip has given me a whole new list of culinary goals for the year. 

Who knows, maybe I'll bring a Bayless pie to the street festival in NOLA...

EFP4ME-
Glad to hear that you will be in New Orleans and I'm looking forward to meeting you.  And if you do bring a coconut pie from Bayless, I promise you some help with it!
 
If you do make it to some of the places in the trip report, please let us know what you thought of the restaurants.

Curious as to why you chose not to eat breakfast in Oxford at a place like  the Beacon, Ajax, Big Bad Breakfast or Bottletree.

Jesco-
Welcome to Roadfood!  So many places, so little time.  Actually, I am one of those people who prefer lunch over breakfast, so I was hoping to be able to have a burger in the morning at Phillip's Grocery, like I did at Bill's Hamburgers.  Had I known I wouldn't be able to get a burger, I would have gone somewhere else.

Thanks, I am a long time reader of the boards.

Buffetbuster, I just got around to looking at this thread, and, as usual, I am very impressed ( and, as usual, very envious. ) Your photos have me even more enthused about next month's Glee Club thingie in MS and TN than I already was. The Q at Abe's looks so good; any chance that you and the others will stop there Friday evening for a late snack? I know that's probably asking for intestinal turmoil after a steak at Doe's, but Abe's Q looks sooooo good.....