Family Barbecue

So I was eating lunch at a restaurant and saw an ad sheet describing a program where a taxi’s will pick up and deliver food from a restaurant.  An interesting program, but not all that interesting to me since I have the freedom to go to a restaurant, and enjoy the chance to eat away from my desk.  What caught my attention was the list of restaurants that were part of this program.  I was familiar with, and had eaten at most of them.  There were a couple I am not familiar with.  One in particular jumped off the page at me….A BBQ Restaurant!  I really thought I knew of all of the BBQ restaurants in Jefferson City.  I mean I have been in active search for the past six years, frequently checking the internet and restaurant review sites for any indication of BBQ availability.  I update my GPS frequently, more to see if it lists new restaurants than if the roads change. I monitor business signs as I drive and I certainly question potential knowledgeable sources.  Here was a “new restaurant!”

No address was listed….but I searched for Family Barbecue in Jefferson City and was given the address of 1209 Mo Blvd.  This is a road that I drive frequently, at least once a week.  I could not believe that there was a BBQ restaurant on this stretch of street.  Still it was enough to get my hopes up, and off I went with high anticipation.  There it was.  A sign for Family Barbecue right where they said it would be.  It was not exactly easy to see…well that is not quite true the sign is fairly large and right on the road.  It is a restaurant location that has been closed for a number of years.  The front of the building has been taken over by a used car dealer.  Still there was a big sign for the old restaurant that had a new sign covering part of the old sign that clearly announced “Family Barbecue.”

The restaurant is around back.  The parking lot has a number of obviously derelict cars.  There was a door clearly marked “entrance.”  I entered a clean, relatively small restaurant space.  It was after 1:00pm but I was the only customer.  A friendly man welcomed me and as the only employee gave me a menu.  The menu listed the BBQ items one would expect from a good BBQ.  I ordered a brisket sandwich and fries.  In a relatively short time I was delivered a generous amount of thinly sliced brisket between two slices of thick white bread, and home cut fries.  The brisket came with a pleasant sauce, not sweet or spicy.  It did not over power the meat, but accompanied it.  More sauce was provided.  The brisket was a little dry, so the sauce was nice.  To be clear I liked the brisket.  It had a nice flavor.  This was BBQ made by someone who knows how to cook meat. The fries were good, I would have liked for them to be cooked a little longer, but that is my taste.

Since I was the only customer I felt comfortable striking up a conversation.  I asked when they opened and was informed they had opened last April!   In the conversation I became aware that he had cooked for Johnnies BBQ before it closed, and had cooked in recent years at a couple of other places.  It was obvious that this is a man that who knows BBQ, and has his particular take on the favorites.  This is not an expensive restaurant, it is a good restaurant.  I want to go back!  I hope that others will take the effort to find this place and will frequent it.  Jefferson City needs a BBQ place like this.  It is not a chain.  It is BBQ for the working man who likes BBQ! 

Family Barbecue

1209 Mo Blvd

Jefferson City, MO

 

Katy Trail mm 153-143 Hartsburg to North Jefferson

I road this stretch of the KATY Trail in February on a 65 degree day and road it today the 30th day of November on a 70 degree day.  It is as stretch that I use to ride frequently starting at Hartsburg and going toward North Jefferson, a short distance north of Jefferson City.  What appealed me was that Hartsburg is a pretty little community not far off of HWY 63.  It has had a bike shop in the past, now it has several restaurants and a winery.

It had a nice restroom, which until the last few years was open year round.....

Most of the restrooms along the trail are traditional "pit" toilets that do not require heat in the winter, and while acceptable, it is far nicer to have a nice warm restroom to change from my business attire into my riding attire.  With many meetings in Jefferson City, it was easy to pack a bike in the car, and after the conclusion of the meeting, take a ride.  So Hartsburg moved up my list of favorite starting points.  You can go west toward McBane or east toward North Jefferson both are nice rides.  While not spectacular, they are varied from bluff to field to river.

There are a nice number of riders that use the trail either from Columbia or Jefferson City, and usually a car or two in the parking lot at Hartsburg. I like to have some other riders on the trail.  Today I passed, or was passed by approximately six riders.  What interested me is the greeting, or really the lack there of that comes from all but two of the riders.  All but one of the riders were male.  The only female was the only one that was riding full-out fast.  She was on a bike with aerobars and was focused, but she could still wave a hand and say hello.  One of the men had earphones in his ears, and so one could conjecture that the tunes were pumping loud.  That does not explain that the others did not wave, nod or say any greeting or acknowledge any greeting.   I mean there are six riders in a stretch of 20 miles and two hours, that could not even acknowledge that the person they were passing or meeting was saying hello to them.....I am not expecting a long conversation on the beauty of the day, just a simple howdy.  Something has gone in this world....or I look at lot more frightening than I think I look....as a 60 year old man that looks a lot like Kris Kringle.......

It is fun to be riding on the trail on one side of the river and hear the train whistle from a train passing on the other side of the river.  Makes you wonder what you are going to find around the next corner of the rail trail.....

Katy Trail Bluffton-Steedman mm111-121

In my opinion the prettiest stretch of the KATY trail is between Bluffton and Steedman on either side of Portland. 

  It is a remarkable stretch as you ride between the bluffs and river.  It is not close to any urban area, so is relatively isolated.  I like to ride this early in the spring and late in the fall when the leaves are off the trees and you get good views of the river and the bluffs.  I often ride the entire stretch without seeing anyone, even in the town of Portland. I am sometimes think I am going to die in this stretch and they won’t find my body until after some dog drags a limb into town. Sorry that is meant to be humor…Actually one reason to ride this time of year is because if there are hunters they would have to be close enough to recognize a florescent orange shirt and yellow vest.....

I have ridden the KATY trail a number of times, and have only rarely seen evidence of horses on the trail.  Near Sedalia is a section that is clearly intended as a shared trail.  It is hard to hide the presence of a horse, they tend to leave lots of hoof prints in the trail not to mention frequent deposits of organic material.  I had not ever seen this sign before….I don’t know if it is an official sign or one that someone wanted to add for their own purpose.  

I find it interesting that bicyclists are to yield to everyone, and everyone yields to horses.  I wonder who made that decision. Why are horses so important?  I would think everyone should yield to hikers…..but it certainly difficult on a bike to go as slow as a horse is usually ridden, even an old codger like me rides faster.  Sure they can go faster for a short period of time, but they are usually not ridden that fast for very long. So what should we do when we come upon horses, stop?  This does not make sense. Why don’t we emphasize that everyone treats everyone with respect, and proceed carefully to insure the safety of all?

 

 I wonder what Lewis and Clark would would think of the speed with which we travel the same stretches that they painstakingly poled and paddled their way.  These two signs a short distance from each other represent almost a days travel....and only a few minutes for me.

Piggy's Bar BQ

Friday was a beautiful November day, work was not pressing so it was a good chance to get out and about.  For some reason I have not been eating BBQ.  To much work, not enough running around.....

I wanted some new BBQ and I decided to let my fingers do the walking and I found Piggy's Bar BQ in O'Fallon Mo.  It caught my attention because it indicated that it had won the Rural Missouri Magazine's Best BBQ in N.E. Missouri in 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011. I have followed their competition, and while far from being a strictly objective process, it has lead me to some good restaurants.   Now understand, I have lived and traveled northeast Missouri for the better part of 40 years, and outside of St. Louis there has not been much that I considered good BBQ in Northeast Missouri. That sounds a lot more negative than I really intend.  It just that there has not been very many places that even served real BBQ.  Never-the-less the fact that one place had won the award for four years running indicated I needed to try it out. so a plan was made......

It was a nice place, easy to find on a main street a few blocks from I70.  It was not fancy, or large.  But was certainly clean and inviting.

I was there early, just as it opened.  They were busy cooking.....

I had the combo plate.  It came with "2 bones, 2 meats and 2 sides"  I am not that interested in the ribs, so I told them to hold them.  Brisket and pulled pork, slaw and potato salad.  The brisket was excellent.  Thin, full of flavor.  They had four sauces.  A sweet honey, a spicy, a sweet KC and a smokey.  None of those was particularly appealing, so I went without sauce.  It was a good choice, the brisket flavor came through delicate and very much to my liking.  The pulled pork tasted good, not great.  Being the first one in the restaurant on this day, I am guessing that I was eating some pork that had been cooked the day before, and reheated for today.  It was a little dark and would have benefited from a mustard based sauce. They lavished me with a huge quantity of meat, it filled a good size plate.  I was most disappointed in the sides.  Understand they were acceptable, just they appeared to be purchased not freshly made.  I do not understand why your  would spend all of the time to prepare quality meat, and then combine it with some off the shelf sides that were delivered by a truck and came in a plastic jar.  It is similar to what is sold in grocery stores and fast food restaurants up and down the street.....Of course I would have preferred fries, but they were not on the menu.  I had slaw and potato salad. 

I can see why Piggy's Bar BQ wins the  Rural Missouri Magazine's Best BBQ in N.E. Missouri frequently.  It is not a chain, it has good food, it is real BBQ, and obviously cooked right there.  It is a nice clean place, one you can take your wife to.....

I would go back for the brisket.....!

Proto Cima

At least twice a year I end up at the Lake of Ozarks for a meeting or simply for a vacation.  This past weekend was one of those times.  I had not been to the lake since last spring, and with the trees looking wonderful, thought this might be a good time to take a couple of days and stare at the water.  I found a nice rental with a good view of the lake at a reasonable price, and headed that way.

It did have a nice view of the main channel.  The trees were a little past peak, but very pretty. 

Normally when I go to the lake I have a meeting to attend, or family members with the desire to accomplish certain things.  My schedule gets bent around these requirements.  This time there was little to accomplish other than eat, read and take a few bicycle rides.

Each time I go to the lake I try to make it across the toll bridge to ride my bike around the high end comunities on the other side.  One of the main ones is Porto Cima.  This is not a high intensity ride.  If I work the different loops correctly I can make about an 8 mile loop with several significant hills and lots of beautiful views.

 

 

There is no traffic.  Everyone is very friendly, I suspect because they think I live there.  

 You see lots of very expensive homes. 

 But mainly you get to have a nice road almost to yourself

 Over the years I have seen quite a few houses build, but there are many more lots available.

I generally ride the loops several times, then make it out to the main road to ride around some of the other developments.  I can remember when I would ride this road before the toll bridge.  Now MM is very busy and not for the faint of heart.  Still by taking some of the side roads you can get a reasonable ride in that include some significant hills, something I do get closer to home.

In this whole trip I did not get a single BBQ meal.  My wife went with me and she had other ideas.  That just means that I need to schedule some BBQ trips in the next few weeks!

Anchor City BBQ Contest

 I have only attended a few BBQ contests.  Notably the Roots and Blues and BBQ Festival in Columbia and the Anchor City BBQ Contest.  They seem to be very popular, and I see many advertised.  The first time I attended I thought that there would be a variety of different BBQ available to try.  Turns out there are very limited BBQ options.  Lots being cooked, and the judges get to sample some excellent variations, but they are not available to the public.  Usually there are no vendors selling BBQ, and those that are not generally of very high quality.  Hard to maintain a high quality with limited heating, cooling, and serving options.

 The KC BBQ Society is the organizing entity that has decreed no selling of the contestants product.  There are a fair number of people that are walking the aisles looking at the large variety of cookers and apparatus. 

 Anchor City had 33 contestants this year, as well as a variety of other venders selling shirts and crafts.  They had a nice blues band playing while I was there. 

October in Missouri is a Great Time to Ride

It has been a great fall for riding a bicycle.  After a long hot summer we have moved into a warm fall with cool nights and dry sunny days.  My father always held to the fact that fall color was associated with cool nights, warm days and dry conditions.  I think this fall is proving him correct.

Of course I am not much of a photographer and, and it is particularly hard for me to take reasonable pictures of the fall colors that end up representing what I see with my eyes, still it brings back the colors in my minds eye.

These are the real colors of fall in my neighborhood.....the green of John Deer and the Red of Massey Ferguson....Unfortunately the long hot dry summer has not been conducive to a nice fall for the farmers.