On the Road Again...the annual Southern Pilgrimage

A plate of pork ribs, barbecue beans and French fries with a plate of the famous BBQ Spaghetti

Our annual trip to "the South" began with lunch at Neely's Bar-b-que in Memphis, TN. We devoured the rib combo plate we got with beans and coleslaw and Jeff helped me to finish my pork and coleslaw sandwich. DELICIOUS! We crawled back to the hotel and took a VERY long nap! Afterwards we went to a little place called Automatic Slims. It was good, not great. Creative, but they couldn't quite pull it off. Close but no cigar!

For breakfast we went to Cockadoo's. They have "cathead" biscuits which means they have biscuits the size of a cat head. They were good, but not remarkable. I am spoiled by the fantastic biscuits at Zin on Sunday nights!

We bit the bullet and finally went to Graceland. It was getting embarrassing that we hadn't gone on all of our trips to Memphis...

For those of you that were born before 1970 should recognize the beautiful white front porch of Graceland. Apparently Priscilla Presley hired 2 guys from Disneyland to help create the mystique and amusement park quality of Graceland. Not a bad thing...It was fun to see!We had to be the youngest on the tour. The average age was about 70! The tour takes you through the main house, to see the kitchen, dining room, racquetball court and the famous underground play rooms. Pretty crazy decorating ideas...

It was sad to see the grave site and realize just how young he was when he passed. It was also amazing to see the level of devotion and fanaticism that still exists for Elvis. 

From there we went to lunch at one of the places our friends, Paul and Angela recommended,  Uncle Lou's Sweet and Spicy Fried Chicken. It was delicious! Uncle Lou has Homestyle, Sweet and Spicy and HOT Sweet and Spicy. It was SO good!

Not satisfied with eating only one kind of fried chicken, we had it again for dinner, this time it was Gus's Fried Chicken. I promise we don't eat this way every day! Just the week we are in the South! Back to Gus's...Michael Stern of Roadfood said it best:

I'm not sure about Gus's claim to be world famous; but if it is not, it deserves to be. Here is some of the nation's best fried chicken. Each piece, dark and white, is encased in an envelope that vigorously crunches then offers rapturous chew, all the while radiating the ecstatic flavor combo of chicken fat and pepper... (Click on the link to read all that he wrote about Gus's)

All of this crazy eating took place in two days...with 7 to go...and no stretch pants packed. I am in trouble!
If I haven't gone into a food coma, I'll write more tomorrow about the food extravaganza...and the trip to Sun Studios!