My BBQ teammate Otto did. He got the BBQ sandwich. Here’s a pic.
“Damn fine sandwich,” he tweeted. He said he had some PBR with it and the total was only $9, which is a really good value. One of my other BBQ teammates posted a pic of a steak, baked potato, and asparagus that he ordered (sorry, forgot to ask him for permission to use it here) and it looked delicious too. I have got to get in there SOON and try their food. All these years, when tourists have asked me the best place to go Downtown for BBQ that’s walkable/trolleyable, I’ve always said Blues City. I have a feeling I may have a different recommendation after trying the vittles at the Double J.
I want to apologize to Jeff, John and everyone at the saloon for not making it by for opening night. The thing is, I’m just not a huge fan of opening night crowds. I prefer to try new places for the first time when they’re not too busy and I can enjoy the place and get a feel for it. Jeff and John have a ton of friends so I knew the Double J would be packed to the rafters last night. I started the evening at my usual happy hour spot, the Saucer, and was 50/50 on heading south. Then I overheard one of the most annoying people I’ve ever met say he was about to “check out the new spot,” and that was enough to convince me to wait for another night. Besides, I’d already seen the place at the meet & greet last Friday. Will be in there soon, I promise.
I texted friends who’d checked in at the Blind Bear and confirmed they’d be there for a while. As I drank my first beer, we started to hear reports of a dead horse at Main and Union. There were all kinds of rumors flying around that it had been hit by a trolley, by a car, etc. I told the doorman I’d be right back and walked that way.
Sure enough, there was a dead horse lying in the Union trolley stop. About 10 police cars were there and they had all of Main Street taped off at Union. It was one of the carriage horses that are used to give people tours of Downtown. It did not appear that the horse had been struck by a vehicle. There was a trolley waiting for Main to re-open, but it was a distance away.
I posted the news to Facebook. One of my Facebook friends, who is a carriage driver, said that she believed the horse had an aneurism. She said that he was one of the younger horses in the stable. Just like people sometimes die young – like that conservative/Tea Party guy who died of a heart attack at 43 earlier this week – sometimes horses die young too. Another of my Facebook friends, who works at the FedExForum, joined the conversation and offered a fork lift if they needed a way to move the horse. That may sound silly but I doubt Memphis has had a standard plan for horse removal since 1910 or so. Anyway, I thought that was an extremely classy move for the Forum folks to make that offer. They do a lot more to be good neighbors Downtown than most people realize.
I stayed at the Bear for a while, then timed my walk home to get to City Market just before close. They had Nawabi Gosh spicy beef in the prepacked food refrigerator. SCORE! I took it home and had a good late-night snack. I’ve decided that 11:30-midnight is the dead zone for eating in the Downtown core on the weekends – it’s the period when City Market is closed and Cockadoos has not yet opened. Of course, when I say that, I overlook the fact that there are a number of other good places to eat nearby that are open during that time frame.
Plans for today: None really, other than I need to stop by Tater Red’s. My NO BUMS shirt has a tear in it so I need a new one. Of course, there will be plenty of beer involved too, and possibly a trip south to Double J.