Shorter Days/Cooler Nights - It's almost that time again

Not too much happening around here right now.

Family will take me to New England later this summer. Such a beautiful part of the country. I love visiting there.

Fall is right around the corner. Hard as that is to believe. Hopefully we'll be able to get back to the Smoky Mountains this fall. It's been a while since we last visited and fall is the perfect time to be there.

Speaking of fall. There is a town in Georgia (Helen) that has been hosting an Oktoberfest celebration for at least the last 45 years. It claims to be the longest running Oktoberfest in the US. I really want to check it out. The promise of beer and brats amid cries of Prost! What's not to love. Next best thing to being there.

So that's it for now. There'll be a few more patios to visit yet, a road trip here and there and another good burger to go in search of.

Before we know it the air will be filled with the scent of woodsmoke and apples, pumpkin spice lattes will be back at your local coffee shop and the clocks will swing back an hour.

Enjoy the rest of the summer. Grab a drink on your favorite patio and toast to the adventures ahead.

Happy travels!

Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum - Galveston, Texas

The Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig Museum is located along the Texas coast in Galveston. The museum is located on an actual retired "jack-up" drilling rig. 

The Houston area is surrounded, quite literally, by the petroleum industry. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about it and to see what is involved in getting resources from the ground and into our car tanks so that we can take that summer road trip. 

Model of how a drilling rig works

People in the industry both work and live on these offshore rigs. There are kitchens and sleeping areas as well as some entertainment options. I can't imagine what life was like out there 40 years ago; before the advent of cellphones, satellite television and WiFi. Communicating with the folks back home has to be so much easier now. 

Like in every other industry, many changes have taken place in the exploration industry. From the basics of life on the rig, to how they get things done at sea. 

Imagine having to use a cargo net to be lifted onto the rig? Personnel would have to hang onto the outside of the cargo net as they were lifted from the boat out to the rig. Swinging on a cargo net, attached to a rope, on a boat, hanging out over the ocean. A gentleman named Billy Pugh had a much better idea, making getting on and off the rig much safer and saner.

This unit (for getting on the rig) replaced the "Tarzan" rope cargo nets (!) that had been used previously to be lifted onto the rig

Ocean Star shows the process from the initial geologic surveys looking for resources to the actual installation of the massive equipment needed to get those resources to market. Imagine a huge mega structure, basically a small city, being designed and built and then hauled out to sea to be erected? It's an amazing feat of engineering and construction that takes many people and many years to accomplish.

  
Just think, before drafting software became widely used engineers had to hand build models of future drilling platforms and other equipment. Hand build!
 

Prior to the use of computer drafting software, engineers hand built models of future drilling platforms

 

 

 

 

The tour of the Ocean Star was interesting and informative. The sheer size and breath of both the work needed to accomplishment these goals and the structures we use to do so is worth learning about. And if like me you find a peek behind an industry's curtain fascinating then I recommend a visit to the Ocean Star if you're ever in the area. 

Happy travels!

NOTE: Speaking of tours. The next tour I'm hoping we can take is of the Spoetzl Brewery, home of Texas' own Shiner beer. Stay tuned!

Q Fanatic - Champlin, Minnesota

This whole BBQ thing got started about two years ago in June of 2011. The Dining Companion and I decided to spend the summer searching out and trying as many Minnesota BBQ joints as we could. We were, if memory serves, inspired by an article in MSP Magazine that listed their choices for top 10 BBQ in the area. Some we had heard of and some were new to us. Our goal was to try as many as we could over the summer. For me that included writing up my thoughts on these places and maybe doing some online blogging/reviews. Well as life has a tendency to do we were thrown an unexpected curve ball and the Summer of BBQ (as it came to be known) was cut short. We had gotten through a small part of our list when we left Minnesota for points south.

Over the last couple of years, most of it covered here on this blog, our travels have taken us to many of the country's top BBQ locations, Texas, Kansas and Missouri, The Carolina's and Georgia to name a few. (We've been to Tennessee as well but haven't yet had the Memphis BBQ experience. That's still an open item on our list) It's been a fun and eye opening experience for me and the Dining Companion (he wrote a bit about it here) I've come to realize that I like my brisket moist, my ribs dry rubbed and my sausage links served whole not sliced. For me ( and the Dining Companion as well I think) one of the biggest surprises was how little I enjoyed the BBQ offerings in most of Kansas' famous BBQ joints. For a lot of people BBQ is all about pulled pork and ribs. Not so for me. Don't get me wrong, I love ribs. However, I like good dry rubbed ribs not mediocre, over cooked ribs slathered in lousy sauce. Sadly that was what I was getting in the places in Kansas that we tried.

One bright spot in our journey was the stop that took us to Pappy's in St. Louis. There I found the best ribs of the trip. Perfectly smoked and seasoned, dry rubbed and not a drop of sauce on my plate. Very good and I would gladly go back again for them. That brings me to the other BBQ I enjoy, a good, moist, smoked brisket. A lot of places list brisket on their menus but they needn't bother. At best it's an after thought and at worst flat out awful.

By now you may be wondering what any of this has to do with Q Fanatic in Champlin, MN. Let me start by saying that when we decided to visit Q Fanatic recently I wasn't holding out any hope that it would be anything better than the stuff we had been eating on our trip back north. A BBQ joint in the Minnesota 'burbs? How good could that be? Pretty damn good as it turns out.

We got to Q around lunch time and stood in a short line to place our orders. We were informed that there was about a 30 minute wait. I looked around confused, most of the tables were empty and it was a counter service restaurant, what's with the wait? Turns out the wait was for our food.We grabbed our order number and headed to a table.

 

While we waited the Dining Companion and I discussed the dry uninspiring brisket we had encountered at most of the places we'd eaten at over the last week or so. We decided that maybe we should ask about the brisket that we were about to be served and find out a bit more about it. I approached the counter, the line was gone and there was a gentleman there speaking with the person who had taken our order. I told her I had a question about the brisket and she pointed to the man over her shoulder who turned out to be the pit master. I asked him how the brisket was served. Was it lean, was every bit of flavor, I mean fat, removed before service? I think I gave him the wrong impression because he started to assure me that yes, the brisket was lean. Before he could finish I told him that was too bad as we prefer the fatty less lean style. He said no problem, we remove the cap (fatty part of the brisket) because most people prefer their brisket lean but that he had some in back that was what we were looking for. I headed back to our table and told the DC about what just happened. Still skeptical we waited for our food to be served. I think you know where this is going. This BBQ joint in the Minnesota suburbs served us the best brisket of our whole trip. Better than the most well known BBQ places in several states. The best hands down. Thick cut, moist and fatty, smoked to perfection. A true representation of what Texas style brisket is all about. ( In Texas you can order your brisket moist OR lean. Hear that Kansas and Missouri?) The ribs were good too, dry rubbed and meaty, falling off the bone tender but not mushy or overcooked. Good sides, nice service and a true taste of the BBQ we were looking for. Home run.

So, there you have it. I should add something here about traveling and coming home to find the thing you were looking for all along. You know what I mean. Q Fanatic is serving up some fantastic BBQ. Well worth the drive, the wait and whatever other hurdle you may need to jump to get there. Go, just go, ask for the moist brisket or order it both ways to compare. You may be surprised at what you've been missing.

Happy dining!

Chattanooga Choo Choo Model Railroad Museum - Chattanooga, TN

When we recently visited Chattanooga we paid a visit to the model railroad museum located at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Entertainment Complex. The museum, while not large, has a nice display of trains. Chattanooga and the surrounding Cumberland Mountains are depicted in the panoramic display.

Although I haven't done it for years, I remember many trips by train taken with my mom and sisters. Our journey took us from our house in the south to my grandfather's house in the northeast. I loved everything about those trips. The way our sitting room became our bedroom at night, having our meals in the dining car, the sound of the clacking train tires on the track. To this day the sound of a train whistle takes me right back there again. There is still something exotic and romantic about train travel. One of these days I want to take a long trip by train across the states.

The museum display is curated by the Chattanooga Area Model Railroad Club. When we were there some of the display had be decorated for the holiday.

Moonshiners! The cops are on their trail...

 

This area of the display shows the Incline Railway on Lookout Mountain. It's one of the steepest passenger railways in the world.

Beside the model railroad itself the museum also has a small display of older model trains. Some from the 1800's.

The museum was smaller than I thought but the display was very nice and well worth visiting. If you like model trains, or for that matter any trains, the Chattanooga Choo Choo Entertainment Area is definitely be worth a stop.

Chattanooga, TN

We were in Chattanooga, TN this past weekend. All I knew about the city was what I learned from that song about the choo choo. There is one, a Chattanooga Choo Choo that is.

Part of the reason we were there was to visit the model train display (more to come in a future post) at the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel. The hotel, located in the converted Terminal Station in downtown Chattanooga, is on the list of America's historic hotels. We didn't stay there but I really want to now because hello! Some of the rooms are inside restored railcars. There are more traditional rooms available as well but let's be honest, why stay in a regular room when you can stay in a restored RAILCAR.

Our visit to Chattanooga happened to coincide with what is billed as a 24 hour block party being held on Main Street and the surrounding Southside. We walked over to Main Street from the station and strolled around the street fair. There were tree planting events, parades, specials at the local shops, horse and carriage rides and a whole section dedicated to all things mutt. Lots of cute dogs visiting and looking for homes. A nice event run by people that seemed to really enjoy what they were doing. If I happen to be in the area next time this event is scheduled I'd like to check it out more thoroughly.

Another thing I wanted to do was eat at my favorite MN barbecue chain. I've eaten all kinds of barbecue all over the place but there is something about this place that has me seeking it out whenever I get within distance of one. Maybe it's the consistency, the Devil's Spit sauce or something else. I like Famous Dave's. However, there is one thing that always irritates me when I dine there. If I order a burger, and I often do, the wait-person can be heard spouting the following foolishness "How would you like your burger, medium-well done or well done? Medium well done? There's no such thing as medium-well done Famous Dave. Well done is well done. Why perpetuate this charade? The servers should just say your burger will arrive well done. There is no other option, deal with it. Inevitably I order it, eat it and enjoy it all the while being mildly disappointed that I can't get it cooked to the temperature I enjoy. They need to fix this.

The day we were in town we took advantage of free electric bus rides around the downtown area. We hopped on and took the half hour ride around town. I saw a nice city. Lots of outdoor art, local non chain coffee shops and retail stores, just a nice looking city. All that aside, let me say here and now that I tend to draw crazy like moths to a flame. It seemed inevitable that one of the local "characters" would board the bus and sit right by me. And he did. I was regaled with tales of conspiracy, government underhandedness and various other ramblings. When my friend exited the bus the driver said that he "seemed good today, like he had gotten his meds." I told him not to worry, that we have crazy people where we from too. In hindsight I shouldn't have said crazy, I should have said colorful characters, but, dude was full on cray cray so there you have it.

All in all we really enjoyed our time in Chattanooga. You have to like a city where roses are blooming in December right? We had fun and ended our trip sitting at the bar at Red Lobster (I know, don't ask) drinking beers and rum drinks and watching the Georgia Bulldogs take a heartbreak of a loss to Alabama. If we're in this part of the country a bit longer I definitely want to go back and check out the local Chattanooga food scene. If we do you can read about it here.

Happy travels!