Hit the road - to Jack!
By Jay DiEugenio
11/08
Nashville is one of those towns you can just never get enough of, so when I was invited to judge the Jack Daniel's Invitational World Championship BBQ Competition again this year, I made my travel plans immediately. It just so happened that the Tennessee Titans were all set to play a Monday Night Football game the same weekend. Nashville Honky Tonks, The Jack and Titans MNF - it was the winning Fall trifecta!
The Jack is the Granddaddy of all BBQ competitions in my book, and it was an honor to help them celebrate its 20th Anniversary. You don't just enter this competition, first you have to win a qualifying event, and then be lucky enough to draw a spot in the lottery. Teams from all over the world converge on tiny Lynchburg, Tennessee for the competition, and kick off the weekend on Friday with an awesome party on BBQ Hill - in an expansive open air lodge located just over the county line. You see, ironically, the Jack Daniel's distillery is located about an hour and a half south of Nashville in a dry county. No alcohol sales at all. So, BBQ Hill is located in the next county, which means the friendly folks at the distillery let the barrels flow on Friday night. They have a huge BBQ with live music, rows of rocking chairs, and some roaring fireplaces.
There's a great tradition where everyone is invited to write their regrets on slips of paper and place them into a pig-shaped metal cage. At some point in the evening, the Master Distiller tosses the pig into the fireplace and all those regrets go up in smoke. It's a very cool place to spend a chilly evening in the Holler!
Late Friday night, though, the thing to do is head down the Hill and to the town square, where more than 60 teams are camped out and starting their prep work for the next day. We wandered around for hours, just amazed at the different set-ups and equipment these guys haul out. From the most elaborate and expensive smoker trailers, to one team from Kansas City who has won the coveted Kansas City Royal (and ended up taking home 1st Place in brisket) cooking in 55 gallon trash cans!
Saturday morning came too fast, and the smell of BBQ started my stomach grumbling. I couldn't wait to get in that judges seat and start eating. I spent about four hours tasting and judging some of the best BBQ in the world - all told, putting down about six pounds of brisket, ribs, pork and chicken. It was a very good thing.
Throughout the day, more than 25,000 visitors strolled past the Judges pavilion, most of them stopping to wave at my tablemate Guy Fieri and try to get him to sign his picture in the last issue of Tailgater Monthly.
It's a county fair kind of atmosphere, with bands and booths, and contests like Butt Bowling and Bung Toss, and a Country Dog Show to keep everyone entertained while the judges are busy tasting all that food. It's the kind of event that makes America, well America!
If you can ever get to the distillery, it is a must. There is so much to look at and learn just on the tour alone. But if you ever find yourself near Lynchburg during the last week of October, be sure to enjoy the incredible experience of The Jack!
Sunday it was back to Nashville, to do a little Honky Tonkin with our friends from the Brew Crew who were in town for the Colts game on Monday night. Broadway is the main street where all the famous Honky Tonks are located, and when the sun goes down, the neon lights up the night. Musicians line the sidewalks outside the doors, waiting for their turn on one of the small stages in legendary bars like Tootsie's and Rippy's .
We started the night at one of our favorites, the Paradise Park Trailer Resort. Open to the street, the Astroturf "lawn" is littered with broken down cars and old refrigerators. Naugahyde and duct tape on the barstools, bumper stickers and graffiti on the walls, the Trailer Park keeps their beers on ice in rusty old bathtubs and serves up some of the tastiest burgers and fries through the window of a snack shack. We ordered a few cold ones, and some Hub Caps with sweet potato fries. Like every place in Nashville - including the airport, malls, and street corners - the Paradise Park also has a stage that's always got some great, live music.
We jumped around from place to place, making friends and adding to our group along the way. We befriended folks from Chicago, San Francisco and Indianapolis, as well as Manchester, England and Limerick, Ireland. All in all, Karen and I spent an awesome night at the Honky Tonks dancing the night away to live music into the wee hours of Monday morning.
It was a good thing that the game was on Monday NIGHT, because we were both a little slow out of the gate. By the time we got up and rolling, our Nashville tailgate hookup, Wayne Vandevort, was already in full go-mode. He and his crew had been prepping all day and the day before, and when we got to the shipping yard where he does all the staging for their party, they were hauling out armloads of food from his prep kitchen and loading it into the tailgate trailer.
One of the more innovative (and gadget addicted) tailgaters that we know, Wayne has converted an old shipping container into a complete commercial kitchen. I'm talking everything from freezers to dish station to dry storage. They loaded up all the prepared food, and then it was off to the lot. There, the cooking continued. Wayne has a huge cooking trailer that has a commercial grill, prep counters, sinks, kegerator and plenty of prep space. They park the trailer alongside his Titan's Flame Mobile - a converted and customized shuttle bus he uses to haul all his people out to the lot. There, Wayne and his crew set up a full buffet line including custom-made, logoed steam tables. The food was an impressive display, from ribs to chicken wings to burgers and dogs, to some incredible corn-on-the-cob. There was enough food to feed at least 200 to 300 people, and I'm pretty sure that's about how many showed up.
Wayne's partner in crime is the infamous Lady Titan. A Hall of Fame superfan, she has her own open air trailer that has been converted into a bar. She has everything you could want and is only too happy to make a drink for you - just be ready to smile and take a picture with her. She has a full-time bartender in the trailer with her, and even a couple of cocktail waitresses that work their way around the party. She and her husband Melvin are two of the nicest people you could ever want to meet, and together with Wayne they host visiting fans from all across the league. Our Colts fan friends were welcomed with open arms, and we even ran into the Commissioner of Tailgating, Joe Cahn. You know it wouldn't be Nashville without live music, so Wayne and Lady Titan had the BB King's House Band come out to the lot for a concert before the game!
Monday Night Football is one of the most memorable experiences you can tailgate at - and especially so in Nashville. The Titans' stadium, LP Field, is located just across the Cumberland River at the base of Broadway. From the parking lots of the stadium, the Nashville skyline lights up the night as the sun goes down. The sounds of music and the smells of BBQ fill the air, and the laid-back, friendly fans welcome in everyone with that incredible Southern hospitality. Put Nashville at the top of your list for tailgate travel. If you're like me, you'll find yourself going back again and again.
