Rolling thru the Deep South: Chewacla State Park, AL 6/7/08

We showed up at the Midas shop at 10:30 hoping that the much coveted alternator would be there. No such luck. (Godot never showed – imagine that!) The worst part is that no one had any idea where it was. All they knew was that it was someplace between Atlanta and New Orleans. So, we waited, and waited, and waited. The one silver lining is that Hillary’s concession speech was supposed to be televised around 12:30. The other customers hanging out in the waiting room were mostly African-American. We struck up a conversation about Obama and were all glued to the set during the speech. We had a really interesting chat with one particular gentleman who was quite informed and had been keeping abreast of the Hillary-Barack saga. It was so touching to share this moment with someone who was as enthused as we are. I’ll always remember not only this incredible historic moment, but exactly where we were and who we shared it with. (Molly, I know you are feeling my energy!) When the 2:00 closing time for the shop rolled around, and still no alternator, we decided to take our chances with the original alternator and continue on our journey. The other unthinkable option was to stay in New Orleans until Monday. We looked at the map, made a couple of adjustments and decided to head for Chewacla State Park in Alabama. This meant that we would travel thru Mississippi, along the Gulf coastline, but not spend the night. In our quest to reduce the load on the alternator, we decided to forego the air conditioner. At one point, when we were feeling quite warm and had consumed gallons of ice tea, I decided to check the temp…the outside temp registered 95 and the inside temp registered 102! Yep, we’re official stinky road warriors. (thank goodness for campground showers). We were hoping to accomplish two things: 1) get to the campground before 8:00 and 2) get to Chuck’s Barbeque before 9:00, closing time. I’m happy to report that both goals were met – with minutes to spare. We had watched a TV program about Chuck’s Barbeque on the food channel. It was recommended as one of the best of the smoked, mustard based barbeques. I had chopped pork with a side of beans (didn’t eat the mountain of pickles or 3 slices of white bread that came with it) and Ned had the chipped pork with a side order of brunswick stew and coleslaw. The owners are proud of their born again status, as testified by the “Jesus is the Bread of Life” t-shirts worn by all the employees and the scripture prominently displayed on the walls. (I snapped a pic so you can get a flavor of the place). Anyway, the first of the barbeque tasting has begun. By the end of this trip we hope to be aficionados on mustard, vinegar, tomato and sweet style barbeques. We pulled in the campground at dark, and are looking forward to exploring it in the daylight. (We’ve been averaging about 10 miles a day on the bikes and anticipate continuing that trend tomorrow).