Oh Pappy!

Sweet cheesy bananas that was a lot of food!  The man is trying to kill me!  Our first clue was when the waitress brought out the four trays of food and then four more empty trays for us to divide the food up among our party.  Um, party of two. 

But here’s the thing, it was incredibly good!  I don’t even eat ribs and I loved these – I’d probably eat them for breakfast!  The pork, in fact all of the animals we consumed, was tender and tasty – basically perfect.  The sauces were a bit sweet but darned good.  Even the deep fried corn on the cob was good.  And oh man don’t get me started about the fried sweet potatoes.  Any time fries come with brown sugar you know Chip is in his happy place.

This place is serious – we had to wait in line for ten minutes to order dinner…at 4:45!  They only cook a certain amount of BBQ each night and regularly run out, so the locals know to get here early.  As we were pulling up there was a guy in the parking lot taking pictures of the building and the smoker – Paul’s stunt double! 

I can’t believe I just wrote several paragraphs about food – that’s Paul’s job!  But that’s how much I enjoyed dinner.  Pappy’s was a great place to eat, a wonderful to start our victory lap on the final leg of the trip, and just what we needed tonight. 

Now we need to go walk it off!  I’ve got the Arch over my right shoulder, the Mississippi River right in front of me, and St. Louis at my back.  The guys in the car next to us are clearly headed to the Cardinals v. Brewers game – which is a good walk from here, but it’s a beautiful night and probably a cheaper parking lot so who can blame them?  I promise to tell you all about it! 

Quick shout out to John and Eun Young and the kids for a great meal last night (my first, but certainly not my last, Korean meal!) and for a really enjoyable visit.  Thanks for making me feel so welcome – and for not making me use the hot sauce!  Thanks to Jess for the great lunch.  It sounds like an incredible ministry and we will keep you in our prayers.

Oh, and a quick PS from the Denver stop on the tour:  we didn’t have time to visit the world’s first Chipotle restaurant, which is located in Denver near the University of Denver campus.  Sorry Jimmy!  Many of you will know understand the level of sacrifice that represents for me.  Actually, Paul has opened my eyes to some great eats over the past month, so Chipotle can wait till we get home!