We are off to see the Big Easy

 Barbeque

This is the first trip that we have embarked upon in the pursuit of the Bookstores and BBQ blog.

We are headed to New Orleans from South Brevard County, Florida. It is a 10 hour drive. We

understand that New Orleans has a vibrant Indie Bookstore Community. It is also the culinary

capital of the Western Hemisphere. Being a fan of New Orleans we will not be having BBQ

there. I hear that there are some really good BBQ joints, but Etouffee, Fried Oysters, Po Boys

and Blackened Redfish are calling. However, there will be opportunities on the trip to and from

for BBQ tastings.

Our first stop was Jim’s Pit Bar B Que. It is located just south of Gainesville, in Reddick, FL,

right off I-75 at Exit 368. Jim’s advertises itself as Texas-style BBQ. It is a hole in the wall gas

station with a smoker out front. It looked just like the kind of place that I want to sample. I had to

try the Brisket and my wife had the sliced pork. The brisket was delicious, tender and fatty, with

the spice rub edging through. The brioche style bun was an excellent complement to the savory

beef. The sliced pork was very good, but I preferred the brisket.

All good BBQs need serious sides. We had the baked beans and the green beans. They were both

excellent. The baked beans had a spicy, smokiness and the green beans were done in the old

Southern style. They were over-cooked with potatoes and a lot of bacon fat. They instantly

brought back childhood memories of real Southern Sunday afternoon dinners. (That would be at

2PM.) It was well worth the stop. On my scale of dancing pigs, I give it three out of four dancing

pigs.

                                

On the return trip from the Big Easy, we pulled over in Ocean Springs, MS, to have lunch at

arguably the most famous BBQ joint in the state, the Shed Barbeque and Blues Joint

(www.theshedbbq.com). The Shed is located off I-10 at Exit 57 just north of the intersection. It is

a warren of what appear to be lean-tos, sheds, shanties, shacks, and other sundry “structures”. It

appears that since the Shed has obtained some notoriety, it has erupted in merch. However, the

merch explosion has not affected the BBQ. It is delicious. Lisa had the pulled pork, while I had

the smoked turkey/brisket combo. The pulled pork was tender, moist, and had a sweet BBQ

sauce. The sauce was a little sweet for my taste, but it was certainly being enjoyed by the crowd

around us. The brisket was solid; good smokey flavor, tender and good fattiness. However, the

smoked turkey was well worth the trip. Quite simply, it was the best smoked turkey, I have ever

tasted. The perfect amount of smoke, moist, tender, but it held together and had a great chew.

Right on the verge of falling apart, but retaining its dignity.

So what about the sides. We had the fried okra, collards and sweet potatoes. The okra was fried

expertly with a great corn meal coating; crunchy and flavorful. The collards were cooked to the

doneness that I look for. They were not overcooked and kept the texture, while becoming tender.

The fat that they were simmered in added a depth of flavor that sends me back to my

grandmother’s collards. They were almost as good as Lisa’s which is something all collards

strive to obtain. The sweet potato was fine. Nothing special, but certainly enjoyable.

The Shed has a ton of BBQ atmosphere as well as providing a venue for live music most

evenings. There is also an outstanding selection of craft brews. I slurped down an Abita Amber.

Abita may be too large to still be considered a craft beer, but it certainly has the taste to be that

special. It is definitely worth the stop. It is a solid three dancing pigs out of four.

 

Bookstores

While we were in New Orleans, we managed to squeeze in three Indie/Used bookstores. New

Orleans is, not surprisingly, a bastion of liberal thought and has some great Bookstores. We are

not opposed to the Big Book stores such as Barnes and Noble. Afterall, they sell books and have

snacks. But the smaller Indies and Used Book stores are sensitive to the neighborhoods they

participate in and provide a meeting place for like minded and civic centered citizens. If you

want to hang out with peaceful souls, these are good places to start.

The first stop on our tour was the Garden District Book Shop

(www.gardendistrictbookshop.com) located at 2727 Prytania St. Suite 8. This is a great little

Indie bookstore. It has a warm and welcoming atmosphere, comfortable seating areas and if you

are there at the right time, a well-supplied bar. The staff were extremely helpful and friendly.

They had a great collection of books on New Orleans and New Orleans cookbooks. I was

particularly immersed in a collection of Civil Rights biographies and essays. There was lots of

diversity and opinions from different sorts of writers adding a richness to the discussion.

There was a scheduled list of upcoming speakers, which included a good smattering of local and

regional authors discussing their latest offerings. We stayed for a couple of hours before we

finally brought our purchases to the counter. It could have easily been a couple of hours more.

     

The second stop was at Octavia Books (www.octaviabooks.com) located at 513 Octavia St. This

is a beautiful Indie bookstore that was undergoing an extensive enlargement while we were there.

I would guess they were tripling their square footage. It is a very modern-looking store with

several comfortable seating areas. The management was extremely friendly and before long I

was engaged in a discussion of the expanding BBQ scene in New Orleans, where I was from,

how I was enjoying my stay and on and on and on. I normally would have found this interaction

annoying, but due to both the sincerity and the friendliness of the interaction, I enjoyed it very

much. The bookstore had a great collection of local books. They were obviously proud of their

heritage and displayed it with enthusiasm.

Octavia Books had a busy schedule of upcoming speakers including authors and local lecturers.

They had a great collection of books focused on current women’s issues and concerns. This is the

kind of things that Indie bookstores can do well and when they do it well, it is a benefit to their

community. Octavia Books is an asset to their community.

                       

Our last stop of the New Orleans bookshops was Blue Cypress Books

(www.bluecypressbooks.com) located at 8123 Oak St. This is a true combination of Used

Bookstore and Indie Bookstore. This was my personal favorite. It is jammed full of used books.

There are floor to ceiling books. I came across a stupendous collection of books for young adults

regarding budding sexuality. All different view points were displayed and what I surmised was

there was a lot of thought and sensitivity put into curating the collection.

There were enough new books to keep you interested, but the used books were the stars. They

were arranged in logical collections and everything I wanted to look for, I found. Also, as it

appears to be a local requirement, the New Orleans section was extremely interesting.

They are community spirited and host several clubs and interest groups as well as local authors

and local lecturers. This was a bookstore where I could spend many lost hours expanding my

horizons.