Another Trip Around the Sun

In and out and on and on Everybody goes

And where the fun with finally stops

Everybody knows Girls it’s me and you

Doing what we do

Just one way to lose

Those happy birthday blues . – B.B. King

It’s another trip around the sun for me today so Douglas and I will be celebrating all day! My day began with a hot & sweaty Bikram Yoga class on the east side of Memphis and a red velvet cupcake before heading towards Nashville. FB reminded me that last year we were in Napa having dinner at The French Laundry with family and the year before we were in Bosnia, and before that we were in Hawaii, but this year I’m quite content with our lovely Travato Traveler Blues campervan. Our destination is the Smoky Mountains but we have a rule about driving more than 5 hour stretches so we plan to camp on the other side of Nashville for the evening.

Half way between Memphis and Nashville is a tiny little town called Mason with an amazing BBQ place called Bozo’s. It is off the beaten path now but originally it was the only direct road between Nashville and Memphis.

It was founded in 1923 by Thomas Jefferson “Bozo” Williams. In 1982, new owners took control of the restaurant and filed for a trademark name. Larry Harmon, who is the original Bozo the Clown, opposed their application. The restaurant had been in service two decades before Bozo the Clown was invented and did not use any clowns for their logo or interior design. Customers from all over the country signed affidavits in favor of the restaurant and in 1989 the Federal Trademark Office decided in favor of Bozo’s restaurant. Bozo the Clown was not pleased and continued to appeal the case to Federal Courts and even the Supreme Court, but was not successful.

Now lets talk about the BBQ… spending years together in Texas has trained us to like Brisket for BBQ. Being in Austin affords us the ability to go to local BBQ kings like Franklin’s and La Barbeque without having to leave the east side of town. Anyway, Texas is about the beef and about sausage. Most of the other BBQ destinations, at least east of the Mississippi, it is about pig. Either ribs or pork shoulder, or both. Bozo’s is a top player in this arena. You can order your pork either light or dark. The later may be higher in fat, a little more crispy, and a whole lot more favorable, according to Douglas. We’ve never heard of any other pig joint that gives you the option of where your meat comes off the sow’s shoulder. If that wasn’t enough, you also get two choices of slaw, ‘sweet’ or ‘vinegar.’ Lisa and I feel the best is a blend of 30% sweet and 70% vinegar. Of course, there are also 3 or 4 different sauces available as well. If there is any drawback to Bozo’s BBQ, it is that they only do ribs on weekends, so we didn’t get to try them. After lunch, we hit the road again for 3 hours.

In usual fashion, we arrived at our campsite around sunset and spent some time exploring and walking around the lake. Edgar Evins State Park in Tennessee is about 50 miles east of Nashville and has 60 campsites that are uniquely built on the slopes of Center Hill Lake.