March 5, 2015

I’m pretty late at posting this but procrastination, laziness and being sick has gotten the best of me.  However, thanks to flying when I was sick…I have caused trauma to my ears and am ground bound for a few more days.  The worst thing a flight attendant can do is fly with congestion or already pressured ears.  

It wasn’t by choice, I was looking forward to my 20 hour Mexico City layover and thought little of the sore throat I woke up to that morning.  That night working the flight to MEX it really started to hit me.  By morning I knew flying would not be in my best interest that night and I needed to get home to the doctor. The only problem was, I still had to get on a plane to get home either way.  My deadhead flight was fine until descent when I thought my eardrums were going to burst out of my skull and splatter across the airplane walls.  Twisted humor I know, but it’s my favorite kind and I really thought they might explode!

Which in a round about way leads me here, trying to do everything I can to stay productive even while laying in bed…like catching up on my blogs about my most recent favorite meals!

So back to the real point of this post!  Coming back from Cancun got tricky.  There were two options both costing about the same with international fees.  I decided if we’re gonna pay we might as well catch the flight we can get first class on.  Unfortunately that led us thru Atlanta, which is by far the most difficult to non-rev out of, except maybe O’Hare.  Anyways, by time we landed I knew mom and I probably weren’t getting out.  I thought if I didn’t get on maybe she could get the last open seat.  Wrong again.  Mom was stuck in Atlanta and I hopped on the first flight to Memphis, to see one of my girls from flight attendant training who was awesome enough to pick me up and let me crash for the night!  

I had only been to Memphis one other time and that was for my flight attendant interview I had roadtripped to from Houston last summer.  I liked what I had saw from the little time I was there.  Once again I wasn’t there long, but the little time I was there made a lasting impression.  

We woke up the next day and after taking care of some things, we went to one of the best BBQ joints I’ve ever been to, Central BBQ!

You can tell right away when you walk in that it’s a great place.  There was a line and the dinning area was full.  The smell and menu had my mouth watering immediately.  I went for a classic, BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich which I added smoked Gouda too because everything is better with cheese.  Then a side of cole slaw and Mac-n-Cheese, because like I said…everything is better with cheese.  I also grabbed a bag of their homemade BBQ chips and like an perfect southern meal topped it off with a big sweet tea!

Wow! I mean it can’t get better than this as far as BBQ places go!  Every ounce of those meal was perfect!  The sandwich was perfect with moist pulled pork and the saucy had the right amount of heat for a mild sauce.

The Mac-n-cheese was on point.  It melted in your mouth and the seasoned salt on top was a nice change to your typical Mac-n-cheese with salt and pepper.  The BBQ chips actually made it all the way home with me but didn’t last long once I got here.  So thick and crunchy and heavily seasoned.  Sweet tea is my kryptonite so I drank enough there to fill a small pond then took more with me for my plane right back home.

One thing I love is when places have unique items.  Which is why I try to avoid chain restaurants and do more local eats.  You never know what you’re going to find and you know it’ll always be fresh.  These Pulled BBQ Nachos were no exception.  I didn’t try any but almost every person in the place had an order.  This was the half-order which was huge, the full order was an unbelievable sight.  This will definitely be my next meal when I make a trip back to Memphis.  

The food isn’t the only thing that makes a restaurant great.  The atmosphere is almost equally as important.  Central BBQ has both parts perfected!  The location we went to is near the college so it’s filled with college kids, but also older people coming to enjoy the food and company also.  Everyone was laughing or smiling and it just had a good vibe, which is something you can’t find at just any place.  

If you’re ever in Memphis make it a point to go to Central BBQ, you won’t regret it!  Oh and just a tip, if you have a college ID you can get 2 drinks for only $0.25!  You can’t beat that deal 😉

-Kelsie 

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