Week 4 of the 52s...Charley's

Wow, I barely accomplished my goal this week, though I probably could have used extenuating circumstances as my defense, what with the Max drama and two trips to the vet.  Luckily, I managed to find one thing new after all, by a fluke--which is right up there with that coincidence thing I don't believe in.

Yesterday, after walking the boys, I decided to take a different route home.  I have a serious aversion to sameness and ruts.  Besides, I took a self-defense course years ago and the first thing we learned was to vary the routine.  So, driving along, I pass this BBQ place that has intrigued me since I first got stranded moved here.  It's a dive-type place, which could mean really good food or really bad.  I do love barbecued ribs, crunchy and flavorful...and beans with a bite...and depending on where in the country: hush puppies or corn bread.  I'm pondering all this as I drive home, mouth watering. 

The day goes on.  Weather is terrible with drenching rain, fog coming and going; the perfect kind of day to stay tucked indoors.  I'm talking to my mother late in the afternoon and she asks me what new thing I did this week for the 52s.  I tell her I might have to pass due to Max and the Alien Reptile Eyelid Incident. 

But then I remember the barbecue joint.

After we finish our phone call, I stand at the window for a few minutes, wondering if I really want to go back down the mountain in the pouring rain and miserable fog.  Then I had two thoughts:  I really want to try that barbecue, and I don't want to bail on the 52s as early as the fourth bloody week!

Charley's...

 

See those giant fan vents on the roof?  Not only for venting the wood smoke, but to entice anyone who drives by.  The smell wafting along the highway even made the dogs drool...

 

 

It's very spartan inside, with old dinged-up wooden tables, posters of cowboys and sprawling ranches on the walls.  They also apparently have music on Thursdays--CW women and guitar-playing guys.  The most impressive thing was the staggering amount of sauce bottles on the counter, from Kansas City, Cajun, Tex-Mex, Regular Texas, and at least 25 more flavors I can't remember. 

The menu was extensive and I had a hard time choosing, but eventually ordered a small dinner of baby back ribs, potato salad and bourbon baked beans.  The hush puppies are included in every meal.  Then I had to pick my sauce, which was not easy, what with the incredible selection.  I chose Sweet Baby Ray's.  And yeah, partly because of the name, though I did ask what it tasted like first.

Here's my plate.  This is half my order--and I got the small dinner.  I'm having the other half for dinner tonight.  (Sorry there are no hush pups to be seen.  I ate them in the car before I even got home.  There were only three, about the size of golf balls, that popped straight into my mouth when I wasn't paying attention...)

Those bourbon beans?  OMG.  Dark, deep, hearty and delicious.  I wish I'd ordered an extra portion.  Potato salad was fine, though I'm picky about potato salad so I wouldn't order it again.  But the ribs...thick, crusty, scrumptious, especially with Sweet Baby Ray's sauce, which was sweet and spicy.  (I have no idea who Ray is, but man, he invented a great barbecue sauce).

So, I managed to find a fun, new thing to do for Week 4 after all.  And let me say, I'm more than happy to be having the same dinner again tonight...