Page 27 - Barbecue News Magazine August 2020

telling someone about all the places I’d been. They would ask me questions about this sight or that diner, to which I would answer, “Nope, I never left my hotel room.” The shocked look showed me I had been missing out.
Now days when I travel, I still head straight to the hotel get checked in and then head right back out again to see the sights. As a result, I’ve seen Elvis’s home, the Arch in St. Louis and the Empire State building to just name a few. When you’re on the road again, make sure you take the time to see the sights while there, you’ll be so glad you did.
Experience to be Had
Being on the road has enabled me
to have experiences I never would
have had if I hadn’t been willing to
go. I talk to others who live on the
road the way I do, and they talk
about just their hotel room, missing out on so many things. Some are great, some not as great and a few are just funny. Like the motel I was at in West Virginia who sense of secu- rity was a wire screwed into the door jam and you slipped it over the doorknob so no one would come in.
Another experience I had was because of Junior Urias when we all went to California for a contest. I got to meet many of his cousins one of whom has a jacked-up truck almost as high as a monster truck. One morning we all got up, climbed (literally) into this truck and went to breakfast. Such a cool experience I’ll never forget. While there, I got to meet and hang out with Warren G (a rap star) and watch him produce a recording for an up and coming artist. At Memphis in May I was able to hang out with my buddy Billy Gardell who was in town filming a television show. This is just a few experiences out of hundreds I’ve had from the BBQ life. I’m sure you have had many as well as BBQ takes you on the road.
People to be Met
I’ve always been a people person and rarely have met a stranger. I’ve been known to strike up conversations with the server in a restaurant or a guy looking for a fishing lure at Bass Pro Shops. For whatever reason, I’ve not been very bashful in this respect. I’ve got to meet people from all walks of life such as the owners of O.T.I.S (gun cleaning kit) to owners of vineyards. Lawyers, janitors, teachers, and the list could go on with the folks I’ve just struck up conversa- tions.
One is a guy named Rick who recently just cooked his first
steak competition and had no idea what he was doing. Several of who were there all pitched in to help him along and out of 72 cooks, Rick finished 29th which isn’t bad at all in that field and for his very first cook. He was as pleased as punch to finish that well and now we have a new friend. There are plenty of “Ricks” to meet if you want while you are on the road.
Friends/family to be Hugged
Before I left that cook, I hugged my new friend and his wife because, as I tell people, “I’m a hugger.” But this is the cool thing about what we do, we get to see friends who have become, in many cases, family to us. Some we’ve not seen in months but fall back into where we left off because its like a family reunion seeing them. Being on the road, like Willie, is often times, where I feel the most at home.
Honored to be official cutlery of
www.GunterWilhelm.com
AUGUST 2020
BarbecueNews.com - 27