Page 8 - Barbecue News Magazine September 2021

Dana “big papa” Hillis
BBQ From Florida
lighthousepointe@ hotmail.com
I have been blessed to come home to McMinnville, Tennessee to spend time breathing the fresh mountain air while enjoying time sitting at my cousins house watching the beautiful sunrises, feel- ing the nice breezes off the mountains and spending time with friends and family. Several deer call the farm home as well. We have seen some huge wild hawgs, a bear or two wandered through and my cousin Anita attracts more hummingbirds to her back porch than you can count.
We started coming back to McMinnville for the Smokin in McMin- nville BBQ contest several years ago and this marks the 7th year of our "Hillis Mayfield Dinner on the ground". They quit having the contest several years ago but we have had some SCA contests to fill our competition needs. This year we were scheduled to cook the Cummings Georgia event on the way thru Georgia but the promoters canceled the week before. That changed our travel schedule and we went through Hendersonville North Carolina to see our good friends Dave and Francine. They are building a home on the hillside and can now see their family more often than they did in Naples. We ate at some great restaurants and toured some little towns while there. We even got to walk out to Jump off Rock. The area was beautiful but the history and folklore of the "Rock" was fascinating. A young Indian girl and her boyfriend used to go to the rock and spend time together. The young man was a warrior and had to leave to fight in a conflict but promised to meet the young lady back at the rock when he returned but he never made it back. She was so heartbroken she jumped off the rock to her death. A hunting party found her body and it is rumored her spirit can still be seen and heard around the rock.
Janet and I brought our little Jeep with us on this trip with plans of driving it to Algood, Tennessee to cook a steak contest. We had some mechanical issues but with a little help from my ole friend Carl Dodson, and a couple stops at NAPA auto parts, we got her running and made the trip. The weather was crisp as we dodged the rain for a beautiful Jeep trip. We cooked in the steak contest and managed an 8th place call. We really enjoyed Algood and was lucky enough to meet a sweet little lady who was the "Queen of Algood". She brought me some of her homemade pickles and I gave her a ribeye steak. I sure hope to see her next year because we will be back.
We will be firing up the smokers and doing a bunch of cooking the next few days with a full BBQ menu. We are cooking briskets, pork butts, smoked pork loins, and of course ribs. A whole bunch of al- ligator and chicken will round out the menu. We may have to skip chicken wings this year because the bank would not give us a loan to buy any!
We all got together and took a ride towards Chattanooga to a restaurant called Top of the Rock to have dinner. It's in Jasper, Tennessee and has fantastic views of the Nicajack Lake and the Tennessee River. My son, Cadin, got married a couple years back and we all stayed close by the area that can be seen from the restaurant. The food was awesome, the service was great and if you are ever in the Chattanooga area you gotta call for reserva- tions and enjoy that view.
We're gonna spend some time this trip visiting the Nashville area and the Jack Daniels distillery. We have reservations at Miss Mary BoBos restaurant too. We are going to the Grand Ole' Opry and also watch our singing group the "Black Betty Boys" perform live at the Red Solo Cup stage. The girls have us a full schedule of places to go and see.
We have plans to head back to the Chattanooga area and go visit Rock City and take a trip down Ruby Falls. We have been up to Fall Creek Falls and Rock Island but there are many more beauti- ful places to see in that area. Tennessee might be the prettiest state in the USA.
My cousin Kendall Mayfield is the Fire Chief in town and we got a call yesterday about a plane crash that was within a mile of where we live here. We took a ride to see if we could help but it was well covered. The problem plane that crash landed was a Cirrus that happens to be equipped with a parachute to bring the plane down safely. This plane miraculously landed at a farm nursery and end- ing up just past a pond, stopping inches from some green houses. The plane and parachute went under some power lines. The pas- sengers in the plane walked away with no injuries. If you are going to own a plane that parachute sounds like a great option!
Well it's time for one more round of shopping before we fire up the smokers. The air here is so fresh and blending some awesome BBQ smoke is going to make everyone close by happy! Keep on smoking my friends. Safe travels and good health to everyone.
Dana "Big Papa" Hillis
BarbecueNews.com - 8
SEPTEMBER 2021
Smokin in McMinnville