Sweeping up BBQ and Shortcakes

Three Sandies rode 176 miles to check out Camp 31 BBQ in Brewton Alabama. We didn’t get started until after the Business Meeting, so we limited the ride to the quicker backroads with long sweeping curves. This worked out well because there was little to no traffic at all off the main highways, and the wind kept us from overheating.

The ride to Brewton was nice. JoeJoe relived glory days from zooming the Hayabusa through these very same roads more than a decade ago. It was strangely quiet, even for a Sunday. We enjoyed the sights and swooped through the long flowing bends in the road with ease. Camp 31 BBQ had a buffet, which surprised the three of us. Apparently, it was totally normal, but in our defense, George sent out a very confusing link to the Camp 31 in Canada. The food was good, and we had our fill. Tony was a little surprised at the 10% sales tax. It seemed a bit steep, but maybe that’s normal for Alabama?

We started heading back the way we came. I had planned a longer ride down Co Rd 4 through Wing Alabama before cutting down not Laurel Hill. JoeJoe had other ideas. He recommended we take Beaver Creek Road south to HWY 4, and then we can cut over to Baker Florida. I typically don’t like to deviate from a route once it’s set. A lot can go wrong when you start meandering through random backroads and everyone is on the bottom half of their fuel tanks. I had the route back mapped and loaded and was looking forward to riding some of those roads just east of Mossy Head. Then I thought about how neither of them really lived out this way and could easily have taken 87 south back home after we ate. I also realized Joe’s true intent was to go by the strawberry fields. How JoeJoe was still hungry I have no idea – but I made the turn and down to Baker we went.

Turns out Sweet Southern Farms was open. I ushered Joe to the front, and he quickly cut around and parked on the grass. Tony took a bit to get his feet moving again, but even he was all smiles and laughs as we enjoyed some strawberry shortcake and ice cream on a warm September afternoon.

We took our time and enjoyed the day. As we got closer to home the temperature started climbing. We decided to forego the obligatory fuel stop and book it back home before melting. Just as we reached HWY 90 I received a FL511 alert that all lanes of SR-285 were closed do to an incident. So it turns out that Joe's stomach detour into the strawberry fields was serendipitous! I made it home just before 2 PM.

It was a great ride, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We missed those that couldn’t make it and look forward to the rides to come.