Mid-South ride, eat, and meet

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Ms. Loretta the owner
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Lisa the the daughter
This is the smilingist bunch of folks I ever seen. :thumb
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Jeff, the Jack of all Trades. What no smile. :) Here's one.

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409 E. Military Rd. Marion, Ar. 72364
At the corner of Oak St. 870 739 3943

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Memorial to the late Big John. Really nice guy who started the restaurant. Use to ride my bicycle over to the store for an ice cream cone. Good guy to visit with.

Hey Barry will we be seeing you at the Rams monthly meeting this Saturday? We'll be finalizing plans for our upcoming rally at Parker's CrossRoads TN the weekend of Sept 30th. We are excited by some of the additions to the rally this year including a poker run and bike show. We welcome all motorcycle riders to join us for fun and fellowship and some great rides. Further information can be found at [url]http://bmwrams.com/the-rams-rally[/url]

Thx Paul, Keep us posted. :thumb

Back to BBQ. Tops is a local restaurant chain. I think 6 in Memphis and Shelby County. 3 in Desoto County, Ms.; just south of Memphis, and the 1 in Marion, Ar.. Pretty good Q. Their never in the top 5 when they have the rankings, but everybody eats there.
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Since '52, 64 years pretty good staying power.

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Was taking pics inside and I saw gentleman with the WWE jacket and a kinda familiar outline.
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Jimmy Hart, local famous personality. Known from his involvement with local TV wrestling and his days with WWE and his early Rock & Roll era.
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Wasn't planning on pics with wrestling royalty.:)

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Thx, Jimmy for your kind tolerance of a fan. Branden, who's with Jimmy is also a wrestler on the circuit.
Like I said, everybody eats at Tops.
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Jimmy's nickname is the Mouth of the South. He's proud of it.
Got distracted getting his pics, forgot to take pics of the Q. All I got was a pick of my pink lemonade, you all knew it would be sweet tea. I threw ya a curve.

Jimmy was a member of a local band in Memphis called the Gentry's. They had their 1 big hit single 'Keep on Dancing' back in 1965. I believe the song had one verse played through twice. Their what you call one hit wonders. I'm old enough to remember it. :scratch
As an aside, Marion is famous for one WWE wrestler. Big Sid Vicious. 6'11" 350 lbs. Had a few cordial talks with him, Thank Goodness. Where does Big Sid eat. Anywhere where he da.... well plezes. Just teasin. Nice guy out side the ring anyway. :thumb

Sid Eudy was his real name. But with ring names like Big Sid Vicious and Sycho Sid; he really didn't play the part of one of the good guys. Comical, but I wouldn't laugh about it in front of him. :thumb

Do a web search on Jimmy Hart, Andy Kaufman, David Letterman, Jerry 'the King' Lawler. Cheap TV entertainment at it's best. The 3 Stooges didn't have anything on these guys. I'm still laughing, and I think it's been over 30 years ago. :thumb

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Call my buddy Marshall about the trip to Tops and got no pics of the main dish. He said try the cheeseburger, it's really good. Went back and did the deal. Pretty good burger.
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A nice family next to me had a plate of ribs and let me take a pic. Thx guys.

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Got to do the 50 year anniversary reenactment of the Watkins Glen Road Race back in 1998. On the real track in town and out in the county. By accident we were allowed to be on the tract with the real cars that actually did the races back in the late 40's and early 50's. This car is a modified '52 Allard K2 painted by the famous artist Von Dutch. Known for painting customized cars and motorcycles. Leo Goff at the wheel and me navigating. If I remember right, Leo had built and installed a pretty hot 5.0 liter HO engine. Happy Days, like Richie and Fonsie. :thumb

Saw that pic setting there, just thru it in for a change of pace. :wow

Back in the day; quite a few guys, those with some bucks would buy Allards and race them in the Grand Prix circuit. They could get on the track with the best from Europe. In the hands of a very capable driver they were almost competitive. Fairly powerful American V8 power combined with primitive frame, brakes and tires, etc. Really a accident waiting to happen or a rolling deathtrap. Today, they still race them on the vintage circuit. Current rules still require the same primitive frame, brakes, and tires etc. Today, most drivers have modified those period engines to produce at least twice the HP they had back 50-60 years ago. Usually more than twice as powerful. Death traps fore sure. Our team raced and rallied 4 or 5 different Allards and we did it as safely as was possible. Back in the 90's racing at Moroso track in West Palm Beach, Fl. we watched a guy racing an Allard in practice, mostly he was out of control and dangerous. We warned him. He said not to worry, he could handle it.