"My Final Answer"

After two weeks and eight different barbecue restaurants, what did Chuck and I have for lunch today? Mexican and it tasted great.

After intense deliberation, the following are our Memphis favorites. In two of the categories--Best Restaurant and Best Pulled Pork Shoulder--we each listed our top three. For ribs, I listed my top three. Otherwise, the results below show a consensus (if two can form a consensus).
Best Restaurant – Chuck:
1. Corky’s
2. Central BBQ
3. A & R Bar-B-Que
Best Restaurant – Kate:
1. The Bar-BQ Shop/Central BBQ (tie)
2. Corky’s
3. Leonard’s Pit Barbeque
Best Pulled Pork Chuck:
1. Corky’s
2. Central BBQ
3. A & R Bar-B-Que
Best Pulled Pork – Kate:
1. Central BBQ
2. Leonard’s Pit Barbeque
3. Germantown Commissary
Best Dry Ribs:
1. The Bar-BQ Shop
2. Corky’s
3. Leonard’s Pit Barbeque
Best Potato Salad – Leonard’s Pit Barbeque
Best Cole Slaw – Corky’s
Best Baked Beans – Tie among all
Best Rub – Cozy Corner
Best Non-Pork Entrée – Cozy Corner (Cornish Game Hen)

As we bid farewell to Memphis, I wanted to talk about the fountain display at the Civic Center. These fountains (with drains under each) cover much of the area leading to the entrance of the Center.

This photo captured two people taking a stroll through the fountains.

And lastly, we visited the National Ornamental Metal Museum--America's only metal museum. The Museum, occupying some of the buildings of what was the United States Marine Hospital dating back to the mid 1930s, consists of a gallery, an outdoor display area, a site for metalworking, and the Anniversary Gates.

To celebrate the Museum's tenth anniversary in 1989, Richard Quinnell of Surrey, England, designed the Museum's entrance gates. Added to the early Renaissance classic "S" scroll design for the gate would be 192 rosettes, each of which would mark the termination of a scroll.

The examples in these two photos are just a sampling of the submissions from some of the nearly 200 metalsmiths from around the world who produced these gates.

One of the work areas open to the public is the smithy, the building in which staff metalsmiths work on special projects, such as the barbecue trophies for the Memphis in May competition. This staff member was producing the replacement legs for an aged shorebird.

Displayed on the lawn were creations representing interpretations under the theme "The Art Cooker III: Meat Meet Metal." The Whistling Piglet is a smoker capable of not only smoking an entire pig but also of making wonderful music at the same time (artists: J. Avery, T. King, J. Kuisma, and L. Winters).

Durant Thompson's Antique Picnic is a picnic table and grill mounted together on an antique pickup truck.

The barbecue theme seemed to follow us throughout our visit to Memphis.