Jimmy had informed us about a very large BBQ festival near his hometown in Indiana while he was still living in Michigan. But we were too late for it last year. So this year, on May 10th, I grabbed a handful of friends that were willing to make the 7 hour trek to Jimmy’s in Indiana for good food, good friends, good times, and good memories.

Friday evening was our first experience with the BBQ fest. It is very difficult to describe all the BBQ we had other than spectacularly delicious. Probably some of the best pulled pork and chopped mutton sandwiches I’ve ever had. Granted I don’t have that much chopped mutton to begin with, but it was so delicious. $20 never bought me so much food. Jimmy and I were splitting the sandwiches so that we could sample as much food as possible. Everyone loved it.

At some point, Luke ended up with some funnel cake. John and Luke indulged in some deep-fried snickers as well. I happily sampled it. Was definitely interesting.

After the boys had left on Friday, we headed back out to Owensboro for more BBQ – also lunch. This time there was a car show going on, and the BBQ was going full steam ahead. The smoke was rising from the streets in plumes, and if you weren’t aware what was going on you might have thought some sort of inferno was making its way through Owensboro –  delicious smelling inferno of pork, chicken, and mutton. The “backyard competitors” were also out. These are people who smoke/BBQ casually and were competing for some kind of prize.

Jimmy’s friend was out and had a pig-shaped smoker. We made our way to him, while grazing on the free samples being offered by the various tents. When we got there we learned that there was still some time before his fare would be cooked, so we walked around picking up more sandwiches before making our way back to the pig smoker. He had made some delicious ribs and wings that we were lucky to sample. Unfortunately I was way too full or else I’d have been able to eat everything. It was extremely delicious though.

After stuffing ourselves with delicious BBQ we walked along the riverfront where I found a chair to pass out into a food coma for a bit. The girls went shopping at the crafts tents and I took a nice little nap in the Kentucky sun. It was very comfortable, makes me want to visit the Detroit riverfront more often.

This event is way too amazing to not come annually. I am going to have to set aside some time every year to come and gorge myself on some of the best BBQ I’ve ever eaten. If you haven’t gone, I highly recommend making your way to this event and bring an empty stomach. See you there next year!

-Evilmanta