Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives…Oh MY!!!

Woke Saturday morning and decided to take a motorcycle trip….but where to? After quick surf on the internet it was decided to go for a late lunch at Darwell’s Café http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.darwellscafe.com%2F&h=f9634

In Long Beach, Mississippi. I found the Café on the Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives web site, http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDUQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flavortownusa.com%2F&ei=MbT7TKjgEIPGlQevs_CcBQ&usg=AFQjCNGVR8YbBkSBSKR6b0QsfhJPeD2vRQ

After a quick conversation with the wife we were off around 12:00pm. The trip was around 85 miles from my house so we stopped off at Wiggins to top off the tank and take a short break.

Next stop was Long Beach on hwy 90 to check the Iphone GPS, next stop DARWELL’S!!!!

What can I say when you pull up to Darwell’s the word DIVE (not in a bad way)

comes to mind, its located right next to the railroad track, its bright red building stands out. Parking is minimum, some asphalt and gravel with parking across the street. Once you enter you are hit with unbelievable smell…that is when you know you are in the right place. You order right at the door,

before you can open your mouth to order you are greeted by the owner Darwell Yeager, you can tell right away Darwell knows he has a good thing going and is proud to tell you about…as he should be.

I had went for the prime rib sandwich with Au jus, BUT after hearing him talk about the daily special (Daily specials are written on a dry erase board just inside the doorway)

shrimp with crab meat, in sauce poured over angel hair pasta,

I was hooked, the wife order a crab patty with I think it was gumbo.

After ordering you pick up your drink from a little bar in the corner and seat yourself either inside or outside near

the stage were bands perform nightly.

We decided to sit outside as it was a beautiful day.

Shortly we were greeted by Darwells wife Nettie,

just checking on us to make sure everything was ok. Then came the waitress, with food that I would say, was out of this WORLD.

Man I loved that food, and from the Mmmm sounds coming from my wife while she was eating, I’d say she loved hers to…and she did. During our meal PaPa D (Darwells father)

also stopped by to say hello…trust me in minutes you will feel right at home here. Darwell

himself stopped by and told us the story of how the café came to be, and how hurricane Katrina

almost took them out right after they open, he also mention how he use to be a chef at Chappy’s a more fu, fu place also located on the coast.

After the meal, we said our good byes (sniff, sniff) and were on our way back home, getting home around 4:00pm.

I decided to rank Darwell’s Café (I usually don’t do this, as most places just don’t meet the buildup)

But here goes… scale 1-10, 1 being the lowest…

Atmosphere… 10

Service… 10

Food… 29!!!

(I would have given it a 30, but I want to keep Darwell from getting to big of a head. Ha-ha)

Don’t get me wrong: this is no fu, fu place, if your looking for white table cloths,

waiters wearing tux’s then this is NOT the place for you…if you like friendly people, unbelievable food, mismatched chairs and tables, Christmas lights hanging from the rafters, live bans and sitting around fire pits…THIS PLACE IS FOR YOU!!! I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT…THUMBS UP!!!

Till next time
Big Al

Special thanks to Guy Fieri for his show Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives,

without it I may have never known this place existed…that would have been a shame…keep up the good work Guy…I’ll be watching.

Motorcycle parts additions, while I was gone.

Here is a list of things I added to my 2008 YAMAHA V-STAR 1100, well you may remember the first thing I added awhile back engine guard and foot pegs

then the cobra pipes back in March of this year. http://bigalscompound.blogspot.com/2010/03/cobra-installation.html
I guess after that came a new rear tire, then a front tire and a set of front brake pads, rear still ok…I never use them. Ha-ha. Then I added a luggage rack

and bought a large TourMaster Bag with rain cover.

Never had a need for a piece of luggage before, I had all ways just strapped my gear to the rear seat.

My son recently decided to take a long motorcycle trip with me, so I could not use the rear seat for our bags, unless I strapped my boy on top (it was considered), well you get the point. Ha-ha.

Only have great things to say about the TourMaster Bag, I went with the large, it straps tight around the sissy bar and on top of the new luggage rack…that sucker did not move and inch…I must say I think the large (comes in small, medium and large) is a little over kill for a single rider…it held all of my son and my gear easy with room to spare. I would highly recommend this bag, I’ll give another report on it after my trip to Maine…coming soon!
Big Al

The Quest for the Golden Monkey

Rumors started to fill the town of Hattiesburg sometime in early March…year 2010, about a sighting of the Golden Monkey. I had heard stories of the monkey, but had not actually talked to anyone who had seen one in person…this is where my quest begins…

Early March a traveler came from the land of Florida

to our office to do some contract work for the company. He told great stories of how at one time he owned many Monkeys; he even said he had parted with the monkey.

It took many months of stories before the office thought there might be a glimmer of truth to the stories. After a while the traveler, Roy

(baby grizzly as I call him)

became a trusted friend and his stories became more believable, he began even showing us web sites on where the Monkey might be hiding…

It appears the monkey started its life in Georgia but has now spread into Florida. This is where the plot thickens…on a visit home to Florida, Roy singlehanded captured 6 monkeys

at one time and managed to get them back to Hattiesburg in one piece. Roy told us stories of the good time he had with the monkeys while they were down to visit. Jealousy

ran wild through the office as Roy, our once trusted friend, would not share the monkeys; it was like they had cast a spell over him.

He seemed to walk around in a haze when the monkeys were in town.
This went on for months and months, Roy making trips to Florida capturing monkeys in larger and larger amounts. Until one day David, Myles and I went on a kind of quest to find the golden monkey after many attempts in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. We felled at everyone. People looked at us like we were crazy when we asked for the monkey, no such creature exists, we were told. Then it happened a co-worker named Paul,

went home to Georgia and came back with great news…he had spotted the golden monkey but was unable to capture one.
With this information, Roy became aware that his secret

was out and offered to bring 6 monkeys to work with him the next day, three for David and three for me…

All hale the GOLDEN MONKEY…

I rushed home that night to put the monkey on ice as it was taco night at the compound and a cold monkey beer would go down so well (don’t act like you knew I was talking about beer all this time, admit it I had you going. Ha-ha)
The little wife came home and I showed her my stash (mistake) being the good husband I offered her the first taste, little did I know instead of going for the taste in the glass I poured she took the bottle and down it went in two gulps…I walked into the den to get something (second mistake) and came back to find her downing the second monkey…DAMN!!! From this day on, my wife will be known as the monkey slayer.

Well after all that at least I have one golden monkey beer to enjoy tonight all by myself.

RING, RING, RING!!!

“the alarm clock sounds”, I wake up in a cold sweat…it was just a dream…NO GOLDEN MONKEY BEER FOR ME.

As I’m getting out of bed I feel something sticking me in my side, what could it be…

It was just a dream...RIGHT? Hmmm...OR WAS IT?
Big Al

Well everyone… I’M BACK!!!

Well everyone… I’M BACK!!! Sorry to have been gone so long, between my job, my health, and lot of other things, my computer included. Just too many things to get into right now, maybe later I’ll get into them in detail.

Missed everyone and am glad to be back at BlogSpot.

Now on to my thoughts…that’s what this blog is all about anyway…RIGHT.

Here is a quick catch up on what's been going on in the last few months…I have been spending a lot of my vacation time in Port Saint Joe, Florida. My mom and dad have been doing work in Florida and have rented a great beach house and yea I use the free room and food as much as I can.

Ha-ha.

The sunsets off the front pouch are amazing.

My son and a co-worker David (you might remember him from my Natchez Trace blog) http://bigalscompound.blogspot.com/2010/03/natchez-trace-parkway.html

took a few days off and made a long motorcycle ride out to the Port (about an 8 hour run),

we had a great time, first long motorcycle ride for my son. SHARK fishing

and long rides on the beach added to our daily adventures…Did I mention the free meals at mom’s house….mmm, mmm good. Many other trips (in cars or trucks) have followed. The wife and I even drug my boat to the port for another long weekend leaving the kids at home ALONE…I’m sure they were well behaved while we were gone.

Pop managed to get off a couple of days while we were there and we did some damage to the fish population in the Bay in front of the house.

Almost forgot my wife, son and his friend Tanner took a trip there too, my Pop rented a pontoon boat so we could go scallop diving,

we only found a few but had a great time trying…next day we had a great meal at Margaretville.

MORE TO COME…
Big Al