I got up Friday morning and fried a couple of eggs for my wife and I and served them up with some fresh avocado and flat bread. Then, after Belinda headed off to work I went outside with a small pry bar and a hammer and began taking apart our front deck. The wood has begun to rot in spots and we have had critters living under there in the past so we’ve decided to take it apart. There is a sidewalk beneath the deck that is fairly serviceable. The work was slow and the sun was hot and I was thinking about ribs.
I have been thinking about ribs for the last month or so – ever since the 2015 Halifax Ribfest was first announced. I had decided that this summer as a sort of a “stay-cation” Belinda and I were going down to the Waterfront and we were going to get us some ribs.
I grabbed a bus downtown and I sat in the Public Gardens for a half an hour or so watching the world go by. Belinda met me after work at the Gardens and we walked on down Spring Garden Road and then right down Salter Street and we came to the Ribfest.
I am talking meat-lovers Mecca, friends and neighbors.
Admission is free and there was a fair-sized crowd and the smell was absolutely amazing.
We walked the entire festival site, scoping out the various menus and decided to try a meal at the TEXAS RANGERS.
Belinda ordered a Frog Legs plate with beans and coleslaw and I had a Big Texan platter. The frog legs were lightly baked and nicely done in a dry rub with a hint of sauce. The coleslaw was crisp and tangy. The beans were cooked in a tomato-based sauce and, although I prefer a molasses sauce for beans they were tasty enough.
The ribs were awesome, the chicken tasty and the pulled pork superb.
We sat in the beer tent and although the choice of beer left a bit to be desired we had a great time sitting there and listening to the music of Louisa Manual and Neil Mackinnon.
These guys were great. Louisa has an a strong smoky woman-wailing-in-a-barroom voice and Neil is a solid piano player although his tempo was a little bit hasty for some of these tunes.
In any case these two local musicians really hit the spot for me. They played “You Left Me” by Randy Van Warmer, “Walking After Midnight” by Patsy Cline and a favorite of mine “King of the Road” by Roger Miller. Belinda and I sang along while we ate our meals. The volunteers in charge of cleaning the tables were kind enough to bring me a few extra towelettes and offered to spray me down with a power hose after I had gotten into those ribs.
I’m not saying it was pretty.
🙂
We got up and walked around some more, thinking about a funnel cake, but the truck that was selling the funnel cakes was asking too darned much. Fourteen dollars is WAY too steep for a funnel cake. We wandered on down the waterfront and shared a beaver tail and then headed on home.
This morning we are going out for breakfast and then hitting the Forum Farmer’s Market. I want to swing up to Canadian Tire and buy myself a decent crowbar for the rest of my assault on the front deck. Then later today we intend to grab a bus ride back down to the waterfront and have some more ribs from another one of the food trucks.
Here is a link to the Ribfest Halifax website.
I’ll tell you all about it later.
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
YOURS IN STORYTELLING... 