October means several things around here.  The weather gets cooler.  It also starts to rain again although its been unusually dry around here lately.  Then there is Octoberfest.  I’ve written about it before.  Every year around mid-October the town of Cleveland holds a big barbecue competition downtown.  Winners go on to participate in the World Barbecue Competition in Memphis.  There is also a street fair to go along with it.

Once again I volunteered to assist the judges.  The work mostly involved clearing tables and cleaning the rooms where the judging happened.  As a perk the officials give free food to those who help out.  Thus I had some of the best barbecue seafood, chicken, ribs, pulled pork and beans of my life.  Cooking really is an art form.  In the hands of a skilled chef, otherwise bland piles of dead animals can turn into pure gold.   The South is the home of American barbecue and it shows.  Down here, they take it seriously and the results are fantastic.  Its one of the major perks of living in this part of the country.

Most folks around here probably see things differently.  Octoberfest is one of the few times in the year when people gather and do something not related to Delta State or any of the other schools around here (with the Crosstie festival in April being the other).  Sure there’s Otherfest, the big music festival held every year on the edge of town.  However you have to be in to live music.  Plus most of the crowd is young, which means lots of students.  So its understandable why some people would not be enthusiastic about it.  The young and hip side of Cleveland, such that it is, is not for everyone.

In the past I’ve written about how cool Octoberfest is.  Within the context of Cleveland it certainly is a great event.  There is literally nothing else like it any other time of the year.  The Crosstie Festival is similar, but much smaller and there is no barbecue.  Its all about art and jazz.  Certainly there is plenty going on related to Delta State, especially in August and September.  However while the university is a big part of life around here, Cleveland is not entirely a college town.  So not everyone wants to attend the Pig Pickin’ or the football games (especially when Mississippi State and Ole Miss are playing – you can’t compete with the SEC around here).  But Octoberfest is a neutral event and held right in the center of town between the white and black parts of Cleveland.  There’s food vendors, beer, and live music.  Arts and crafts vendors line the walking trail.  Even though not everyone knows someone on a barbecue team it doesn’t really matter.  People who live around here can walk around with their friends and enjoy the festival.

In other words Octoberfest is a release.  Cleveland can be very dull at times.  Its not that there’s nothing to do, its that the things to do are limited and repetitive.  On any given Friday night I can go to Hey Joe’s and drink, go to Delta Meat market to eat and drink, maybe go to a restaurant for and hour or two and … well that’s it.  It gets old, especially when your not very sociable in the first place.  To be fair I have a strong preference to have pizza and go grocery shopping on Friday which predates my move to Mississippi.  All the same the variety of social activities around here is not great.  Partly for that reason people tend to stick together because the only other option is to sit quietly at home watching Netflix.  Not everyone wants to do so and in any case it gets old too.

Such is life in a small town.  Still I’ve managed to carve out an existence.  You have to in order to survive.  Being part of Delta State helps immensely.   So too does having a career in library information technology.  A lot of professors can’t easily find a job elsewhere.   But that’s how it goes in academia.  You go where the work is.  Life in Cleveland has its ups and its downs.  Soon the damp cold of Mississippi winters will take hold.  In the meantime us Clevelanders will bide our time waiting for the next festival.

Social life down here tends to go as follows. There will be long periods of little activity. Then all of a sudden there’s an event or two and the whole town comes out.  One of those happened last week.  On Thursday the Chamber of Commerce held the first ever Cleveland Bites Food Festival.  It attracted a surprisingly large crowd and really drove home how much the town has to offer relative to its size.

The festival was setup in an alley way downtown.  Each restaurant had a table or booth with samples of what they offer.  There were about ten and the range of food varied from pulled pork to chili, shrimp and grits and pumpkin cheese cake.  It was mostly of the sample sized variety, but there was enough to fill an entire plate.  Sadly I did not take pictures. Live music, courtesy of Delta State, provided an excellent compliment.  I saw some friends and had a good time.  They even had outdoor heaters which made the chilly night more

pleasant. The only downside was the shortage of tables.

I’m back!  You didn’t think that last post was me signing off for good did you?  You see this past Friday inspiration struck again.  With my birthday being Thursday, I decided to treat myself and go out to eat. There are a lot of good restaurants around here and it was hard to decided.  In these sorts of situations I usually go to my bucket list.  Eating at The Sentator’s Place was near the top of it.  Several people, including a friend of mine, have raved about.  Then when Anthony Bourdain stopped by, I just had to go.

The place is somewhat bigger than I expected.  It’s a little brick building sitting beside Highway 61, unassuming and easy to miss.  It is neither fancy nor a hole in the wall, but rather informal with a good vibe. Upon entering there is a counter with the cash register instead of a hostess.  When I arrived Willie Simmons himself was standing there and I saw him go in and out of the kitchen several times.  Food is served Buffet style.  However one does not serve oneself.  Rather there is someone standing behind the food counter who gives you what you request.  The only limit is the size of your plate and your stomach.

I cannot say enough good things about the food itself.  The Senator’s Place serves barbecue and classic soul food.  The exact selections vary by day (see menu below) and there is also a selection of barbecue which is served all the time.  I had ribs, beaked beans, grits, hush puppies, cornbread, and a roll topping that off with peach cobbler.  It was all amazing.  The barbecue sauce was particularly good being both sweet and tangy while slightly spicy.  No other place in town has managed to best it although there are still a few places I haven’t tried.  Really everything was excellent.  I can’t wait to go back.

There was also a very inviting feel about the place.  Everyone was very friendly.  They were particularly interested to know I had a blog, which was a relief.  Despite having written for over a year I am still hesitant to tell people about it.  That may be why no one reads it.

All in all it was a good time.  I am beginning to learn that there is a lot more to Cleveland than the area around Delta State.  That really seems to be true of the whole region.  What you see on the surface is only the beginning.  As an outsider its hard to break past that, but I am slowly chipping away and getting beyond the image folks around here want me to see.

Going forward I will be posting intermittently. If inspiration strikes, that’s awesome and if not … oh well. There’s no need to post just for its own sake.

The amazing peach cobbler

Dinner! That thing nearly the size of a tennis ball is a hush puppy.

Southern food has a certain reputation.  People say folks down here deep fry everything.  They say the food is boring and generic and unhealthy.  Northerners point to Fried Chicken, Fried Twinkies, Fried Snickers bars, Fried Oreos, and Deep fried steak as examples.