Four hours in Alabama

Enough time for a great rack of ribs at Dreamland BBQ.

Friends,

I think a lot of people are going to be slightly disappointed by this, but I only had four hours to explore Montgomery. In fact, we were in and out of the entire state of Alabama in less than a day.

That wasn’t by design. We were driving from Florida to Atlanta for the World Cup, and Alabama was in between. With such a tight schedule, four hours was all we had. It certainly wasn’t enough to do the state justice.

Spoiler alert though: it was enough time to get a very large rack of ribs at Dreamland BBQ. More on that in a minute.

The first thing I learned was that Montgomery, on a Monday evening, is a ghost town. I’m not sure if it’s always like that, or maybe something common throughout the South, but when we were there, almost nothing was open.

Thankfully, we did have time to visit one of the city’s most important historic sites at Montgomery Square. Montgomery played a pivotal role in the American Civil Rights Movement. It was here that Rosa Parks sparked a protest movement that led to the national leadership of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and a permanently altered civil rights landscape in America. Standing there, even briefly, was a humbling experience.

Afterwards, we wandered through downtown, past the central fountain towards the Alabama State Capitol, before walking down to the riverfront and the statue of country music legend Hank Williams. We also passed the historic building where one of the first telegrams relating to the outbreak of the Civil War was received. Yet despite all that history, the streets themselves were deserted.

It felt like I was on the set of one of those post-apocalyptic films where all humans had either died and their corpses vanished, or where everyone had left on a spaceship to Mars.

Dreamland

We did find one restaurant that was open: Dreamland BBQ. Founded in Tuscaloosa in 1958, Dreamland has become something of an Alabama institution, famous for one thing above all else - its ribs. As soon as I saw the menu, I knew what I was ordering.

Before tasting the food, though, I was just glad to see other human beings. Being the only place open, it was actually quite busy.

The ribs arrived with fries, mac and cheese, and generous helpings of Dreamland’s famous barbecue sauce. Before I even tried the ribs, I dipped a chip into the sauce and immediately understood why people rave about it. As a vinegar fan, I loved the sauce.

Unlike the sweeter barbecue sauces I’d had elsewhere, this one had a sharp, tangy vinegar base that really stood out. America’s barbecue culture changes from state to state, and while Texas still takes the crown for me overall, this may genuinely be one of my favourite barbecue sauces I’ve ever had.

The ribs themselves were good. They were tender enough and came away from the bone nicely, although perhaps just a little dry. I assume this is a symptom of it being a Monday, and typically a cooks’ weekly rest day. Once covered in that sauce, though, they became something completely different.

The mac and cheese was excellent, the staff were brilliant, and despite much of Montgomery seeming closed for the evening, Dreamland gradually filled up with locals looking for dinner.

Looking back, the meal summed up my time in Alabama perfectly. It was only a small taste. Perhaps a Monday evening is not an ideal time to visit, or to find an open restaurant. But that’s all we had, and we made the most of it.

Four hours isn’t enough to judge a state with such a rich history and culture. I’ll need to come back properly and spend the time Alabama deserves.

Slainte,

Shaun