First visit: Jan 2026
In case you're wondering the method to my madness, the way we prefer to travel is what I term "Planned Randomness". It's a basic framework, then the various details emerge as we go. For example, I obviously have to plan the air travel, the first night hotel, and the rental car. From there, it's let's see where we are, what do we want to accomplish, where are we going to eat, and where are we going to spend the night. Fortunately for us, I have tons of airlines miles and hotel points from years as a road warrior in business, so everything is essentially free on that front. And given the time of year we're traveling, the deals are especially good. Our daily activity revolves around thrift shops, rather than typical tourist pursuits, as we both love to dig for treasures. Her specialty is vintage clothes, mine is physical media and games. Having a rental SUV makes it easy to haul it all back home, even though there was a full record collection taking up the back. Thrift shops also provide a unique opportunity to explore a city, town, or small village. Anywhere from dirt poverty to well-appointed ritzy suburbs, you'll find the RJG's mingling with the locals. On this particular day we had already visited some real thrift shops in the middle of nowhere between Montgomery and Birmingham. What I mean by that, these are places that don't try to make a profit, and everyone is a volunteer. It might seem dirt poor, but these are by far the best thrift shops in the country. Then there's the thinly veiled "for profit" thrift shops, who shamelessly take free donations, look them up on ebay, and charge top dollar. That's evil. We end up at those as well, as sometimes treasures still slip through.
On this day during lunch time, we ended up in a nice suburban part of Birmingham, filled with all the familiar shops you know. Both of us determined, since we are in the South, that perhaps we should make barbecue a priority. And we did just that for three meals on the trip. Including on this day. I chose the closest place, from our last stop, that had a high rating.
Up the hill we went, and it became quite apparent this was no local joint, with a pitmaster's BBQ trailer and a few park benches. This must be a chain of some sort. Fine with me, as long as it isn't some place we can get at home. Mrs. RJG tends to like these places more, as she feels they are more likely to be clean and pass health inspections. I'm more willing to "risk it". haha.
I suppose from an ambience perspective, I was most reminded of Famous Dave's, that of a high end roadhouse. Though here you order up at the counter. A very large restaurant, finding a seat shouldn't prove to be difficult. They also have a bar area if so inclined.
I've been in the mood, for some time, to try hamburgers at a barbecue place. And that's what I did, with added crispy bacon. I figure they're already masters of the grill, and the seasoning will likely be a cut above. And my premise proved to be a true conclusion. Superb, and my favorite meal up to this point of the trip. Mrs RJG ordered those wonderful baby back ribs that you see. I had a small chunk and it was delicious. We each got the mac n cheese, though it was a bit gummy. Not for us, and the only complaint we had. The other side that she was afforded was the brisket chili. Delicious, and made me jealous that I did not order the same with my "one side".
There are currently 61 Jim 'N Nick's locations throughout the southeast: GA (22), AL (19), TN (10), SC (4), NC (3), FL (3). Their original location opened in 1985 in Birmingham. So at least we were "close to the source".
1/8/26
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