The Obsessive Photographer

So I get around Florida a good bit.  I’m not a fan of chain restaurants and avoid them if at all possible.  I work with Law Enforcement in a support function and trust if there’s anyone who can find a good place to eat it’s a cop.  I’m usually right.

When I’m working with an agency I almost always tell them to take me somewhere unique, local.  Alright, so there’s the occasion that I’m in a small town who finally got a Chili’s in their town (no more driving to the big city to eat!) where I give in and go to a chain, but usually there’s something better out there. Besides, they are convinced their Chili’s is better than the one by my house and there’s just no arguing with a cop.

Smokin' Joe's BBQ, Lithia Florida

Yesterday I was working with the Crisis Negotiation Team for Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office out at their firing range.  South of Tampa in Lithia, Florida (a loooong way South).  The only thing I really knew was out there was a dirty old Circle K, an elementary school, a few houses and miles and miles of orange groves.  Being out in the middle of nowhere (which I don’t mind in the slightest, by the way) I was surprised when they said there was a BBQ place called “Smokin’ Joes” nearby.  They haven’t steered me wrong before, so I gladly followed behind them.

OK, so we go past the old Circle K, and the road I normally turn on and guess what?  There was stuff I hadn’t seen there before…Smokin’ Joes BBQ being one of them.  Amazing what you can find when you go down those back roads, isn’t it?

This place looked promising right off the bat.  From the hand drawn sign, to the fact the whole thing was run out of a self-contained trailer with adjacent covered picnic tables, to the smell of quality BBQ that was hitting me square in the nose, this was promising.

Smokin Joe's BBQ, Lithia, Florida

Evidently the smell that had put my salivary glands on overdrive was pouring forth out of a very large smoker aptly named “Big Stinky”.   I didn’t know just how much I was going to love that big smoker until after I ate my lunch.

Big Stinky

I walked up the trailer and the first thing I noticed was just how clean everything was.  Yes, this is outside dining…the Florida version of street food, but very carefully maintained and cared for (and I’ve seen the places that aren’t).

I looked down the hand written menu on the sandwich board and was having difficulty picking out what I wanted.  Boneless Country Ribs?  Spare Ribs? Chicken? Pulled Pork?  Sausage?  Damn, this was going to be tough.

I settled on the pork plate and got one step closer to the window to order.  Things got more difficult when the Deputy in front of me ordered the Boneless Country Rib Sandwich, which was basically a huge pile of smoked boneless rib meat on top of a couple pieces of bread.  Oh man.

I walked up to the window and saw a hand written sheet of paper with “Starr Special, with Sweet Tea $6.99″  What’s the Starr Special?  It’s chopped BBQ pork on top of a pile of rocket hot crispy french fries.  Oh yeah, that’s for me.  I got my food and chose the sweet BBQ sauce from the selection by the window and poured it over my pork and fries.

So we all sat down with our styrofoam containers full of smokey goodness and had a fantastic lunch together.  The picnic area is covered and has fans on all four corners, keeping the area as cool as can be expected.  Big Stinky is about 20 feet away, silently puffing away, filling the air and scenting our clothes with the unmistakable aroma of smoldering hardwood.

The food was spectacular.  I looked at everyone’s plates and each one looked amazing.  My Starr Special was just incredible, each fork of mixed pork / sauce / french fries pure heaven.  The pork by itself was perfectly cooked.  Moist and flavorful, with a perfect crisp smoked edge on the outer pieces.  The sauce was very good, balanced effortlessly between sweet and spicy, and providing the connection between the pork and fries.  The fries were very hot, and crisp enough not to give up their crunch under the sauce and meat.  It was a great flavor / texture combo.

Smokin' Joe's Starr Special

So if you’re up for a bit of a road trip from Tampa, head down to Lithia on Hwy 39 and check out Smokin’ Joe’s.  I know I’ll be back the next time I go to the range.  Oh, and thanks again to the HCSO CNT, who introduced me to this great place!

In working with several friends of mine I realized it would be nice to get some of the information and relationships I have out to people who may be interested.

I travel throughout Central Florida on a daily basis. I get lots of opportunities to meet great people, see cool things, and eat at interesting and unique places. I try to stay off the beaten path as much as possible, things are better that way.

In this Blog I may show you places I went, things I’ve done, show you cool places to eat, or introduce you to people I know. Being a photographer, I will likely introduce you to my larger network of partnerships and associates as well.

I promise you it won’t be a routine stream of the same thing day after day…I just don’t work that way.

If you have any questions or comments I welcome you to add them, I’m looking forward to meeting some new people through this.

Hey, “at the end of the day” all we have in this world is each other. Even if you like to walk your own path like I do it’s nice to know you’re not the only one out there. I’m here. Let me know if you are too!