Radley's and Ropin'

I stopped in Monroeville today, home of Harper Lee and her childhood friend Truman Capote.  First stop was at Radley's Fountain Grill to get a BLT Supreme, which, as you may know, is on the Top 100 list of Alabama Foods You Must Eat Before You Die.  http://www.yearofalabamafood.com/. The Supreme is prepared with fried green tomato and  remoulade sauce, which has whole grains of mustard suspended in the mayonnaise.  Radley's has gently borrowed their name from one of the main characters in To Kill A Mockingbird, the main draw to the charming little town of Monroeville.  Here you can tour the courthouse and museum, which dedicates space to both Harper Lee and Truman Capote.  I understand there is still an on-going debate about who helped whom with their respective books, but she did go to Kansas with him and helped make the acquaintance and interview so many locals who contributed to the background for "In Cold Blood."  Mockingbird  wasn't filmed in Monroeville, but the Hollywood courthouse was a very good replica of the actual one in town, and Gregory Peck visited here to meet Harper Lee, absorb the locale, and get in character. She said he did a very good job. 

The waitress at Radley's quickly associated me with the Winnebago View in the parking lot and went on about how she thought it was just the perfect size. She and her husband had had a much bigger RV that they used for their travels to ropin' events, but he tired of it as he got into his early 70s and had to drive that oversized rig on back roads late at night.  She said at one time they had traveled all over Alabama, east to Panama City, FL. and west to Dallas, TX. for different events.  I gently asked if he was still ropin' and she said, "My, yes."  He just won a second place in Mobile."  I even more gently asked if there were age classes and she said, "No, he took second against all the young whippersnappers."  She explained, the secret for a 75 year old beating 13-30 somethings is in the consistency of how you rope three different 300-400# steers, throw them to the ground, and wrap their legs together, before you raise your hat in the air.

I would have loved to met that guy. One of my questions for him might have been if he had ever had a Radley's BLT Supreme within 24 hours of a ropin' contest.