Way to blend...

They really do have the best coke in town....

The owner said the secret is to clean the lines on the fountain twice a day.  I think they up the syrup content too, but they taste different, and in a good way.

been there a few times. i've seen worse.

i work up the road in Tunica.

Jonestown for the win!

I am literally counting the minutes I have left on this assignment

What you doing right now?  Watching a shack with an unfit parent in it?

O.M.G.!!! - The FEDS are in town!!!.  Get Ready 4 a RAID!

Your target is surfing GD, reading this thread.

I grew up in Helena

I would recommend a couple things to see and do but sounds like you are bugging out any minute.

It was a decent little town back in the 60s and 70s when I lived there.

There a still some decent people there that are working hard to make it better but it just keeps declining.

I still visit a couple times a year and always look forward to it.

In before parody thread "I think some guy has been following me around Helena, AR for a couple days."

Interestingly enough, in these declining small towns around here, what used to be divided on strictly racial lines is nos changing to be more of a division between decent people and not-so-decent people.

Lot of black people around here are educated, good, hardworking decent people, and they are sick of the hoodrats running THIER towns in the ground.  Same with the decent white folk, who have finally noticed that those good, hardworking black folks make good neighbors while the methbilly white-trash are, in fact, the ones stealing the wire off your pivot on your farm.

When decent people all realize that it is in their best interest to support other good people, and not take up for the scum just because they share skin color, then progress is made.

After two decades of a corrupt black mayor who robbed the town blind, Marianna elected a decent guy as mayor.  He is a white guy, elected by a town that is 80% black, and is the poorest county in Arkansas.  The decent black folks watched the town decline for years with a crook in charge who was only elected because he was black, so they stopped voting for skin color and started voting for the best candidate.

Helena had the same scenario, but unfortunately the white mayor they elected is just as big of a POS as the guy he replaced.

The Delta has gone down bad.  The good people that still live here have started to try to move things in the right direction, and that's meant decent people, regardless of race, working together against the shitbags.

Long way from what things were 30-40 years ago, but at least people are finally waking up and addressing the problems

Do you know the Pope family?

hello from Memphis

Come on up for the BEST bbq in the country

You going to Jones in Marianna AR?

Cause he's the one with the James Beard award hanging on his wall, in true "don't give a fuck" manner.

I'd been to west Helena and Helena AR many years ago on a previous job/employer.   There was a building products manufacturer (paint line for steel and aluminum coils), which was a few miles outside of town.  But I recall it being a shithole 18 years ago.   Like one of those dusty towns in the old Clint Eastwood westerns.

LOL welcome to the delta

You need a 4x4 chevy work truck or a POS ex-cop car to blend in correctly

ETA: Nothing like a good arfcom thread to remind you that your home is really fucked up

I’ve never eaten there but it’s legendary. Including the sign you posted on the sandwich prices. 1 sandwich or 20 you’re gonna pay $3

My 94 Accord with dents all over it blends in perfectly.

Unfortunately I can't drive my 83 GMC because every hoodrat I see throws out a ridiculous offer for it.  "Hey man, I give you tree fitty for it!"

I can't think of anyone with that name but I moved away almost 35 years ago.

He finally fixed the sign.  It used to have that all listed out, but they were spelled "sanwich"

Same on the per pound prices.  No discount for buying large quantities, but he still has prices listed out up to about 20 lbs.  $6, 12, 18, 24 etc.

He cooks a mean chicken too, but you have to take him the chicken to cook, and pick it up the next day.  Last time I took him chickens he charged me $2 per chicken to cook them.

He makes some good BBQ but I'm not all that crazy about their sauce.

I grew up on Armstrong's BBQ and judge all sauce by what they used to make.

Did you ever eat there when they were still around?

Y'all hiring?

Yep. Had it a few times, and for awhile they opened one in Marianna in the old Subway.  It was good BBQ, but Jones is better IMO.  If you like molasses based sauce you probably aren't going to like Jones' sauce.

Jones' slaw is good too.  You get a fresh sandwich with slaw and there's nothing better.

As far as sauces go, Shaddens is my favorite.  You can still buy it in bottles even though the store closed.  The Shaddens sauce recipe is online too.

I lived in Marianna for 2 1/2 years in the early 2000’s. I never heard anybody mention Jones bbq and never saw anyone eat there. Everyone would go to Craig’s bbq in Devalls Bluff for bbq.

That's nuts.  Jones, Craigs, Shaddens, and Genes (Brinkley) have always been "famous" around here.  My uncle used to have Jones fedex'd to him in Europe and Asia when he was in the USAF.

Craig's is good stuff.  I've stopped in there numerous times.