“THIS PLACE SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLED THE SHIMMY SHACK,”
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Bonnie Combs tells me. “Because every time a train goes by, the whole place shakes.”
Being located next to the railroad line, on the outskirts of the Okefenokee Swamp, Bonnie explains that, “It’s only by the grace of God and word of mouth that people find their way here. We are so far off the interstate.”
This little shack buried deep in the woods looks like something straight out of a 1930s cartoon, with its bright lights and anthropomorphic ice cream cones made out of plywood. The kids might be screaming, “When will we get there?!”, but they will beg you to bring them back here. That said, don’t be fooled. They dish up some serious backwoods ’cue.
This funhouse with a soul started out as strictly an ice-cream place. The Combs acquired it when Bonnie got laid off at Anchor Glass in Jacksonville.
Dwight didn’t think much about it except as something to keep Bonnie busy, but in a later reorganization of the company he worked for, he was demoted from forklift operator to box stacker.
“That was something I did the day I walked in to that place twenty-four years ago. I was a year away from retirement and a gold watch, but I couldn’t take going into that place anymore and I already had a watch, so I just quit. I really didn’t think it through, because business just died in the winter. Nobody wants ice cream that time of year. That’s when we added the barbecue,” Dwight tells me.
Not only did he add the barbecue, but he built on to the shack, using salvaged wood from other abandoned barns and sheds. “It’s all fatlighter wood,” Dwight points out. “It lasts forever as long as the termites don’t get to it. I have to spray it once a year.” (Image 58)
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Dwight is a very soft spoken and modest man. Not one to toot his own horn. He might call it a shack, but the craftsmanship is excellent. He built his smoker with help from his late brother Jimmy. It was so sturdy that Bonnie and her mother could not open the door without a struggle. They complained about it and he attached a garage door opener to the smoker’s door. “Now all I have to do is push a button. People have heard about it and stopped by just to see it,” Bonnie proudly states.
“And to pick up some good barbecue and ice cream,” Dwight adds with a sly smile.
SHACK BY THE TRACK’S BUTTERSCOTCH SQUARES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter; add sugar and mix well. Stir in vanilla, eggs, flour, and optional nuts. Bake in a 9x13-inch pan for 30 minutes. Cool, then cut into squares. (Image 59)
Image 59: Shack by the Track 245 Jackson Street • St. George, GA 31562 • (912)843-8208