[Nebbe] JayJay Goodvin is a man on a mission, crisscrossing the state on a quest to visit as many Iowa towns as possible.

He is always on the lookout for great food, good stories and interesting tidbits of state history.

[JayJay Goodvin] This is the marker of the old railroads that went through Orient.

So yeah, it's one of your classic railroad towns.

[Nebbe] JayJay documents his tastes and travels for his blog, the Iowa Gallivant.

He shares his love for his home state and encourages people to explore new communities.

[JayJay Goodvin] That's really good.

[Nebbe] I caught up with JayJay at Baxa's Sutliff Store and Tavern in northeast Johnson County.

♪♪ [Nebbe] I want to ask you, you are the chief explorer for Iowa Gallivant.

How did that start?

[JayJay Goodvin] It started out as a family scrapbooking project that turned into a travel blog and has turned into this monster that you see now.

So, it's like we specialize in a lot of small towns.

We, you know, promote communities, businesses, organizations and events.

It's going in all sorts of avenues and that's just kind of how I travel too.

[Nebbe] Every year, JayJay has what he calls.

pet projects where he tries food just for fun, be it sausages, sandwiches or tacos.

[JayJay Goodvin] One down, 98 to go.

[Nebbe] In April 2024, JayJay set off on a 10-month quest to eat a pork tenderloin in all 99 counties.

[JayJay Goodvin] Iowa county locals, I see why you love this place.

[Nebbe] So if you eat 99 pork tenderloin sandwiches and you're trying to keep track of what makes them all special and different.

How do you do that?

[JayJay Goodvin] Well, I've always said there's a difference between your favorite of something and the best of something.

Anything that makes my big melon look smaller is always a good thing, and this is doing a great job.

So here we go.

And they put four pieces of cheese on it, Max.

The best of something always needs a panel, always needs judges to say, you know.

You know what I mean?

Whereas your favorite, you know, your favorite baseball player might not be the best one.

You've heard the buzz.

We have picked our favorite pork tenderloin.

I said my favorite one was at the Landmark in Grundy Center, Iowa.

And of course, you know, the Internet broke because everybody's like, oh, you know, either they went there to get it, or they're, like, disagreeing with me, which I love, by the way.

You should always be, you know, loving your local tenderloins.

Locals very rarely will steer you in the wrong directions, no matter what size of community it is.

And they know where the best places to eat are.

[Nebbe] You know, I mean, most of us, when we're on vacation, we, you know, go to our phones and we say, where should we eat?

And our phones give us a list.

But that doesn't mean that that's the best place.

[JayJay Goodvin] Yeah, barbers, stylists, Uber drivers, and taxi drivers, they all have the best suggestions because they get all the gossip.

[Nebbe] Now JayJay has a new endeavor.

He calls it 99 Specials.

[JayJay Goodvin] I'll take the chicken fried chicken special, please.

[Server] Would you like that with corn or green beans?

[JayJay Goodvin] We're going to go green beans today, but don't tell anybody I denied the corn.

I love corn.

[Nebbe] You're going to all these different restaurants, 99 counties, and you have to get there on the day that they have the special that you want to try.

And you're trying to do 99 different dishes.

JayJay Goodvin] Yeah, so I want to — [Nebbe] Are there 99 different specials?

[JayJay Goodvin] Oh, yeah, there are totally.

I mean, gosh, there's, like, there's the hot beef sandwich.

There's the hot pork sandwich.

There's the hot ham sandwich.

There's a hot with, you know, with the mashed potatoes and, like, the wheelbarrow of gravy over it.

The thing is, is, like, whenever we put something with gravy on our videos, it just flies.

But, yes, there is.

There's definitely 99 specials I up there.

[JayJay Goodvin] We're at The Dugout here in Orient, Iowa.

This is our Adair County special for our 99th county extravaganza.

Oh, it's so tender.

I don't even.

I don't even need the knife.

Wow, that's really good.

[Nebbe] I'm not going to ask your favorite at this point, but can you tell me about some of the places you've really enjoyed?

[JayJay Goodvin] As we're speaking, we're over a third of the way, like 36 counties in and one of the places I knew we had to go to, and I've been wanting to get there for a long time, was the Triple View in Little Rock, Iowa.

[Cashier] Hi.

Welcome to you.

[JayJay Goodvin] So I know I want the boss's burger, and I also want a black raspberry malt, please.

Triple View, where it's located, is just quintessential Iowa.

It's right on the blacktop.

The livestock that's getting raised there, the pork and the beef that's going on into their food is raised.

I mean, it's right there.

The table you're sitting at is just yards away, and it's just has that amazing Midwest feel.

Oh, whoa.

[Server] There's the burger.

[JayJay Goodvin] Nice.

Let's do this, Mark.

[Mark] Got it.

[JayJay Goodvin] I'm in Lyon County for our Lyon County special, far northwest Iowa.

And I'm at the Triple View.

And this is my friend Mark.

How many steps is it to the cattle and the hogs that are getting raised right here on your farm that's going in this burger?

[Mark] 226 feet.

[JayJay Goodvin] That's right.

226 feet.

[Nebbe] So you're putting all these miles on your car.

You're traveling all the time.

You're not too far from home, but you're not at home.

What drives you?

[JayJay Goodvin] Well, it's — I've always loved a good road trip.

I think it's just a natural part of me, like I love any kind of story, book, movie when it comes to maritime.

So, it must be like that sort of captain/pirate part of me, you know what I mean?

We're setting sail in Iowa every day, and it's just like that adventurous, wanting to see more and knowing that even when you go to the smallest of communities, you're still probably going to see something different every now and then.