Trying to take notes while talking to four young men who all want to tell you how good the barbecue was at Lexington No. 1, a.k.a. Honey Monk’s, is a little like trying to shake hands with an octopus. “It was sort of tough and crunchy on the outside, but sweet and juicy on the inside,” said Art Richey, a poli-science major from Russellville, Alabama. Or was that Will Foster, a business administration major from Alpharetta, Georgia? No, Will’s the one who had his first taste of pork rinds in the Tar Heel state: “My heart said ‘NOOOOOOO,’ but my gut said, ‘yes.’
“I am here to study barbecue,” said Jeff Vaughan, also a business major from West Palm Beach, Florida. Or was that Matt Lee, a pre-engineering student from Cullman, Alabama. These are smart lads, I thought as I got to know them. Not an English major among ’em. Four fraternity brothers who had talked their English teacher into letting them take January off to cross five states to get a clue about cue. Why didn’t I think of that when I was in school?
“We’ve gotta do a 10 page paper when we get back,” one of them said. Writing’s hard, they observe. “Duh!” thinks Professor BBQ. “It’s really hard for me,” one of them starts the sentence, “Sitting down for 30 minutes before I get anything on paper,” another one says finishing it. But as you can see on their Web site http://www.southernbbqboys.com, multiple portals provide multiple points of view.
By the time they got to Stamey’s they were still stuffed with Lexington outside meat and pork skins, but they liked Stamey’s barbecue and its clean, uncomplicated taste and sauce. Art liked their brunswick stew, which is a personal favorite. The talk turned to sauce and the octopus of voices began, with people from other tables joining in the discussion and giving suggestions about where they HAD to eat.
From Greensboro, they’re headed east to Greenville, North Carolina, where they hope to hook up with my friend, Carl Rothrock and eat at the legendary B’s. Next is The Pit and then Wilber’s in Goldsboro. In South Carolina, they’re going to try Sweatman’s, of course, and I tried to talk them into stopping in at Brown’s in Kingstree. Country Cousins in Lake City is on their list. And then they’re headed to Georgia and back to Alabama.
While they were converting our supper into streaming video and digital images and sound and impressing the heck out of Professor BBQ with their facile handle on technology, the subject of the downside of being forever connected came up. Their teacher, they said, can follow almost every move that they make. “She contacts us through every portal,” one of them said. “There’s no escape.”
Cue Confessions 