SUDDENLY SOUTHERN
16 June 2004
Well- we've been busy busy busy!
The pig pickin' last Saturday was a blast! I tell you, some people think chatting online is strange, but if it wasn't for my chat friends, we might have been pretty darn lost around here. It was great to see them again, and even meet a couple of them for the first time. They all live near enough to make future get-togethers very easy! Even the ones I met for the first time feel like old friends after all these years of chatting online.
The pig was delicious- thankfully I wasn't present when the head had to be cut off because it didn't fit in the roaster. The remaining part was split open and laid on the big rack (apparently most people OWN one of these) and then cooked for several hours- basted regularly with a homemade true BBQ sauce of vinegar and red and black pepper. There are two versions of BBQ sauce that claim to be the best here- vinegar based and tomato based- and if you value your Yankee hide, don't be getting yourself in the middle of THAT argument!
There was also coleslaw, Brunswick stew, some kind of baked cornbread sticks (that'd be fried corn mush to you yankee types), baked beans, fried chicken, watermelon, fruit salad, sweet tea, and (of course) pig pickin' cake. That's really the name of the cake, I swear. It's traditionally served at pig pickin's, and it was great! All of this spread out on a long table on a gorgeous evening with lots of good friends around. Fabulous!! And no carbs counted that night! Later, after dinner, I was talked into trying a bite of pig skin. I think I'll leave that for the others from now on. The weather that day was a nice break. The locals were in jackets and complaining. The visitors from Minnesota were perfectly happy with the temps, what's wrong with you?
Sunday we had planned to take a ferry to Ocracoke Island but John had to fix a bit of storm damage on a tower so we got behind schedule. Instead, we went to Atlantic Beach (the nearest ocean beach to Greenville- a mere 90 min drive). Fun!! Kind of what you'd expect a public beach to be like (think Baywatch w/o hunky lifeguards), so lots of people. I prefer the quieter beaches on the northern Outer Banks, but- this was fun, too! Late in the afternoon there were even some dolphins swimming around about 75 yds from shore. We didn't take time to explore the boardwalk area, but we'll get to that next time.
The next two days we stayed OUT of the sun- self defense tactic. No matter that we applied 30 SPF sunscreen at least 2 times each outing- we all got a little pink this last week. We're tanning nicely! It must help us look local since I got asked for directions on Monday. The best part was- I even knew where the street was!
Since we missed the exciting end of the Panther baseball season we've watched a couple of little league games here- a team from a small town near here coached by Tim, a friend. His wife Joni keeps stats for the team. 11 and 12 yr olds, and let me tell you- they take baseball seriously around here!! It's an amazing level of play. Max will have to work hard to catch up if he gets a chance to play down here! It was kind of funny because I've discovered that nothing brings out a southern drawl like a baseball game. I could understand about half of what the parents were yelling out to the field. And baseball is dangerous for everyone the first night we watched, the umpire got hit in the forearm by a pitch and had it broken. The town's other team was playing on a different field and there a lady in the bleachers got surprised by a foul ball and it broke 3 bones in her face. YIKES- now I watch those left handed batters if I'm in the visiting team's bleachers.
There's a minor league team in Greenville (The Devils or something) that sounds fun, too. Reasonable ticket prices and good baseball. Geez, we just might turn into a baseball family!! That's ok- I really LIKE watching baseball from the bleachers.
The nice surprise at these games has been- no mosquitoes!! (YET- John heard someone say the variety of mosquitoes down here doesn't hatch till the temps are regularly in the high 90s. yay- can't wait for August.) What they miss in mosquitoes they make up for with the biggest moths you've ever seen! But they only bother if you're near the light. I think the trick is to sit in the dark w/ the mosquito spray and the a/c on. As we drove away from Black Creek last night, the windows were down and there was the greatest fragrance in the air. We decided finally that it must have been the Carolina pines that were all around us- mmmmmmmmmm so nice.
Tony and his wife Debbie (who hosted the pig pickin) asked if we'd like to do something this weekend and politely insisted WE choose what to do. John said, Let's do something really redneck and go to some car races. I asked if there was a track nearby that wasn't huge like a Nascar thing. Tony said, HELL, woman- there're 3 tracks w/in 25 miles of here!! So- Saturday night, it's off to the races with a cooler of beer and pop- errrr sodas (totally required, Tony says, if you want to do this the truly redneck way). Send bail money if this turns out to be bad information!!
The kids and I plan to leave early Monday morning after spending Father's Day with John and celebrating Katie's birthday (23 rd- turning 13- look out!). We should be home sometime late Tuesday night! Katie's reaction today when she realized we only have a few days left here: ooooh no - we have to leave SO SOON?? I guess that's a good sign =)
