I’m not a barbeque addict — waxing passionately about dry rub vs. wet, Memphis vs. K.C. — so figuring out Carolina BBQ is probably wasted on me. However, being the obsessive compulsive that I am when it comes to diving into the local experience and being Roman while in Rome, I did a Google Map search for BBQ near my office, found a joint a couple miles away, and decided to launch the BBQ boat before exploring for an apartment.
The place was Lewis Bar-Be-Que on NC 55. The place was empty which I didn’t take as a great sign (to be fair it was after 2 pm, so the lunch rush was over) , but the place felt funky which was a nice break from the complete barrage of fast food that surrounds me down here. Papa John’s, Chick-N-Fil, The Colonel, and fancy versions of McDonald’s called "McCafes". The menu at Lewis’s wasn’t very complicated, so I figured I’d go in and say, "Hey, I have no clue what to order. What should I get? I’m from the North and I’m an alien" or just go for it.
I kept it simple and went for: "A barbecue sandwich please."
The lady found a hamburger bun, went to the steam table, scooped some pulled pork (essentially pork shoulder stewed a looong time until it falls apart) and asked me if I wanted "slaw."
Sure. Coleslaw. My side dish. She plopped a big green blob on top of the pork, put the lid on it, and wrapped it up. Okay. So the coleslaw is on the sandwich, not next to it. No big deal. So I squirted extra sauce on the thing and sure enough, the unique attribute of Carolina BBQ made itself known — it’s vinegar based, not tomato. So a ton of the stuff soaked in, but that’s not a bad thing.
" Nor is it about the heavy BBQ sauces found elsewhere. Carolina barbecue is splashed with a thin, vinegar based sauce. There are three regional sauces, actually. Eastern North Carolina for the basic sauce, western North Carolina for the basic sauce with a bit of tomato added and South Carolina style, spiked with mustard."
I scarfed it in the parking lot while reading the map for my next destination. It was very good. Not earthshattering, like the Hunan smoked ham at Brandy Ho’s in San Francisco, but not bad. Good enough to do again and good enough to blog about.
Apartment hunting
Tomorrow I continue the apartment-and-best BBQ search. The apartment situation is … well … put it this way, I haven’t lived in an apartment since I was 34. The landscape down here — and to be fair, it is winter — is sort of like Nashua, NH without snow (and my nickname for Nashua is Nausea). Lots and lots of pine trees. Big pine trees. Brown grass, swampy little creeks, no real hills, certainly no vistas. So, one doesn’t shop on the basis of view, but amenities. I looked at very new "planned" communities around Brier Creek, places that have seen better days around Lake Lynn, and places that are possibilities. The whole affair is tedious. Furnish or unfurnished? Spartan for just me, or sumptious for my wife and son? The prospect of furnishing a place is discouraging. I need a tent with Internet as far as my creature comforts are concerned. I need to build a decision tree for what I need an apartment and why. Other than sleeping, bathing, and eating, the primary attribute is a closet I can park my stuff in. On a cost basis, I can continue the itinerant life-style in extended-stay studios such as the one I am in now, but that builds in some stress in moving my stuff back and forth every weekend.
I need to drive out of the suburban areas and find the country side. I’ve never been a fan of the angry suburbs. -I need some funk, so tomorrow I go to the college town of Chapel Hill to look for people who prize a good cup of coffee, a decent bicycle mechanic, and a big bookstore.
The tools for finding a place are actually kind of interesting. I found Rent.com (an Ebay company) which is sort of a apartment management company listing service that is slick and shows all sorts of great living experiences in a nice search engine. Then I run the marketing version through apartmentreviews.com and discover that one lakeside complex I visited had a murder occur on its premises last month. Nice.
The reviews people leave are funny at first, but after a while it’s all complaints about the management, the missing maintainance men, the dog poop, the loud music, the guy downstairs who smokes.
Oh well, short lease, furnished if possible, and be done with it.
You do want to make sure you are on the top floor for an apartment. The basic stereo bass blared from on high does terrible things to one’s nerves. Also, and you probably got this already. upwind from Mr. Porker pictured above.
Yr pal.
Hey Janice,
I found the countryside today. That’s where I’m going. Screw the apartment community bullshit. I want banjos and chickens and today I found it. Hope yr well. Blog on.
David,
Great post on BBQ hunting. Below are a few that you might want to try when you get a chance.
Bullocks
http://www.bullocksbbq.com/
Dannys BBQ
http://triangle.citysearch.com/profile/6153337/
NC Barbecue Musings – Blog
http://ncbbq.blogspot.com/
Hi David,
We met in the meet/greet with Ramesh Vora’s team last Friday…if you’re willing to drive a little ways, I’d suggest Bullock’s BBQ in Durham. Take I-40 west to the Durham Freeway and it’s off 15-501/Hillsborough Road. Worth the time – http://www.bullocksbbq.com/
thanks Chad, thanks Kristen. Craig Merrigan also recommended Bullock’s. I see some of the ranking sites give high marks to Allen & Sons in Chapel Hill. I also hear that an IBM database developer created a comprehensive database of RTP bbq!
David…I want to on a serious note tell you your instincts are correct on the apartments around Lake Lynn. Stay away. Seriously, there was a horrible murder http://www.newsobserver.com/1036/story/384211.html at the adjacent apartments 2 or 3 years ago, and the murderer lived in Dominion at Lake Lynn at the time the crime occurred.
Stonehenge Apartments off of Creedmoore Rd are very nice and not overpriced….quiet safe area and Starbucks and a grocery within walking distance!
I am ROLLING at your initial shock at getting slaw plopped on top of your sandwich….as a transplanted ‘Northerner” myself, I can totally relate. The next step to remember is, assume all tea is sweetened unless you are told other wise. And by sweetened I mean “Could-I-have-some-tea-with-this-sugar-please?” sweet ok?
Find your way to a Goodberry’s Frozen Custard http://www.goodberrys.com/ AND Char-Grill http://www.chargrillusa.com/ in Raleigh….that will complete your Holy Trinity of Food tour in the Triangle and you’ll be a true North Carolinian.
There is a terrific book which was very helpful to me when I moved here that you may want to pick up “1001 Things Everyone Should Know About the South” by John Shelton Reed. Reed is a professor emeritus of Southern culture at UNC-Chapel Hill, and it was like a Fodor’s for the South for me! It is also quite humorous!