Always Marry an Ugly Girl

Last night we went to Prissy Polly’s Pig Pickin’ Bar-b-que. Saturday nights are the best time to go because they have live music.

If you watch the video to the end, you will see/hear three things: (1) The singer messes up and it’s pretty funny. (2) The guy in the green at the end cracks up at the guy messing up and it’s even funnier. (3) My screaming cheer. 🙂

One of the first things I learned when I moved to NC was the difference between a cookout and bar-b-que. In Utah, we would say that we were going to “have a bar-b-que”, meaning grill burgers, chicken, hot dogs, etc. Here, you don’t have a bar-b-que, you have bar-b-que. Bar-b-que is pulled pork. [What’s pulled pork, you ask? Please see below.] A bar-b-que as I used to define it is called a “cookout” here.

For example: “I feel like bar-b-que today. Let’s go to Prissy Polly’s and get some.”

vs.

“The weather is nice; let’s have some friends over for a cookout. I’ll bring the slaw.” [slaw = coleslaw and you put it on bar-b-que. And/or hot dogs.]

Got it?

Yes, I was totally overdressed.

See pulled pork (aka bar-b-que). See the whitest bun to ever exist. See the hushpuppies. See how once in a while, I splurge on good food that isn’t necessarily good for me.

In North Carolina, there are two types of bar-b-que/pulled pork: Lexington and Eastern. Lexington is similar to your traditional red BBQ sauce, which I’ve never liked. Eastern is a vinegar  dressing and I love it. Prissy Polly’s is one of the few places that offers both styles. I went with Eastern with BBQ slaw. You can get BBQ slaw or sweet slaw. I still haven’t figured out the difference. The slaw comes right on your sandwich unless you specify otherwise.

Those fried rings are hushpuppies; yes, they look like onion rings. They’re not. Typically hushpuppies are formed in little balls, but Prissy Polly’s makes the best hushpuppies I’ve had since I’ve moved here so I’m not going to tell them they’re doing it wrong.

We went with Bobby  & Liz [Bobby and I are on the same team at work] and Patrick [he was on 5th wheel picture-taking duty. Thanks Patrick!].

If you eat all this delicious, although slightly unhealthy, food, you need a little exercise to balance it out. Here’s a [much-too-short] video of a cute old man dancing to burn his calories.

He got up at nearly every fast song and did this same dance in a circle the whole time. I really want to be like him when I’m old. And I want his moves now.

Sometimes when I go to places like this in the South, I have to remind myself that this is genuine. It’s real. It’s real people living real life, out enjoying an evening of bar-b-que and bluegrass. It’s not a movie or a place trying to be quaint. It just is. And I love it.