From Army Base to BBQ Country

11.01.2009: Today was a very relaxing day. Rainy skies and an eventful Halloween made for a perfect day to kick back and relax. We went to church with Stacy and Joe at the Calvary Chapel in Newport News, VA. We then returned to the Ft. Eustis Army Base for rainy day comfort food of grilled cheese on rye and tomato soup.



The next eight hours of our day involved watching football, eating, napping and playing. Stacy and Katrina made Hot Virginia Dip (see below), Jerk Chicken Nachos and Garlic Veggie Pizza.



We played lots of games with Tessa and she even drew a portrait of David for him on her magnetic drawing board. Check it out and see if you can find the resemblance! We think she was hinting that David might need a haircut soon... The grown-ups also played card games. We played a couple of games of golf and then Stacy and Joe taught us how to play the card game Munchkin, which was a lot of fun. Stacy won, but David put up a good fight!




11.02.2009: This morning we road with Stacy to drop Joe off at work and Tessa off at part-day pre-school. We packed and reloaded the car, said good-bye, and headed on our way. It was hard to leave as we had so much fun hanging out with our cousins. As we were driving to North Carolina we both got to see our first cotton fields. Below is a picture of one of those cotton fields.



We crossed into North Carolina, which did a very good job of making us feel welcomed. They welcomed us on three separate signs - one on the highway and two at the welcome area.

Our first stop was to eat, of course! We headed to Goldsboro, NC to Wilbur's BBQ. Below is a picture of their Pit Pork BBQ plate - pork seasoned with spices and vinegar, potato salad, coleslaw and hush puppies, with a side of Brunswick stew. We enjoyed the BBQ - it was unlike any BBQ we had ever had before, as it was more vinegar based and did not have BBQ sauce. It was served incredibly fast and our server said y'all about 12 times and had a very heavy southern accent.

Although we are supposed to be headed south towards Florida, we detoured west, lured by Seagrove, NC, the pottery capital of the world, hiking in the Pisgah National Forest, and of course, more BBQ. While pottery and hiking will have to wait until tomorrow, we stopped in Lexington, NC for Lexington #1 BBQ. Again the food was served immediately after we ordered. We were blown away by this BBQ. If the Philly cheese steak challenge was a split decision, the North Carolina BBQ challenge was a 1st round TKO! The port was much more flavorful and spicy, the coleslaw was like nothing we have had before, the beans were smoky and rich and the hush puppies were crispy and tasted like mini onion rings. As we left Lexington #1 the woman who rang us up said, "y'all hurry back, now!" We just might...