The 2nd Competition: Kinston: Friday Night

So here we go, the Kinston Competition.  There is so much to say about this past weekend.  DJ and Hunter arrived in Kinston on Friday afternoon and set everything up.  Then the rain started, our tent leaked and the boys were soaking wet.  Not a good way to start out the weekend.  DJ ran to Goldsboro to get a new tent (one that they wanted anyway).  The new tent is definitely the "Cadillac" of tents.  When I asked DJ and Hunter why they didn't just sit in the car until the rain passed so they didn't have to get so wet, they both looked at me with this innocent look and you could tell what they were thinking.  They hadn't thought of that...but it was a great reason to get a new tent now instead of waiting until the next event to get one!!  The other cooks around us helped put up our new tent.  At that moment, cooks helping cooks, we knew that Kinston would be so different than Newport.  In Newport, everyone kept to themselves for the most part.  We did meet a few of the other teams, but not many. Kinston was a whole different story.  Everyone was friendly and going from tent to tent chatting with everyone.  It was definitely one big party on Friday night!  There was a huge fireworks display and the Embers played beach music.  Despite the rough start and the muddy mess around us, we were having a great time meeting new people! Unfortunately, that was the best thing I have to write about Kinston….meeting people and having a great time.  The pig was a TOTALLY different story.

 Our Pig, Ricky Bobby, was one HUGE pig, weighing in at a whopping 142 pounds. For those who know little about pig cooking, the “perfect” pig is between 100 and 125 pounds.  When Ashley and I walked up to the tent Friday night, the boys were not happy to say the least.  But they made the best of it.  Hunter’s dad was there throughout the whole competition and he helped Hunter and DJ get the pig ready to go on the grill.  There was no waiting around this time.  We had to get that pig on the grill fast, so it would have enough time to cook.  I don’t know everything that is involved in getting the pig ready….all I know is Ricky Bobby got one big slap on the butt before the cooker was closed.  We would not see our pig again until the next morning.  No Peeking!!

The night was filled with lots of laughter and storytelling.  As usual, we had the time of our lives just sitting and enjoying each others company.  There was a “local celebrity” cook team at this competition.  They have a TV show on the Discovery Channel called Swamp Loggers and man was their cooker nice!  It was neat to walk around to the different tents to see people’s cookers and their décor.  As always, we got lots of ideas for the next competition. 

We all got about the same amount of sleep….three hours or less…which has become normal for all of us on a competition weekend.   Check back tomorrow to read about the rest of the competition and how we did!!