Day 1: Washington, NC BBQ Competition

Our first competition of the fall season was in Washington, NC, which is a cozy little town outside of Greenville.  The competition is held annually in October and is right on the river.  Hunter had to work that Friday, so DJ and I took off work and headed down early.  We were supposed to get everything set up by the time Ashley and Hunter arrived.  I will be the first one of us to admit this, but the "cool" tent we have is a real pill to put up!  DJ and I wanted to get everything set up and ready to go before the barbecue meeting.  I am sure that many people around us just sat back and laughed while we struggled with the tent for two hours!!  This was quite embarrassing as we watched other cooks arrive and get everything set up...and we were still fighting with the tent.  I can now say, without a doubt, that I could get it up quicker the next time!  After many hours of sweat, tears and broken fingernails, our site was finally set up.

The barbecue meeting is just a quick review of the rules and the order of judging is determined.  Our site was drawn to be the first judged.  This made us very nervous!!  Rumor has it that being first is the hardest spot to have.  We were determined we would be ready.  Everyone has to go first at some point.

I was one happy woman when I saw the Jeep arrive with our dear friends :)  We spent the evening chatting with our neighboring cooking teams.  Looking back at this competition, we were so lucky to have such wonderful neighbors.  We now officially have "pig" friends, as I like to call them.  It was so fun to hear their stories of pig competitions with each other.  

There was a festival going on one street over from our tent, so we walked over and listened to the music for a bit.  Competitions are so fun when there are lots of other events going on around us.  The streets were full of people hanging out and having a great time.  We enjoyed speaking to all the spectators coming around to all the cooking sites.  

Our pig was delivered and the guys spent a little while checking it out.  They do more than "check it out," but I have no idea what they really do to it.  Following with my tradition of naming every pig, this pig was no exception!  Without further ado....meet "Houlihan", named after a character in a movie.  I thought it was a really cool name for a pig :)

As the evening got later and the crowd starting thinning, we finally sat down to relax for a few minutes.  Of course, the guys decided they wanted to have some meat to cook during the night.  So Ashley and I headed off to Walmart.  A trip with the four of us wouldn't be complete without a Walmart trip!  Ashley and I spent the night at DJ's uncle's house.  It was so nice to have a home to stay at, instead of a hotel.  We did forget to turn the water heater on, so we had cold showers in the morning.  But we weren't going to let that ruin our day.  It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday and we were ready to meet the judges!!