The Adventures of Krystal Kid: Goodbye Conyers!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Goodbye Conyers!

Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.
-Clarence the Angel to George Bailey, It's A Wondeful Life.
Almost exactly a year ago, I had to return to Conyers for the funeral of my friend Ken. While I was in town, I also made a visit to the first Krystal I ever ate at, and also where my 17 year Krystal Thursday Odessey started in 1989. because I moved a fair amount as a kid, I always struggle when people ask me where I am from. It isn't that I do not feel I have a "home." Quite to the contrary, I feel I have many homes. Macon is where I have lived the longest. Conyers is where I went to school and spent my childhood. Eastern North Carolina is where my family roots are and where I am soon to return.
Yesterday, I returned to Conyers for a sort of "goodbye." Officially it was a going away barbecue in my honor. I think I, and everyone else there knows that I am never really "going away." I am just getting a new base of operations.
Because of "where I am from" and were I am going, a Carolina Pulled Pork Barbecue was the theme. And since my friend Chris makes the best barbecue on Earth, I knew it was going to be good.
To help contribute to the cause, I brought along my last two bottles of Scott's Barbecue Sauce. I donated them to the cause without hesitation because I'll soon be able to get as much as I want! I also brought along an ample supply of Cheerwine a North Carolina Speciality.
Of course, Pepsi was born closer to Wilmington than Cheerwine. (Pepsi in New Bern and Cheerwine around Salisbury.) In Georgia, bringing Pepsi to a party is a sure way to get looked at funny, and possibly ejected from the party.
Upon arrival, Chris unveiled the centerpiece for he evening:

You can see where Chris and I had to rip off a small chunk for sampling, and revealing the "bark." After Chris assured me it was too late to "cancel the party and keep it all to ourselves" it was time to chop it. Traditionally people go for something called "pulled pork" where you litterally pull chunks of pork off. But the way I was raised it comes "chopped."

Of course that wasn't enough for a party of hungry carnivors, so it was time for the second chunk.

You can see Chris' pot of home made Eastern North Carolina style barbecue sauce. Vinegar based with a heafty dose of pepper and heat. It was very good. A little sweeter and not as hot as Scotts but still quite good.
On the way from Macon to Conyers, depending on your route, you might venture past an unremarkable shack on the side of the road. Unremarkable unless you're someone who knows good barbecue when you see it.

You see, the Shane's Rib Shack chain actually started just outside of Atlanta, and Shane's original shack is just south of Chris' house and it is still in business. While I would dearly love to see Shane and Sonny (of Sonny's BBQ) get into a scuffle, the bottom line is that they're both playing at a disadvantage: they're both from Georgia. The ultimate in pork barbecue comes from North Carolina. But after this weekend, I do believe that both Sonny and Shane may have met their match with

Chris's Pork-a-palooza

Besides, Sonny's and Shane's don't have Chris' son Josh yelling "Go Meat!" and "Cheer-Wine!" on demand. Oh yes we had cole slaw. We had baked beans. Cheerwine, Scotts's Sauce (proudly displayed just behind the barbecue) and all the other trimmings. My friend Jeff, who also has ties to Carolina and understands the real meaning of "barbecue" stood with me, eyes glazing over, staring at the beauty of it all. Of course my inability to pry myself away from the side of the table resulted in me eating 4 plates full and suffering for much of the rest of the evening.
I only managed to pull myself away from the table o'plenty and into the kitchen, where I was met by the tractor beam pull of the biggest banana pudding I have seen in years. Two plates of pudding later and I had broken a sweat. Jeff was walking around in a daze. If you were not there, my words cannot even come close to describing the tastes and the smells and the sights.This, my friends, is a going away party.I stayed the night at Chris's not because I had been drinking, but the pork and pudding were weighing my eyelids down. As I awoke the next morning (at roughly 6am cause my internal clock is broken thanks to my job) I pondered my life. Where I am and where I am going, and more importantly, where I come from. It then occured to me. "Where I come from" has nothing to do with geography, but with the people I am surrounded by, my friends. Since I take a little of each of them with me where ever I go, I guess I never really will leave "where I am from" but instead I will take "my home" with me whenever and where ever I roam.
I would not be the person I am today if not for the rock solid foundation built by my parents and family. Open that foundation, the "me" has been built over the years by the contributions of my friends, the greatest people I know. I learn from them, I draw from them, I love and trust and depend on them. I am who I am because of them. And for that, I suppose, I owe them everything. I'm A Krystal Lover