No, I am not intending to refer to what may or may not be going on at the moment in the household of Anthony D. and Huma Abedin. Those are the WEINERS. This is about WIENERS. As we have now officially left North Carolina, I’ll comment on the intense competition in the hot dog world in that state. There was so much yelling about being “the best” that we naturally had to sample the claimants. From Jimmy’s in Winston-Salem to Costco to Yum Yum on the campus of UNC at Greensboro and JB’s on the way to Charlotte, we tried those who yelled the loudest, or who made it onto the pages of the Sterns’ Road Food. Pictured here is a sampling of the competition:
Besides deciding that Costco in Greensboro was the most over-the-top example of American retail excess we have ever seen, we did decide that their hot dog – a real foot-long, shown on foil – was the best North Carolina wiener, though it did not come with the more typical NC chili and slaw. What do you expect from Yankees? (Particularly those who have experienced Cincinnati’s Skyline chili one-way two-way three-way.) So the Costco’s wiener was the winner. And Anthony D. probably won’t be.
Yesterday we left Columbia and briefly toured Augusta, Georgia, before heading to Aiken SC. Unless you’re a golfer coming to watch the action, not much to see in Augusta. We did tour the Morris Museum of Art before we left.
Aiken is a lovely town. However, most Northerners come down here as part of a long-established Winter Colony, and they come with their horses. Many of the streets are unpaved out of consideration for their hooves, and the place is loaded with mansions, stables and equine-related services. We dined at the lovely Willcox Inn, where I would have needed about 10 more pounds of jewelry to feel properly dressed. You get the picture.
We arrived yesterday evening in Beaufort. In South Carolina, it’s pronounced “Bewfort,” whereas in North Carolina we visited “Bowfort.” (In case you are reading this aloud.)
More on Beaufort tomorrow. Today is laundry day!