To be frank with you, I truly went to the National Capital Barbecue Battle because my best friend of twenty years, Adam of Shirtless Mike’s BBQ, was participating with a vinegar spray bottle in hand [I know, ingenious]. These are his blue gloved hands below [salivate assured that the vinegar bottle is hooked and dangling from his belt loop, because well, as everyone knows, you need both hands to pull].
As I milled about the tents, I kept coming back to these guys, below, the almighty bag pipers. They had an undeniable similarity to the piles of condiments, being that the group erected together in one area, but were obviously pretty much the same.
And, to my knowledge, they did not cover Elvis Presley’s Pork Salad Annie.
As I only arrived to the bbq battle at the pigtail end of taste judging, many samples had already been whisked away from tables and tents, and I could only score some feast with the only man you really want to score some feast from anyway, Shirtless Mike. Opposite sanitary rules and regulations, Mike posed for this portrait below shirtless as his barbeque name celebrates. I argued that the apron should seemingly be okay, and perhaps counted as a halter top.
If I haven’t really said so yet, the pork was delish, and while I don’t think Shirtless Mike’s placed in the top six, who wants to be as famous as Dave anyway?
www.bbqdc.com
Amazing pics lex. Love the one of me with the sign.
It’s going straight up on my blog (http://shirtlessmikes.blogspot.com)
We may not have placed top six, but we’re now all hopelessly hooked on competitive barbecue.
Hope you can come back next year and be our official team photographer.
Great Job!
June 24, 2008 at 12:59 pmi HATE HATE HATE vinegar-based BBQ with a passion. but most carolina bbq folks hate the sweet brown sugar based ones that i love.
also, i’ve yet to find any worthy BBQ around here to eat anyway. *sigh* it’s been a long two years in the district without good bbq.
i prolly would have tried to go to this, but been quite fearful unless there were some memphis folks in the fold.
June 24, 2008 at 5:15 pmIt was a Memphis in May competition….so yea i think there were some Memphis folks in the fold…
June 25, 2008 at 11:01 amI will shamelessly go anywhere to see my son.
Thanks for the pics, Lexie
king’s barbeque in NC is the best.
June 24, 2008 at 12:02 pm