Going Whole Hog.

Dressed how you like it.

Asheville, NC – A cartoonist has drawn a bubble in our minds that Charleston may not in fact happen this time.

We’re wet and we’re cold. Moreso, we’re tired and comfortable in this surprisingly progressive enclave in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

For a moment, I exhale.

The hearty smoke of barbeque breathes stories into our noses, and we’re drawn, again, into Buxton Hall Barbeque. James Beard nominations fall from the ceiling, and onto our bills.

Here, we learn the bourbon-infused Cheerwine slushie does not actually contain wine.

The buzzing historic building in the South Slope was a roller rink in the 1930s and has seen various lives as an auto shop, a boat showroom and a paper company. Skaters chase galloping horses along the walls in a race that hasn’t ended in more than 80 years.

I chase pulled pork and brisket.

That race lasts far less time.