Sunday, September 28, 2008

One Big Saturday in Durham

The Occonnechee Speedway Car Show 

It was just a matter of time before I went to my first car show in North Carolina.  And even though I knew we were going to a car show yesterday morning, I somehow didn't realize until we got there...that this was Nascar.  But, it wasn't gaudy Nascar.  It was an old historic dirt track, now hidden in the woods, and lots of cool old cars on display.  The uniform of the crowd was jeans and t-shirts (mainly racing t-shirts), and there was an especially high concentration of men's denim shorts and cell phones on belts.  And thick accents galore.  

Here are some of the photos that Willie took:



(This truck is dedicated to JoJo.)


But, like any event, the real excitement was the food. I had a tasty $2 bbq sandwich (which was eaten before any photo could be snapped), some homemade ice cream (made right there from a John Deere ice cream maker) and some homemade fries.  I did not sample the fried bologna sandwich but was still impressed by the display.

(Food photos dedicated to Evan, food photographer extraordinaire)
There are those fries.  Mmmmmm.

This was the entertainment -- The Castaways -- who must be a great wedding band, as their second song was "At Last."  Although the crowd listening to the music could be counted on one hand, Ramsey, the Tarheels mascot, was there to make sure that someone was dancing.

From McCain to Obama

From the car show, we drove to the opposite end of the spectrum -- North Carolina Pride Day in Durham, which was held at the Duke Campus.  Men's denim shorts and cell phones on belts were replaced by all kinds of rainbows, skin, Converse, and teenagers.  

You can't have a Pride Day celebration without your drag queens.

Willie spotted this priceless t-shirt.

But wait, there's more....

As if our day wasn't full enough, we went out to our second Durham dinner -- this time to an expensive yuppy Thai place.  Very tasty, but since when does Pad Thai cost $12 in Durham?  (and portions so small that there were no leftovers -- WTF?)  At least I know that when I need Thai food, it does exist if I'm willing to cough up the cash.  

Humping Unicorns

By 10:00 PM, I thought the big day must be done.   However, we had run into two of Willie's mom's friends (a couple our age) at the Pride festival, and they had told us about a performance not to be missed that evening: the Cuntry Kings -- women who dress up as men.  Partly because their logo was one unicorn humping another, we dragged ourselves back out at 10:45 to a night club (there was parking right across the street -- it is Durham, after all), where we were just in time to catch the Kings' performance.  I thought it would be a band or something, but it was a group of women lip syncing to a variety of songs -- complete  with costumes and dance moves and all.  Some acts were better than others, and it kind of felt like an underground talent show.  The crowd of mostly women loved it.   Below is a picture from one of the acts, which was about what happens in the locker room after "fag football":

There was a dance party after the show, and we stuck around and danced for for a few songs.  

Yes, it was a crazy day in Dirty Durham.


4 comments:

evandebacle said...

Next time you're in town I will totally make you guys Thai food...and then photograph it.

Naomi Jane said...

Awesome! Can't wait!

Claire Just Claire Like Cher said...

Okay, while we're hitting Evan up for food, can I get the famously fantastic vegan potstickers from Mr. Evan on my next visit? Yessssss. (I've become the cheeky monkey of the UK, have I not?!) PS Let's all chip in and buy Jojo the fantastic orange truck!

OrangeMoJoJo said...

I love the orange truck!!!

Shannon was asking how many servings of fries you had (he hopes at least two) and whether the shakes are any good?