Chili Cookoff!

Last night my friend Joan and I went to the Giles County Chamber Cookoff. For $5 you got a small black styrofoam bowl and a spoon. There were about 45 vendors serving chili, cookies, cornbread, and sometimes beverages.


Right away we scored an awesome parking spot, right on the square. We got out of the car and looked for the most likely line where we could get our bowl & spoon. Unfortunately, they ran out of spoons & bowls, so we had to go to yet another line (but hey, we walked fast & got there before other people :-D).

Our first stop was at the Chamber table itself, and the chili was great! We then skipped the next couple of tables, and stopped to try some "Hillbilly chili" (which tasted like watered down hamburger and gravy). Joan stopped and tried some other kind, and I went further down where a local guy is running for...something. He had free pop (which I snagged for us), and GROSS chili. It tasted like it had some kind of liquor in it. I shook my head at Joan, and found a trash can. We made our way around the square, tasting whatever struck our fancy (we both prefer thicker chili, so we were looking for that). I tried 2 different kinds of white chili. They were okay.

We stopped and watched the lady-men beauty pageant (one guy actually had pretty shapely feminine legs), which was funny, but I was too hungry to stand there and watch for too long.

One stop I made, I got the spoon to my mouth and started scooping off the chili, and literally almost projectile vomited it all back up. I immediately spit out what was in my mouth back into my bowl, and practically drained my pop just to get the NASTY taste out of my mouth. I then found another trash can and scooped all of that gross into it. I found another chili and managed to find out that tasted decent enough to get the grossness out of my mouth and mind.

We finished up the walk around the square, and decided to end the night with the delicious chili from our first stop, but unfortunately they had *just* run out. Literally. The guy in front got the last bowl. We told the lady dishing the chili out that it was by far the best chili on the square, and she was very pleased.

Both of us very full, we made our way back to the car, and went back to her house for relaxation and chatting.

All in all, I would do it again, but I'd probably be the less adventurous one and ask more questions before I hand over my bowl :-).