A VISIT TO KINGSTREE, S.C.

Jessi Knight, grant coordinator for Sen. DeMint, with USDA officials While Sen. DeMint seeks to eradicate wasteful earmarks in Washington, he is equally dedicated to ensuring South Carolina has access to compete for funding through merit-based grants. As a result, our staff has a designated team of grants experts -- Danielle Gibbs and Jessi Knight. This week the state's USDA office in conjunction with our grants staff sponsored one of many statewide workshops in Kingstree, S.C. The workshop was a success. It was delivered with absolute precision and professionalism, with several attendees leaving armed with funding information and will no doubt help to improve the community. This was great, but there was still another item of business which had to be addressed prior to leaving Kingstree: barbecue. The history of Kingstree preceded my visit. My greatest mentor was born and raised there and spoke many enchanted tales of Williamsburg County. I’m familiar with King Charles II of England’s Lord Proprietors marking an unusual white pine tree on the Black River as the king’s property, never to be cut, giving rise to the namesake “King’s Tree.” I know the soulful sound of Teddy Pendergrass and brilliant mind of Noble Peace Prize winner Joseph Goldstein were rooted there. I’m even familiar with the lurid tale of the “whip snake” which allegedly rolls like a wheel until it catches its victim and whips him. But nothing symbolizes the history of this sleepy town like barbecue. A trip to Kingstree for me is incomplete without a layover at Brown’s Barbecue. There for 26 years, it is a community cornerstone. The cooking process involves the meat (pork and chicken) being slow smoked over wood until the meat is falling-apart tender. It is basted with vinegar and spices and served with delectable sides. Heavenly! There you have it. Kingstree is primed for growth and progress, but their barbecue is a firm example that some good things should never change. Brown's Barbecue in Kingstree, SC

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