Bliss in Chapel Hill, NC

It's summertime and for puppeteers like me that means library performances as part of their Summer Reading Programs.

So, there I was in Chapel Hill, North Carolina performing our "Bathtub Pirates" twice for super audiences. Karin Michael has us perform there every year and it is always such a pleasure!

The performances were spaced just far enough apart to dash out for some lunch. Every time I read about some cool spot in some town I might find myself in, I put its name and address in my phone so that a quick search often yields an off-the-beaten track spot for a meal. Voila! Such was the case this day. I entered "Chapel Hill" and up popped "Merritt's Store and Grill." I had made a note: "Order the BLT. "

Now let me back up here a minute. I don't consider myself a vegetarian, I like to think of myself more as a "meat minimalist." More often than not I'll go meatless when given a choice. Bacon is often a source of conversation around our studio because I often refer to it as "the sidemeat of the devil." This is because some 20 years ago my wife Peggy said that we were to swear off bacon forever and ever. She had read some article about the horrors of eating bacon and what it does to us and promptly laid down the aforementioned edict.

However, she did not and does not adhere to her own proclamation. In fact, she may as well be known as the bacon queen nowadays. Her eyes have been known to roll back in her head like a shark in frenzy as she chomps down on some thick-slabbed applewood-smoked pork belly.

I have adhered for the most part. I understand that bacon makes everything better, but as a rule I steer away from it. But, I do have a little rule in my head that says if it is a component of something larger, it's OK every now and again. I'm not as bad as my quasi-vegetarian friend who utter this classic one time: "I'm a vegetarian unless there's meat for free somewhere." But, a BLT sometimes has my number.

Back to Merritt's Store and Grill. Unless you were a Chapel Hill native, or in the know about this place, I think you would definitely drive right on by it. Boy am I glad I had made the note in my phone. You enter the joint and head towards the back where two guys are serving up hot dogs, hamburgers and ta-da, BLTs. You can get a single decker, double decker or triple decker BLT. I opted to go middle of the road and went with the double decker.

Any good Southerner knows that a BLT has to be on white bread. Toasting is allowed, but not necessary. Duke's Mayonnaise. That shouldn't even have to be said or written. Salt and pepper.

In a short flash my double decker was ready. It was wrapped up neatly in waxed paper and handed over to the counter. I headed back up front for a large sweet tea, a bag of Miss Vicki's Jalapeno Chips and a USA Today. Perfect. I paid the exceptionally nice gentleman behind the counter and stepped out into the rising midday Carolina heat. There was an wire-mesh table open in the front yard and I spread the newspaper out and dug in. Four guys sat at the table next to me and ate hamburgers and BLTs and talked about the landscaping job they were currently working on.

I unwrapped the sandwich. It was a work of art. Vibrantly green romaine lettuce, crispy thick bacon and the star of the show, bright red heirloom tomato slices, streaked with pale yellow and tinged with salt and pepper perfectly. It was Heaven. I don't think I even read the paper. I just ate silently, in complete awe of this BLT's perfection. It was the best.

I wadded up my wax paper, gave the obligatory, silent guy nod to the landscapers, refilled my tea glass and headed back for round two at the Chapel Hill Public Library.