This is What Happens When You Make Stuff Up

I grew up in North Carolina.  Indeed, there is great BBQ in that state.  But not in Charlotte.  It's not a city know for great food of any kind.

Charlotte residents were ecstatic to hear this week that their city was selected to host the Democratic convention. But there was one line in the e-mail announcement from First Lady Michelle Obama that made locals say, "Huh?"

In listing Charlotte's many virtues, Obama named southern charm, hospitality, diversity — "And of course, great barbecue."

That was news to residents, who know that North Carolina's best barbecue lies farther afield. "We appreciate the compliments, and they're all spot-on until that last one," the editorial board of the Charlotte Observer newspaper wrote in a blog post titled, "Charlotte = great barbecue? Who knew?"

"Everybody knows to get the best stuff, you gotta drive north to Lexington," the board added.

A local Associated Press reporter quoted a barbecue expert, retired University of North Carolina professor John Shelton Reed, who said that Charlotte for barbecue was "like Minneapolis for gumbo."

Speaking of BBQ and the first lady...