Krystal Square Off--2009

This picture pretty much sums up my shock of what went down on Sunday at the Krystal Square Off. Kobayashi is back, yall.

This year, our journey to Chattanooga started bright and early on Saturday morning. We fueled our bodies with food from the ever-delicious Bojangles; eating enough to hold us until we made it to Chattanooga. The ride started out pretty pleasantly until we got to Knoxville, then it started raining. Like a lot. We had to make a pit-stop right outside of Chattanooga to buy a raincoat for fear that this rain trend would last all weekend. We also hit up our first Krystal during this stop, excited to try some new products (well, new to us at least): the Crispy Onion Krystal and Sweet Bites. Oh.My.God. The sweet bites were out of this world delicious. Honestly, how can you go wrong with fried dough? The Crispy Onion was great too--a nice additional taste and texture to an already delicious little burger. Dark storm clouds still surrounding us, we decided just to suck it up and drive and hopefully check in to the hotel early. After almost getting the car stuck in a flooded Chattanooga street, almost running about five stop signs, and almost ruining the transmission of my car, we made it to our destination and could (luckily) check in early.

We thought we would just relax in the room and maybe take a nap, but we were anxious to get out and about in Chattanooga. Even though it was raining, we still wanted to make the most of our trip. We decided against going to Rock City, frankly because we didn't want to pay money to be miserable walking around in the rain. Instead, we hopped on the bus and rode to the NorthShore District. At the time we didn't realize this but we were riding the bus with some of Kobayashi's entourage, sans Kobayashi. Anyway, the rain let up a little and we were able to walk around to some shops at the NorthShore. Getting hungry again, we decided to try out Clumpies for ice cream. Clumpies was really cool--they microbatch their ice cream so it is of a good (and deliciously creamy) quality and use more butterfat than most ice creams. I sampled the Animal Cracker flavor, but something about blue ice cream freaks me out. We ended up opting for scoops of Butterfinger and Espresso Chocolate Chunk--both were great!


After our adventure to the NorthShore, we went back to our luxury accommodations (aka the Days Inn) to relax before the real fun was to begin. Around 6:00, we made our way across the street to the Sheraton Read House as we were invited by none other than Kenny Hammontree of Krystal himself to pick up our Krystal Counter shirts/attend the pre-KSO reception. This was really cool because we were among the first to see the new jerseys for the contest (a baseball style shirt) and really see what goes down the night before a big contest. After all of the rules were discussed, everyone was invited to go on the annual 'night before Square Off' trip to Krystal. We tagged along and gorged ourselves on Milkquakes, cheese Krystals, and even more Sweet Bites. I hate that I did not get any pictures of this event, but it was very interesting to see that although many eaters claim they don't eat the night before a contest, the majority couldn't pass up a few bites of food or sips of Milkquakes. I might be mistaken but I believe I saw Sonya Thomas eat three Big Angus burgers.

The morning of the contest, we once again had our traditional City Cafe chocolate chip pancake breakfast-this time omitting the whipped cream. As usual, it did not disappoint. We met up with Valerie at Greyfriar's and caught up with her over an iced mocha. This girl has some dedication. After working all evening in Chicago, Valerie left in the middle of the night again this year to make the ten hour drive to Chattanooga only to turn around and go back later that afternoon. Making our way down to the river front, it was time to begin our bunnette duties for the 2009 Krystal Square Off. Being assigned count for Eater X (Sadie) and Tim 'Gravy' Brown (Jamie), we were excited for the day to begin.

After meeting the other girls, though, we realized we missed an important memo. We weren't blonde. Every single Krystal Counter (except for one) had long blonde hair. At least that made us easier to spot on the TV broadcast! Even though we weren't in the blond-tourage, we still did our bunnette/counter duties with smiles on our faces--passing out thundersticks, cheering for the sackful challenge, shaking our pompoms on stage--we were regular-old-fashioned cheerleaders.

The stage entrance was interesting this year; if you couldn't see it on the live broadcast the eaters were raised on a lift to come up from the ground to the stage--nice touch, Krystal! The contest was about to begin and we were ready to start counting burgers for X and Gravy. During the contest, we pretty much zoned out on everything except for the judges so we would be sure to get the right points on our counter cards. You could tell even from behind the eaters that things were getting tense in the middle of the stage. At the countdown from 10, people were yelling and screaming for Kobayashi in the audience. The next thing I knew, Kobayashi was slamming his fists on the table, water was flying in the air, and a shocked look was on many faces (...including my own). Kobayashi freaking won! Not only did he win the Krystal Square Off, he dominated it. Eating 93 Krystal/Big Angus points, Takeru Kobayashi is now the new Krystal Champion. This was the first contest we had ever been to where Kobayashi took first place, so that was pretty darn exciting. Coincidentally, it was also the first contest we have ever been to that Joey Chestnut didn't win. I guess you could say we were good luck for him...until now.

The rest of the results are as follows:
Kobayashi 93
Joey Chestnut 81
Pat B. 76
Humble Bob 71
Sonya Thomas 65
Hall Hunt 60
Eater X 59
Erik The Red 58
Gravy Brown 52
Buffalo Jim 50
Badlands Booker 47
12th Man 8
...yeah, our predictions were pretty off.


After watching the re-play of the broadcast back into the hotel room, it was insane to watch how it all actually went down. Kobayashi inhaled those burgers. He didn't even look like he was chewing. He went on that stage with his new hairdo and ripped abs and literally made those burgers his bitch. I have a feeling things are going to be interesting over the next few months in regards to rankings and wins. God I already can't wait for the showdown at Nathan's!

We made the smart decision to spend Sunday night in Chattanooga as opposed to previous years of driving back home immediately after the contest, getting home in the middle of the night. Since we had some extra time in town, we made our way to the Bluff View Arts District of Chattanooga. Finding ourselves hungry again, we found Tony's Pasta Shop and Trattoria. This was a neat little restaurant with inside and outside seating. They had a nice variety of pastas, the prices were decent, the portions were just right, and the food was really good.

Meeting up with a few of the eaters later, the rest of the night was filled with some very interesting moments--from encountering a shady guy with a dog, witnessing beer chugging challenges, the resurgence of a germ-filled breathalyzer, shutting down two restaurants, roaming the deserted Sunday night Chattanooga streets, and eating mediocre biscuits & gravy with new friends, I'd have to say overall, it was a very fun night.

750-something miles, only a few hours of sleep, many hamburgers, sweetbites, and beers later, we are back in the great state of North Carolina--back to the old grind of work and school. It was an awesome trip, I only wish we had taken more pictures! The pictures we did take can be found here. Once again, we can't wait till next year. The Krystal Square Off just gets better every year!


--Sadie

Krystal Square Off 5

Re-Occurring Themes of our Krystal Square Off 5 Weekend:
gasoline, food, meeting cool people, and oh yeah… KOBAYASHI!

Our journey to Chattanooga started on Friday morning when Trey and I left Mooresville in the pouring rain to head towards the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Well, I guess the real journey started a few days before when we went through the emotional torment of deciding whether the gas crisis in Charlotte was going to keep us away from Chatty…obviously it did not.

Anyway... Trey and I picked up Jamie in Asheville around noon on Friday and set out on our second annual expedition to the Krystal Square Off. Since the Asheville Krystal had recently closed, we had to snack in the car to hold our hunger until we found a Krystal—which to our luck, would only be about an hour away in Newport, TN. The Krystal in Newport was cool--kind of like a Cook Out or Checkers if you are familiar with those--there was no dining room and there was a drive in on both sides of the restaurant. Bottom line of our lunch stop: We ate lunch in Newport, God's Storehouse is in Newport (see pictures), we found a gas station in Newport, the rain stopped in Newport and the sun started to shine a little. We love this town!

After a few hours of driving, we finally arrived in Chattanooga and checked into the Day's Inn and tried to figure out how we would spend our time in the city. After checking out some websites (chattanoogafun/eatfeats/etc.) we just decided to have a fun night out in Chattanooga on Friday. There was some motorcycle thing going on Friday night so we saw what that was all about out on our way to the Big River Grille/Brewery for some food and drinks. The food was ok, but the Oktoberfest beer was divine.

On Saturday, we went to the Krystal on Cherokee Ave (which is the oldest Krystal still open, we think) and ate breakfast and decided to explore Chattanooga some more. We found this cultural fest going on near the water front and spent some time hanging out in the North Shore district of the city, which is really eclectic and interesting. The highlight of Saturday, however, was going to the Hixson Krystal (a few minutes outside of Chattanooga) for an eater autograph session + some free food samples!

We were pretty freaking excited going into the autograph session, because we knew that the time had come for us to finally meet Takeru Kobayashi. We've met most of the other eaters before at some point in time, but this was the big one, the one we have been wanting to see in real-life for a long time; we were finally going to meet the guy who ignited our interest in competitive eating. We got to the Hixson Krystal before the eaters did so we just hung out and sampled some milkquakes and stuff. We when they arrived, some pictures were taken and then Kobayashi, Pat Bertoletti, Joey Chestnut, and Humble Bob signed some autographs. We got in the autograph line (ok...we kind of started the line I guess…) and met Takeru Kobayashi and even got him to sign our Kobayashi trading cards. It was pretty thrilling. We also got to see the other eaters—-who we also really love :-).

One of the turning points of the day, though, was when I met Tiffany, who works for Krystal. Tiffany was helping with the autograph session in Hixson, and coincidentally, was the person who was in charge of the bunnettes. I was able to talk to her at the autograph session and asked her who I would be flipping for at the Square Off. She asked me who I’d like to flip for, I said Kobayashi, and the rest is history. September 27th, 2008, I became Takeru Kobayashi’s official 2008 Krystal Square Off Bunnette and I will forever live my life by the mantra: ask and ye shall receive.

I spent the rest of the day doing whatever I could to get my mind off of the Krystal Square Off because I was really getting anxious and nervous about being on stage (and behind a legendary eater, nonetheless). So, we ate some DELICIOUS pizza at Lupi’s downtown, had some Chocolate Therapy at Ben & Jerry’s, and checked out a band, Harper, on the waterfront. The band was actually pretty cool—the lead singer was Australian and played a didgeridoo, which ruled. We called it an early night and watched Sister Act 2 on TV. I doped up on some Advil PM and slept like a baby.

Sunday morning, Trey, Jamie, and I went to the City Café (adjacent to the Days Inn) for our second annual traditional Pre-KSO Breakfast of Chocolate Chip Pancakes. They were quite possibly some of the best pancakes I’ve ever had in my life, but I was pretty anxious to get the day started so I couldn’t finish them. Jamie, the president of the Clean Plate Club/amateur competitive eater, ate all of hers. After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, packed up the car, and made our way down to Ross' Landing.

I hung out with Jamie and Trey for a while, scoping out the activities of the event, and went with them to find an up-close seat for the contest. After we sat down, we realized we were right behind Val, another competitive eating fan, who drove 10 hours just for the contest! It was nice to finally meet her in person after reading her stuff and looking at her pictures for a while. It was also fun to hear/see the Marshall Tucker Band play before the contest (ok it was also fun to see the mullet-clad MTB fans there too. Can I get a hell yeah for southern rock!?)

My bunnette duties officially started at noon; I helped hand out pompoms and thundersticks and balloons to the eating fans. Around one, we went and met the eaters on the water front to cheer them on as they walked to the stage for their introductions. I thought it was really cool that they came in by boat...it just kind of made me concerned for the ones who may get motion sick. ah well, it probably wasn't a long boat ride.

One of the highlights of the pre-contest was Badlands Booker's rapping! Until Sunday, I'd never gotten to see Badlands perform in real life so it was cool to see him from backstage. We were really excited to meet him too, and I must say...he is one cool dude.

The contest itself is all kind of a blur to me; it came and went so fast. I mean, at one point I was standing in the line getting ready to get on stage after the eater introductions, and the next thing I knew, I was up there flipping numbers to 86 (which was later reduced to 84). Thank goodness my wonderful husband Trey was there to video. It was so awesome to be on stage, though, being right in the middle of the action. Joey ended up winning, Pat came in second, and Kobayashi came in third. I was disappointed Kobayashi lost, but honestly, the whole thrill of just being there really overcame the disappointment. From what I could tell from behind the eaters, it seemed to me that Joey was pushing through faster and was on the track to winning throughout the whole contest. I was surprised, however, that no one beat the 100 mark; I expect to see 110+ burgers eaten next year!

After the contest was over, Trey, Jamie, Val, and I hung around to take a few more pictures. We also got to meet Rick Russo and his wife Sherri, SuperPaul, and a few others we hadn't yet met in real life. It sucked that we had to run off so fast after the contest; we'd have loved to spend another night in Chattanooga, but we had to make the 7 hour drive back home, back to the real world once again.

Overall, it was a great weekend; maybe the best weekend I've had in a while, but how could it not be good when it is based entirely around the mass consumption of burgers? This weekend couldn't have been possible without the fine folks at the Krystal restaurants we stopped at throughout the weekend, Brian and Tiffany who hooked me up with the bunnette gig, the people at Ford for building a car that can take us to many eating contests on decent gas mileage, and most importantly, Jamie and Trey my two compadres/fellow fans/sister & husband being the best travel buddies ever. I already can't wait until next year! Check back in with us soon, maybe Jamie will post with her opinion/thoughts from an audience point of view :-)

Sadie

Bad News/Good News

Bad News:

We didn't win the Chattanooga VIP vacation, however, the people who won seem pretty cool though. I guess we will be back to the ol' Days Inn this weekend instead of the Sheraton :-)


Good News:

I am going to be a Bunnette/Krystal Counter Card Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my God! This is really happening! Yet another reason why I love Krystal!
I emailed Krystal this summer to find out how I could become a bunnette...and I kind of forgot I even did that. Then, I got an email earlier this week from Brian, a Krystal PR dude, saying that he still had my email from this summer and that he had a spot for me as a Krystal Counter.
AHhh! I love this guy and Krystal and I am way excited to do my bunnette duties on Sunday afternoon.

I don't know who I'll be counting for yet, but if I find out before the contest, I'll be sure to let you know. Don't forget to watch Sunday at 2:00 on FSN!

Jamie, Trey, and I have decided to ditch school/work on Friday and head on up to Chattanooga and actually do some touristy things this year instead of driving up one night and coming home the next day. Hopefully there will be gas in Tennessee, but if we get stranded and have to miss another day of work, I don't think I'll be too sad.

See ya in Chatty!!
Sadie

Good things are happening

If you would have told me this time last year that my life would be going in an awesome direction, I would have laughed in your face and called you an idiot. But, as of recent, things that I could never even dream of happening to me have just fallen into my lap.

Just a few weeks ago I found out that they were building a Dairy Queen just a few miles from my new place. A Dairy Queen only 10 minutes away? What a dream come true...but the dream gets better. My mom was looking on Craigs List one day and found out that this particular Dairy Queen was hiring for a part-time Ice Cream Cake decorator. Of course, I jumped on that and emailed the manager immediately. The next thing I knew, I was hired for the job. In about two weeks, I'll be decorating ice cream cakes and serving the undying Blizzard needs of the greater Mooresville area. Holy cow. I can't wait!!! Not only will I get to spend my summer, as a newlywed, working at the coolest job in the world, I will also have the financial security of getting my summer teacher paycheck too. God this rules.

Yesterday, Trey and I went to the Nathan's Qualifier in Concord, NC. I didn't have a lot of expectations going into the thing... I knew I'd see Hall Hunt eat a lot of hot dogs and that was exciting enough for me. Little did I know what else was in store. Rich Shea was the announcer and right after the kid's 'Neat Eating' contest, he anounced that they would need some Bunnettes. And I was chosen. Oh my god. I was chosen to be on the stage flipping numbers. Another dream come true! Granted, it was just a qualifier, but who cares? It was awesome.

They only had two girls on the stage to flip for the two top eaters, and as luck had it, I was able to flip for Hall Hunt! As I was flipping, I remembered back to the Krystal Square Off and thought to myself "What would Kitty Krystal Do?". I flipped my numbers with the sign way up high and a smile on my face. It was glorious. Hall ended up eating 34.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, which shattered his 12 minute best from last year's qualifier. Great job, Hall!

What a fun day. Unfortuantely, my stupid camera died right after the kids contest so I have no pictures of the eaters or myself as a bunnette :-(

HOWEVER, there is a video on the Charlotte Observer website that captured this momentous event!
Video: Nathan's Qualifier in Concord, NC

Tuesday, I'll be heading off to enjoy 5 wonderful days in Cancun. I'll be thinking about Jamie the whole time, though, wondering how she's getting ready to compete at Myrtle Beach. I'm sad I can't be there, but that's nothing a few margaritas and a half dozen tacos can't fix.

Sadie