“Federal agents late
Tuesday afternoon tramped
through the underbrush
and mucky ground to
capture one of the most
modern and sanitary
whiskey distilleries ever
landed on this section of the
country,” the article reads.
oday’s
Lanes
Ferry has
a far less
nefarious
reputation with Big Mac
and his wife Marie peddling
home cooking and eastern
North Carolina BBQ instead
of 200-proof whiskey. Like
a 1917 article from The
Dispatch states, Highway 210
is “used by a heavy volume
of travel,” and getting there
on a Friday right when lunch
begins is the trick because
Big Mac just pulled the pork
hours before.
Sometimes using a whole
hog from nearby Clark’s
Sausage and sometimes
using choice pieces like Swift
Premium butts, he starts
the weekly process every
Thursday evening by lightly
seasoning the pork with a
little mustard base rub.
“You don’t need to
use too much seasoning,”
McManus says. “You can
season it all you want but
at the end of the day you’ve
mostly just wasted it.”
Having opened Lanes
Ferry Dock and Grill
a year and a half ago,
McManus says he got his
start in BBQ doing whole
hog pig pickings for
family and friends. Out
of his trucking business
and looking for a hobby,
the store became available
and he and his wife seized
the opportunity.
Top: Kenny “Big Mac” McManus in
the doorway of his smokehouse
where everything cooks just a little
slower. Bottom: Big Mac surveys
three trays of slow-roasted pork
that will soon be pulled and stored
for the day’s run of BBQ plates and
sandwiches.
T
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