Stew, 'cue & ECU

My cousin Johnny and I are both big barbecue lovers and we decided to go on a weekend eating trip to eastern North Carolina.

Friday January 25

Johnny left his house outside of Baltimore around 9:30AM and made his first stop at Sally Bell's in Richmond, VA.


Sally Bell's is a bakery that also makes box lunches. Johnny purchased a lunch

with a ham sandwich (made with Smithfield ham), potato salad, deviled egg, shortbread cookie and a cupcake.

He was very happy with everything he ate, especially the potato salad which was sweet and the potatoes were chopped into small bits.

While Sally Bell's has pies, cakes and other goodies available, they are probably best known for their cupcakes and he bought four of them for the road (more on that later).

http://www.sallybellskitchen.com/

After arriving in the research triangle area, Johnny headed for Allen & Son in Chapel Hill, known for their barbecue. Here is his food.

He really liked the pork, which was both chopped and chunky, leaving big and small pieces of the meat. But he gave his highest marks to the brunswick stew and called it the best he has ever had.

Lots of dessert choices here

and he had an order of peach cobbler to eat there (which he said was awful) and a piece of pecan pie (which he thoroughly enjoyed) to go.


http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=216&RefID=216

For someone making his first attempt at taking food photographs, I think Johnny did a remarkable job!

Much more to come, including I get to finally make an appearance in my own trip report and Johnny constantly reminds me how good the places he went without me were.....

Aha! It runs in the family, obviously! Johnny did indeed do a fine job with the photographs.....of course he had a really good teacher!

Looks great! But I'm surprised you got pictures at Sally Bells- when my husband (then fiance) and I stopped by on the way back from our trip to the Keys, he snapped a picture of me in front of the counter (quite like yours), and one of the staff behind the counter started screaming at us for "taking her picture" and DEMANDING that we give her our camera (a disposable). First of all- she was nowhere near the picture (and certainly not in it), and secondly- the camera was filled with the undeveloped photos of fiance's proposal on a sailboat at sunset the week before- like hell I was giving it to her! She made quite a scene, and the manager had to come intervene. Not a happy event. Granted, perhaps we should have asked permission before snapping a photo, but quite honestly, it just never occured to us that it would be an issue! We hurried out of there real quick...

Hey BB, may I hire Johnny to take all my close-up food pics? This pecan pie shot looks like it's from Gourmet magazine, ye gods! Chris

mtbuckingham-
Wow! That does seem like a bit of an overeaction on their part. Johnny said he did ask first and the pretty young lady (in the photo) who waited on him said she would ask the manager. The manager came out and said no problem as long as he included the young lady in the photo. Johnny did not mind this a bit!

I agree it is always a good idea to ask. If I am taking pictures of my own food or the outside of the building, I just go ahead. But when I start taking photos of other people or the food in the case, I usually ask first. I have never been turned down when I ask.

lleechef-
As always, you are much too kind!

Yeah, lesson learned. And we were very apologetic throughout her screaming. We're nice, if a bit naive and innocent. But she wasn't going to let us out of there without taking our camera! So embarassing (and there were other customers in the store watching the whole spectacle).
Still don't know why she thought we were taking a picture of her. The manager (owner?) didn't seem to mind that we took a picture of her case (with me smiling in front of it), but she did seem horrified by the situation.

Allen and Son's still does it the old way....one of the top
q joints in the world.

buffetbuster, thanks for[url='http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2344']remembering Sally Bell's[/url] -- the great RoadFood outpost in Richmond, Virginia. This place is still great and very much worth the detour!

I hope you went a little out of you way to get by Wilber's in Goldsboro on your way to Greenville. I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

i95-
Since they are open only Monday through Friday, I haven't been able to get their myself. Luckily, Johnny was willing to tell me over and over just how good it was. I'll get there someday. How about the weird way they frost their cupcakes? Anything that puts more icing on it is okay with me!

Hillbilly-
I'm happy to say, I didn't let you down!

quote:

Originally posted by mtbuckingham

Yeah, lesson learned. And we were very apologetic throughout her screaming. We're nice, if a bit naive and innocent. But she wasn't going to let us out of there without taking our camera! So embarassing (and there were other customers in the store watching the whole spectacle).
Still don't know why she thought we were taking a picture of her. The manager (owner?) didn't seem to mind that we took a picture of her case (with me smiling in front of it), but she did seem horrified by the situation.

Witness Protection Program????

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

i95How about the weird way they frost their cupcakes? Anything that puts more icing on it is okay with me!

For those of you "not-in-the-know" amongst Richmond's underground cupcake militia, Sally Bell's, after baking its homemade cupcakes, turns them upside down before heavily frosting both the bottom (now top) and all around its veritcal side.

To quote some now forgotten food priestess, "yummo."

i95-
I'm not a joiner by nature, but how do I get to be part of the underground cupcake militia?

mtbuckingham-
At Keaton's BBQ in central NC, they have signs up that say "No photographing employees without permission first". That is the only place I have ever seen it.

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

i95- I'm not a joiner by nature, but how do I get to be part of the underground cupcake militia?

Please. It's Richmond, for God's sake. Twenty dollars in Confederate money and knowing where Stonewall Jackson's arm is buried practically makes you a legacy.

Friday January 25 cont.

After relaxing at the hotel for a few hours (he says he didn't take a nap, but I think I know better), Johnny headed for Raleigh-Durham airport to pick me up. My plane was supposed to land at 7:55, but of course was running well behind. By the time I got outside it was 8:45, where Johnny was waiting. We headed to Chapel Hill to eat at Mama Dip's,

which closes at 9:30. Luckily, we made it with a few minutes to spare.

Johnny went for the barbecued 1/2 chicken

and even though it looks kind of dry, was actually quite moist. Both his macaroni & cheese and mashed potatoes sides were good, but nothing special.

Knowing what a good carnivore I was going to be the next few days, I went for the four vegetable plate.

I loved the porky string beans and flavorful greens. My fourth choice was fried okra, but they ended up being out. So, I switched to okra & stewed tomatoes

which I also enjoyed.

Good cornbread and tiny biscuits come with your meal.


For dessert, Johnny had the rum raisin bread pudding

and I went for the yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Simple, but delicious!

But we both agreed that our favorite item here was the peach-mango lemonade.


http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=4819&RefID=4831

From there it was a 10 minute drive to out hotel in Durham.

Much more to come.....

quote:

Originally posted by i95

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

i95- I'm not a joiner by nature, but how do I get to be part of the underground cupcake militia?

Please. It's Richmond, for God's sake. Twenty dollars in Confederate money and knowing where Stonewall Jackson's arm is buried practically makes you a legacy.

Kurt

Can you break a confederate $50 from Mississippi???

I want to join too!!!!

Saturday January 26

Johnny and I arrived at the Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen in Chapel Hill just around, well, sunrise.


To say that this drive-thru only place is tiny is an understatement. Here is part of the breakfast menu, which you can read if you have really good eyes!


We decided to order a bunch of biscuit sandwiches and split them in half, so we both could try them all. We pulled over to their very small parking area and ate in the car. The first we pulled out of the bag was the ham biscuit.

Big, soft, fluffy biscuits and the ham was just what you would expect from a good country ham.....salty with a powerful flavor.

Next, was the pork tenderloin biscuit.

Very good, but not as good as the ham.

Next, was the fried chicken biscuit.

WOW!!! We both loved the crunchy crust and juicy meat of the chicken, which seemed to go especially well with the biscuit.

Finally, was the bacon biscuit.

Although there were four strips of good bacon, the biscuit to meat ratio was way off here. If we had to do it over again, we would have added an egg to this biscuit.

Two large sweet teas completed our order, which in total cost just a little more than $10.00 bucks. What a bargain!

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=4834&RefID=4836

It was time to head east and eat some serious barbecue. But with such a long drive, we needed some snacks. So, I pulled out the box of cupcakes from Sally Bell's. Here is the devil's food cupcake

and you can see what i95 was referring to about the sides and bottom are iced instead of the top. Interesting and delicious!

Much more to come.....

Saturday January 26 cont.

After about a two hour drive, we pulled into the small town of Windsor and found Bunn's Bar-B-Q.

You have to love Roadfood places in ex-service stations!

Even though there is a dining area with tables and chairs in the back, Johnny and I like counters. After looking over the small menu board hanging on the wall,

we both settled on combo plates.

There was just a little bit of sauce on the moist, tender pork meat and I was happy to eat it this way for a while. But, I did want to try some of the vinegary sauce available. Good, but the meat didn't really need it.

My best of plate award goes the the outstanding cole slaw served here at Bunn's. Fresh tasting with the perfect amount of vinegar, this is how I like my cole slaw. Really enjoyed the sweet tea, too. The one item I didn't particularly care for was the flat cornbread, which was too tough for my taste. Johnny did eat all of his, though.

The nice lady working the counter took a photo of the two of us.

It was tough to put down the fork for a few seconds to pose!

On the way out, we walked around looking at old photos and other memorabilia, which Bunn's has plenty of.

The owner was telling stories about how high the water was during Hurricane Floyd and how many other times they have been flooded out. Nice people, good atmosphere and first-rate 'cue.....Bunn's Bar-B-Q gets a big thumbs up!

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=2161&RefID=2130

While we were in Windsor, we drove just down the street to another place that is reviewed here on Roadfood, Powell & Stokes.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=2159&RefID=2129

Even though I knew the store was closed on weekends, I was hoping there would be a sign saying where locally you could buy the peanuts. Having no luck, we went back to Bunn's to ask them. They weren't really sure, so I decided to just mail order them when I got home.

I'm having a lot of trouble with my internet connection at home tonight, so I am going to keep posting these in small increments. Sorry!

Much more to come.....

Saturday January 26 cont.

Nowhere near being full yet, Johnny and I headed south for the tiny town of Jamesville and Cypress Grill. I ate here about a year ago and wrote of my experience in this thread.

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18115

Only open from January to April, they are famous for their river herring. The building itself really is nothing more than a shack

and sits so close to the river, you would think that herring just jump right in through the windows.


When we went in and sat down, the one waitress remembered me right away and even pointed to the table I sat at. The owner, Leslie Gardner came over and started chatting with us and explained that due to underpopulation, no river herring was available again this year. Obviously, this is bad for business. In fact, he told us he considered not even opening this year. They are hoping to have the river herring sometime in March, but aren't really sure.

Though disappointed, there are other things on the menu to eat. Johnny got a combo with salt herring fillets and catfish, along with sides of stewed potatoes and cole slaw.

The herring (right foreground) were salty (but not too much so), crunchy with a strong flavor. Johnny, a big catfish lover, was very happy with that, too. The stewed potatoes are kind of bland (Johnny added salt and butter), but the cole slaw is creamy and sweet.

I went for the salt herring/shrimp combo with sides of the potatoes and apple sauce.

For dessert, they have really good homemade pie here. Johnny's chocolate pie

was ultra-dense, without being too rich. My lemon pie (our waitress was incredibly nice, but isn't too skilled at cutting pie) was a winner, too.


Here is their pie case, which also held pecan pie and coconut cream.


After finishing with the meal, we lingered for a while talking with Mr. Gardener about several topics, including the reasons for the herring population issues. For his sake and the restaurants, I hope the issues get resolved.

Before I left, I snapped a photo of the inside of the place.


Even though I have been here twice and they haven't had their specialty, I really love the Cypress Grill. Although the food is good, it isn't anything spectacular. But Roadfood atmosphere-wise, it is at the very top of my list.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=2738&RefID=2746

We did drive around the corner to check out River's Edge Restaurant, another river herring place. I went in to double check to make sure they didn't have the river herring either and they also said hopefully March. Since there was no reason to eat there, we moved on.

Needing to do some sightseeing before we would have appetite again, we drove further east to Plymouth. In my guidebook, it recommended their civil war museum. But after several unsuccessful attempts to find the place (even with a GPS), we left.

We headed to Greenville and East Carolina University, home of the Pirates. At the bookstore, I bought a sweatshirt.


Checking into our hotel in Greenville, we both ended up taking a several hour nap.

More to come.....

BB

It is good to see you out from behind the camera, Bunn's sounds like my kind of place.

AND

Who'da thunk you and MORE PIE!!

quote:

Originally posted by i95

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster
i95

Please. It's Richmond, for God's sake. Twenty dollars in Confederate money and knowing where Stonewall Jackson's arm is buried practically makes you a legacy.

Dearfolk,
The tack I would take would be to come in wearing my WGOE -- Progressive Radio Richmond t-shirt. Virtually anyone who was coming of age between 1966 and 1980 knew that station firsthand, and plenty of younger folks know it secondhand from all the airtapes that still circulate.
Snappily, Ort. Carlton in Photo-All-Too-Realistic Athens, Georgia.
P. S. It could be that the person freaked out because she's a werewolf and won't show up in any photograph. I think zombles have that problem, too....

Buffetbuster,
My congratulations AGAIN go to you -- another FINE roadtrip, well photographically documented and written up like a pro.
When my friend Glenn gets done working on my house and I can leave for a road trip, I've got to buy me one of those newfangled cameras and take a few pictures of the Roadfoodable places I go to... and have already visited. THEN I will have to learn how to work a scanner, but that oughtn't be too difficult.
That plate of 'cue at Allen & Son done made me HONGRY!
Cluelessly 'Cuelessly, Ort. Carlton in 30601-Land.
P. S. You ought to be able to find good 'cue in Greenville... it's the county seat of PITT County.

Saturday January 26 cont.

After waking up hungry from our naps, we made the short drive down to Ayden to one of the true barbecue shrines of the south, Skylight Inn.


This sign is sitting next to the driveway.

Since 1830?!?!? Wonder what the story behind that is.
Very close to the white sign is this old, weather beaten sign that looks like it actually goes back to 1830.


No surprise there was a line of people waiting to place their order. Johnny got the barbecue tray

while I went for the sandwich, which comes with the cole slaw right on the sandwich.


The pork here is incredibly moist, tender and has so much flavor, that sauce is completely unnecessary. The cole slaw was very creamy and on the sweet side. IMHO, this is one of the very elite barbecue parlors in the country.

A couple other interesting things about Skylight Inn:

* Leslie Gardner at Cypress Grill told us they don't have a cash register here and they hold their money on the back counter and make change with that. Sure enough, that is what they were doing.

* I usually don't have any problem understanding people from different parts of the country, but I just flat out couldn't understand the young guy who took my order here. But, I think that was due more to his mumbling than his NC accent.

As we were walking out, I asked Johnny if he had room for one more meal. Of course the answer was yes, so we drove almost an hour north to the town of Williamston to try Shaw's Barbecue House.


This place has a bigger menu than typical, which I usually consider to be a bad sign.


Both of us ordered the BBQ and Stew plates.


My just okay sides were stewed potatoes and string beans and I didn't really like the corn sticks, either. The pork and stew were both good, but suffered in comparison, considering where my previous meal was. Johnny also got a side of the cabbage, but said it was too mushy.

I don't really think I gave this place as fair a shot as I should. Oh well, gives me a reason to go back.

One thing I definitely did like about the place was this pig picture hanging on the wall.


http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=2116

Even though we were very full, we still stopped at the Sonic across the street from our hotel for hot fudge sundaes and cherry/strawberry limeades.

More to come.....

When you were in Ayden, did you stop at Bum's to get their collards and rutabagas?

You're doing it again BB, great job.

who'd you like better, Allen and Sons or Skylight?

Buffetbuster...

As usual....you know how to enjoy life.

I wish I can eat like that every weekend, unfortunately I have to settle for "healthy stuff" (except when I travel of course)

I'm glad to see the review and photos of Allen and Sons since I look forward to checking the place out in a couple of weeks.

Wow bb! What a weekend! Great review and of course your usual mouth-watering pictures.

Wow...this trip and the previous weekend trips are just sensational; those pies are to die for!! The cupcakes! The pork tenderloin sandwich! That cole slaw! Great report as usual. You have been BUSY! beth

Captain Morgan-
Since I didn't make it to Allen & Son, I unfortunately can't tell you. At the end of the trip, I asked my cousin Johnny which barbecue place had the best 'cue and he chose neither of those two places. But, I can tell you he praised Allen & Son over and over to me. Sorry I couldn't be more help!

brentk-
No, I did not make it to the place you mentioned. I noticed there was a little vegetable stand next to Skylight Inn. Is that the place you are talking about? If not, please give more details!

wanderingjew-
Like you, I couldn't possibly eat this way when I am home.....it would kill me. But, I have no doubt that you eat much healthier at home than I do.

CajunKing-
When I was sitting there eating that pie, I was thinking I knew you would be proud of me and I didn't want to let you down. Now, I'm going to have to figure out where to get pie this weekend!