One of the things I wanted to do when I retired was visit all 100 counties of my home state, and eat barbecue. It started this week with Skylight Inn in Ayden NC. Next week will probably be Grandpa’s kitchen in Littleton NC. Not a barbecue restaurant per se, but it’s my mom’s hometown from back in the thirties and they have a good rep, including barbecue.

I’ve been to a lot of ‘cue joiunts in NC, but there are plenty I haven’t visited. Suggestions encouraged.

 

Congratulations on retirement. 13 Bones is good for a chain. At least the couple of times I have been there. Mt. Airy

 

Wilburs in goldsboro,nc

 

I had to look it up - I didn't think there were that many counties in a state that size. I was wrong ....

 

544 miles from Murphy in the west to Manteo in the east.

 

NC one outstanding place to ride a motorcycle. The back roads second to none. You got the mountains of western carolina,eastern carolina and then the beaches. Lots to see and do all over the state.

on the backroads you’ll hardly see many cars,road surface in great condition. I can pull left or right out of my driveway and ramble for hours. Have infotainment gps so i dont worry about getting home. I do pay attention to gas gauge. Not to much gas station action on the back roads. There are some occasionally just not many.

the riding is pretty much all year round too.

 

Sounds like a great venture, have fun.
Report back on the [places you think have the best Q...

 

In my neck of the woods a few with the best word of mouth reviews: Stubbs and Sons in both Carthage (Moore County) and Sanford (Lee County). It also appears to be associated with Allen and Son in Pittsboro (Chatham County). There’s also Chirpy’s Bar-B-Q near Bennett (Chatham). It has a great reputation around here but I’m not 100% it’s actual restaurant. They used to sell to local restaurants, stores and such…. Then there’s the Pic n Pig in Carthage that drew people in from all over. It’s on an airstrip and and folks would fly in for lunch. It burned down but is supposed to be re-opening.

Good luck, sounds like a lot of fun.

 

Next time your down this way, Morris’s bbq in Hookerton .. it’s about 20 minutes from Ayden. It is in Greene County… it’s only open Saturday morning and it closes when they run out. Short of a Pick picking it’s in the top 10 that I’ve had.
What did you think of Skylights inn?

 

Doing one of these places at one per week will take about two years and by doing this perhaps your waistline and your heart will survive these experience(s)!

But the main thing here is that you keep a journal to document and rate these places and periodically post them here in case some of us want to visit some of these eateries

Here in Michigan we have a "Coney Island Tour" (hot dogs) and my riding partner as indicated that he may interested in doing this run sometime during the 2022 riding season but I've told him that this will have to be done in day trips as I cannot eat coney dogs day after day even though they're on the top of my favorite foods list!