This is a blog of my five-week exploration of culinary experiences in North Carolina. Baaswell Sheep is accompanying me and offering his own commentary on the trip, although he refuses to go into any place that serves lamb chops.
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This was an unusual day, reminding me that we really should get something to eat before leaving the area of our hotel, because you never know what, if anything you'll find when traveling the backroads of America. We headed north from Kinston, expecting to get lunch somewhere along the way, but there were not a lot of decent options. As we often do, we let a few places slip by during the first hour of the drive, expecting there would likely be something better to come, but this time luck was not with us. We stopped for gas and my companion was ready to just have lunch in the convenience store: it was one of those nicer, bigger chain stores, and they even had Cheerwine on the fountain, but dagnabit they didn't have any inside seating, and we were not about to sit outside in 94 degree heat, nor were we going to sit and eat in the car. So, we went on and in one small town we saw a Hardee's and decided to stop there: it turned out to be take-out only (never seen a take-out only Hardee's before), so we got back in the car and kept going. Ended up going all the way to Roanoke Rapids and having lunch at 3 PM at a Chick-fil-a. Not exactly a North Carolina specialty, but certainly familiar and it gave us something to eat.
Downtown Wilson, NC
I'd dare say the highlight of our day was going through downtown Wilson, North Carolina this morning on a whim and discovering a park full of crazy wind-powered contraptions up on poles. Color me impressed that my companion knew off the top of his head that they were "whirlygigs". We found a sign that explained that a local man named Vollis Simpson made all of these whirlygigs and displayed them on his farm, but as he got older he couldn't maintain them, even though people were coming from all around to see them. So locals got together and raised money to build this park and to carefully restore and maintain his many creations so that they can continue to "fly" in the park year after year. It is definitely a sight to behold, and somehow still pictures just can't do it justice.
Roanoke Canal, Roanoke Rapids, NC
For a moderate size city, we didn't see a lot to do in downtown Roanoke Rapids when we drove through. We went all the way north to the river and across then came back and stopped at the Roanoke Canal Trail for a brief walk. Unfortunately, on the part we went on, we really couldn't see much of the old canal. We got a nice view of Rochelle Pond, but the one bench was a bit too weed covered for our tastes, so we just stood until we were ready to walk back to the parking lot. Drove back to our hotel area near I-95 and went out to Weldon, which is smaller but somehow more appealing. We'll be going back there tomorrow to work in their library and check out a couple of antique stores there.
Cracker Barrel, Roanoke Rapids, NC
So, sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but as you might expect from the start of this post, we aren't going to bend over backwards to eat every meal at a North Carolina based restaurant. Trust me, we'd like to do that, but it's hard to find decent locally run restaurants in every place we visit. Tonight, we ended up at Cracker Barrel, which has really lost its appeal as a chain. For probably the third time in the last few years, we were asked to wait for twenty minutes because of a "kitchen hold". Why they can't properly staff their kitchens anymore is beyond me. Since we had lunch late, the wait wasn't such a big deal, but then once seated we were informed that they had no lemonade, and no salad dressings other than blue cheese. We ended up getting a caffeine-free soda, a bowl of turnip greens, a bowl of mac-and-cheese, and an order of biscuits. On the upside, the food we got was good, and the waitress gave us a discount, but overall they made a lousy impression on us. Have to wonder if this chain is destined to go the way of so many other well-known brands that have up and disappeared over the years …
Please note that all restaurant and product names are used simply for referential purposes and links provided as a courtesy. Reviews are the sole opinions of the reviewer: no restaurant has paid to be listed here, and no restaurant is being explicitly endorsed. In other words, go out there, try them all, and form your own opinions!
I'd dare say the highlight of our day was going through downtown Wilson, North Carolina this morning on a whim and discovering a park full of crazy wind-powered contraptions up on poles. Color me impressed that my companion knew off the top of his head that they were "whirlygigs". We found a sign that explained that a local man named Vollis Simpson made all of these whirlygigs and displayed them on his farm, but as he got older he couldn't maintain them, even though people were coming from all around to see them. So locals got together and raised money to build this park and to carefully restore and maintain his many creations so that they can continue to "fly" in the park year after year. It is definitely a sight to behold, and somehow still pictures just can't do it justice.
