The End of Bob Garner's 2nd Restaurant Road Trip

Full moon after sunrise

Taylors Creek & Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve

We were up with the sun this morning. Clay announced that he couldn't believe he had slept all night. I pointed out that he slept from 11:30pm to 6am which is about the same amount of time he would spend sleeping in the living room on a weekend day. He agreed that in that light, it was not as impressive a feat. Clay went out looking for an angle nearby to watch the sunrise and did not find one. Our view is more or less to the west, which puts the sunrise somewhere across Beaufort. We did get to see the full moon setting as the sky lightened up. By the time we were both showered and packed up it was time for breakfast.

The Inlet Inn provides a continental breakfast with their rooms. You can either call and have it delivered to your room or go to room 309. (I think I have that right! It is on the 3rd floor across from the elevator.) This is a kind of lounge for the inn and has a little loft and widows walk above with a bit better view than ours on 2. The rest of the 3rd floor rooms do not have balconies. Anyway, we thought it was going to be a kind of help yourself thing, so we went to the 3rd floor to eat and check out the view. It turns out that they prepare trays for every occupied room and that is what you get whether you show up in person or call for delivery. Either way, you can make special requests within the limited parameters. For example, Clay did not want a bagel so they left one off our tray, Clay did not want coffee, etc. So, we got a coffee for me to start and went out on the widow's walk for a while, but it was cold and breezy. The temperature changed today and while still nice for February, it was more in the normal temperature range than Saturday which was glorious and very warm for this time of year. We went back in and picked up one of the 2 News & Observer papers that were out and I took out tray up to the loft area. I continued to watch Carrot Island for horses while I had a bagel with cream cheese and another cup of coffee and Clay had 2 muffins and 2 orange juices while reading the paper. There is seating up there for 4 but no one else ever joined us. In fact, most people seemed to be calling in for delivery and we only saw a couple of other folks come in to the lounge area. We did not linger long.

Beaufort's Old Train Depot

We went back out and walked more of Historic Beaufort. Still nothing open except churches. We walked to the bridge from Morehead City and then back to the Inn. By then it was time to reload the bus and depart for lunch.

Once onboard the bus, Bob repeated the announcement he apparently had made and we had missed in the Hatch House yesterday. Our caterer for lunch outside Farmville had canceled the day before we left. Bob had scrambled and called his old friends Bum & Shirley Dennis of Bum's of Ayden and their son had agreed to open on Sunday and put something together for us. This was a great treat even with short notice and short staff and a limited menu. Too bad it wasn't always them and they could have put on their normal hot buffet line for us with brunswick stew, collards and chicken pastry. Anyway, with a staff of 3 they did an excellent job and we enjoyed another wood cooked whole hog (served chopped bbq style this time!), fried chicken, cole slaw, bbq potatoes, corn sticks and warm banana pudding. Delicious! I don't know how I lived this long without ever eating banana pudding warm before! I even make it and have never thought about eating it steaming from the oven! Oh my! I ate 3 bowls full! When I saw it was steaming, I ate the first bowlful before I ate my lunch! It was another great surprise. We bought T-shirts and later they gave us each a nice Bum's coffee mug with the warning that the phone number on it was misprinted! That's OK we aren't likely to be calling. So, we got some great souvenirs to boot! After dinner we had a tour through the kitchen and to see the whole hogs in the walk-in cooler and out to the smokehouse where a new pig had been started for tomorrow's lunch. We have been to Bum's a number of times and drive through frequently to go to Grifton to visit Clay's family, but this was a special visit.

Bob covering the journalist covering our visit to Bum's

Bob with Bum's lunch

Another whole hog in Bum's smokehouse

The drive back to Raleigh went quickly on 264 and their were a lot of people napping again. The folks going on to Greensboro got woken up when the Raleigh loaders departed! It was a good trip. Sadly, it will be our last Bob Garner trip for a while. The April trip goes from Charlotte to Pinehurst. While it sounds like a good trip and we were interested in it, we just couldn't find a way to justify going to Charlotte to join it. Bob and Ruthie said onboard that they were on the verge of cancelling the April trip anyway because participation was not high enough to justify the trip. That's too bad. They haven't posted a trip after that, but Bob said that next up he would repeat the 1st trip's itinerary. While we enjoyed that trip, we probably won't sign up to repeat it. So, there you have it. We do have our next trip planned already though. It is in March and we will go to Atlanta for a weekend. There is more to do there than a weekend's but we are limiting it. We've both been to Atlanta several times before but we plan to do things we've never done before. So, stay tuned I'll be back next month with a new trip to report.

Ayden!

Down East Feast at Core Sound Waterfowl Museum & Heritage Center

So, we drove for nearly an hour over land, and over water, to the end of the road at what we were told was the south end of Harkers Island. It was some kind of dark out there! The building looked like it would be an amazing sight in daylight. It was pretty impressive and wildly detailed in moonlight! Loved the high tower and I will tell you up front that after dinner we went up there and walked around the outside to look at the full moon and to see the Cape Lookout Light go around. Again, it must be amazing in daylight.

Famous Scallop Fritters

Oysters Rockefeller du Nord

The gift shop was open as we entered and that is where we went first to make sure to get Clay a T-shirt. It was a nice one and he let me hold it back to be a gift later. Then we went to the great hall and got at the back of the line for bread, cheese, fruit and the honor bar of wine and beer. There were servers wandering around with trays of Oysters Rockefeller du Nord and the Scallop Fritters for which they are famous. Clay liked both, but he couldn't get enough of the oysters. He was praying they would serve some of those oysters just raw on the half shell, but had to content himself with several as served. Shortly after we obtained our beverages, they announced that we should find seats.

Bob with my bread, cheese and Pinot Grigio

Stewed Duck, Duck, Goose & Rutabagas

So we did and they soon started filling table glasses with ice for either iced tea or water. We happily wound up sitting with our bus driver Herb Poole and his wife Carol (I think that is right!) as well as Rodney, our evening's storyteller (or "fish house liar" in the local vernacular) and his friend as well as 2 of the Menhaden Chanteymen and their family. It was a very interesting and enjoyable evening. For some reason, we had missed or forgotten the information about the evening's entertainment and we were completely surprised and delighted by it. I had never heard of the word "chanteyman" before and I asked the first local who sat with us what it meant. She told me to ask the guy 2 seats down from her since he was the leader of the Menhaden Chanteymen. He was starting to describe a time before electric net winches and keeping the workers in sync by song when I realized we had seen that in India. I went OH, I know what you're talking about, we've seen that but didn't know it had a word. He was sure I had never seen it, because I don't believe he had ever actually seen it... I mean he is a part-time chanteyman now and had performed at Carnegie Hall, and he had learned the songs from his father and uncles, but they had stopped fishing like that by the time he came along. There is no longer a menhaden fishery on the NC coast! I assured him we had seen a fishing operation doing exactly what he was describing just off the coast of Cochin, India. We heard them before we saw them and though we couldn't understand the words and we sailed on by so it only lasted for less than 15 minutes, it was the same as tonight's performance.


"Pastry" I think with beef and carrots...

 But, first we all had dinner. It was a self-serve buffet line with dessert table service and self-serve coffee. I want to say upfront that it was all good! I will let the photos/captions serve as our menu.

Grilled Country Style Pork Ribs

After dinner, Rodney got up and told what were basically folk tales with locally detailed embellishments. In fact, my Grandpa used to tell the first one he told about "sitting up" with the dead but Grandpa's version had no electricity! So, I was ready for Rodney's punchline. He was a good storyteller. Then it was time for the Menhaden Chanteymen. They were really great too. It was a special evening.

Baked Flounder w/potatoes and onions

We were turned loose to tour the museum at our leisure after dessert and we loaded the bus sometime after 10pm. It made for a long day, but an enjoyable one. We collapsed into bed at the Inlet Inn about 11:25pm and really appreciated the very comfortable bed. It was very quiet all night long and we slept like the dead until the sky lightened through the window blinds I had left open for some light in the room. I will stop here and pick up the rest of the trip report in the morning with a new entry.

The weekend's only Collard Greens

Shrimp Stew

Sweet puppies w/ice cream & lemon cream pie

Full moon over Beaufort, Taylors Creek & Carrot Island

The Inlet Inn & A quick walking tour of Historic Beaufort



Our room 203

203's fridge/coffee nook

We arrived at the Inlet Inn on Front Street in Beaufort, NC about 5pm. Bob announced that the Inlet Inn wine and cheese at 5:15pm was cancelled and that instead he would like us all to stay gathered in the parking lot for a group photo. We had wondered why no group photo last time when he had a professional photographer along. Anyway, getting the bus parked was a problem and then there was a scramble for luggage and keys and then everyone had scattered. So, no photo at that time. Ruthie asked for someone on the 2nd floor to help an older single woman up the elevator to her room. Our keys were on the 2nd floor, so we volunteered. We went to our own room and dropped our bags and checked out our very nice balcony view room and then went out to find some drinks for our fridge and to sight see. The view over Front Street is of the Beaufort Docks, and across Taylors Creek to Carrot Island and the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve. There is supposed to be a herd of Banks horses inhabiting Carrot Island. We watched closely when we were able, but we never spotted any movement of any kind of animal over there! Bummer.

203's balcony view of Carrot Island over Taylors Creek

 Historic Beaufort's Front Street

We had about an hour of free time before both sunset and time to board the bus for Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island. So we set off down Front Street and found almost everything except the Drug Store closed. Very disappointed that we would miss the museum as well as the rest of the attractions here by arriving too late and leaving too early, but let's face it we booked the trip for the food and these things that precedence timewise! Oh, well! We went into the Drug Store and bought some drinks and then set off to find the Old Burying Grounds. We saw a lot of charming and well restored/well kept homes as well as the Beaufort Historic Site. We got back to our room just in time to refresh, deposit our drinks in the fridge, see the sunset from the balcony and get on the bus. Now I went to Harkers Island as a child probably in the late 1960's and I remember that we went by ferry. So, I was a little worried about this trip in dark! That bus is tall and has really springy shocks, so it sways back and forth, back and forth. I was heavily medicated with meclizine and wearing Sea Bands and I still did not feel too good on that bus. So I was a little freaked out about this evening's trip to Harkers Island! For seafood, no less! But, I will not tease you, there are bridges! And food other than seafood! I will give you some photos here and come back with a new post for the details of our Down-East feast. Do remember that you can click on any photo to enlarge it to full-size and then back arrow to return to the blog.

Old Burying Grounds, Historic Beaufort, NC

Old Burying Grounds, Beaufort  - We never did get in!

  

Beaufort Historic Site

Historic Beaufort marker, end of old town, start of new town





The Inlet Inn from the dingy pier

Sunset from our Balcony



We're off for Down East feasts!

New bus signs!

Although this trip began in Greensboro, we joined in West Raleigh at the same pickup point as last November. We noticed something new as the bus approached the parking lot! Bob and Ruthie found signs for the bus! We were happy to reunite with Bob and Ruthie Garner as well as Herb Poole, the same bus driver we had last trip. Herb's wife Carol came along this trip!

We loaded up and found empty seats near the back of the bus. Last trip there were only 22 participants. This time there were 34 making for a fuller bus. In addition, we loaded last this time. Last trip recognizing this, some of us from the front of the bus sat in back for the return trip. But, this time around everyone treated their seats as a birthright. The only people that moved seats were escaping behind us to not sit at the windows with the signs. Now the signs were see through and nicely done, but depending on how the light was shining through, sometimes you could see through and sometimes not. So, we can understand why those folks moved away from those seats.

A pretty full bus this time

We were underway by 10:45am and as soon as we were on I-40, Bob and Ruthie started serving mimosas, orange juice or champagne. Weirdly enough no toast was offered this time.

We arrived at Waynesborough Historical Village about 12:30pm. Bob had rented the Hatch House here at this park for our catered lunch. We used the restrooms in there and some people ate indoors. But, Bob invited us to use the picnic tables under trees near the Grady's pig cooker and buffet table since it was such beautiful weather, 70 degrees F and not a cloud in the sky, for February or any other time. We took him up on that offer and enjoyed the weather, food and the park.

Whole Hog!

Lunch was catered by Grady's of Dudley, NC. It is a very small place with only a dozen or so seats and no website, sorry. They served us a wood barbequed whole hog served pig pickin' style! Sides were served right at the cooker and were green beans, boiled cabbage, cole slaw and hush puppies. It was all good. They asked us what we wanted and plated it for us. I don't like pig pickin's for obvious reasons. I don't really want to know where my food comes from! Anyway, when asked what part I wanted, I kind of gagged and said I didn't know. Clay turned and called out tenderloin over his shoulder and I got a chunk of nice lean meat. I asked for no slaw or cabbage and got about the equivalent of a full can of green beans! The hushpuppies were good too. Clay got some kind of meat as well as ribs. He loves ribs! I went off to find the place where Clay had placed our drinks on a picnic table and missed what he asked for. Clay had to go into the Hatch House and get us a cup of BBQ sauce for the meat. We shared.



Bob stares at Clay's pork ribs


After lunch we skipped dessert. They were serving it inside the Hatch House. It looked like 3 kinds of sheet cakes. 2 with frosting and walnuts and 1 with whipped cream and strawberries. We refilled our drinks and went for a walk on the shortest of the trails on the trail map we had picked up on our way to the Hatch House. The map said it had a view point over the Neuse River and we found it. There was a long trail with a view point over the Little River as well and walking past the conjunction of the 2 rivers. But, we went back and went through most of the little historic buildings instead.

Clay and Little Bob appreciating the Neuse River view

This was a really nice stop and it was nice to have plenty of time to visit the park. It was very interesting. I lived in Goldsboro for a while and did not know about this historical park. It turns out it began in 1986 so it was after I had left the area. We reboarded the buses and set off for Beaufort. (prounounced Bo Furt). You might imagine that there was a lot of napping onboard our bus and you'd be right!

I will come back and continue this trip report after we arrive in Beaufort.

We're back from our 2nd Bob Garner Restaurant Road Trip

Pasted below is the text of the email we got in January inviting us to return for another Bob Garner Restaurant Road Trip. We booked! And we're back! As I get through the photos, I'll post more entries telling you all about it. In the meantime, here are the tour description and itinerary from Bob and Ruthie. Enjoy!

 

Our State Presents…Bob Garner’s Restaurant Road Trips

Next Trip: February 19-20 to Beaufort from the Triad and Triangle

Our State and I are inviting  the next group of North Carolina ‘foodies’ to join us on an overnight restaurant and seafood tour  to North Carolina’s Crystal Coast on Saturday and Sunday, February 19 and 20. Since 1983, Our State has been North Carolina’s premiere travel, history and culture publication.

We’ll leave by comfortable, deluxe motor coach from Greensboro on Saturday morning, February 19, headed for the charming Inlet Inn on Beaufort’s historic waterfront.

After stopping in Raleigh to pick up Triangle area travelers, we’ll and continue on to Goldsboro area, where we’ll stop at Waynesborough Historical Village for “some of the best hardwood cooked, whole hog barbecue in the Coastal Plain, if not the state or the entire nation,” prepared by Stephen and Gerry Grady of Grady’s Barbecue in Dudley (“Our Favorite Foods, Our State, November 2009). Our eastern-style barbecue feast will include all the trimmings, including Grady’s delectable country vegetables, crispy hush puppies, creamy coleslaw and a mouth-watering homemade dessert.

The Inlet Inn is located directly on the historic Beaufort waterfront, with terrific views overlooking Taylor’s Creek, the Rachel Carson Estuarine Reserve and Shackleford Banks. On some days you can wake up and watch the wild horses graze just across the water.

After getting settled into our waterfront-facing room, we’ll embark on a short coach ride to Harkers Island and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center, where we’ll enjoy a traditional Down-East dinner, be entertained by humorous stories about the area and listen to local music with a historical flavor from the area’s famed “Menhaden Chanteymen.” (Part of the proceeds from the trip will go to benefit the Museum/Heritage Center.)

On Sunday morning, there will be plenty of time for a stroll along the Beaufort Waterfront and a continental breakfast (saving room for the big meal to come) before we depart for Farmville.  There, we’ll feast on fried chicken with “firm-yet-yielding texture, exemplary juiciness and dreamy flavor,” (along with an impressive array of ‘fixins’) at a farm-style Sunday dinner lovingly cooked by  Debra Strickland, formerly of famed Strickland-Dail Dining and Catering of Farmville and Snow Hill (“Our Favorite Foods,” Our State, November 2009). Debra now owns and operates Debu Cafe and Catering in Greenville, and she’s one of the best-known caterers in eastern North Carolina when it comes to home-style Southern cooking.

Saying goodbye to some of the group as we pass through Raleigh, we’ll continue on to Greensboro and journey’s end, arriving in late afternoon.

The all-inclusive price for this adventure is $350 per person, double occupancy, and $400 single occupancy. Alcohol will be available at dinner on Saturday, but will be on a cash basis.

Complete details and online registration are available at bobgarnerbbq.com.

Here’s the itinerary for our February 19-20 Restaurant Road Trip to Beaufort from Greensboro, Burlington and Raleigh to Beaufort. We are so excited you’re going to be joining us!

Saturday, February 19

 8:15 a.m.          Bus arrives at 800 Green Valley Drive, Greensboro (pick up point)*

8:45 a.m.           Depart for pick up point in Burlington

9:15 a.m.           Arrive at 2316 Maple Avenue, Burlington (pick up point)**

9:30 a.m.           Depart for Raleigh pick-up point

10:30 a.m.         Arrive at 1511 Sunday Drive, Raleigh (pick up point)***

10:45 a.m.         Depart for Waynesborough Historical Village, Goldsboro

12:15 p.m.         Arrive at 801 US Highway 117 Bypass S., Goldsboro (lunch stop)

2:00 p.m.           Depart for Beaufort, NC (Inlet Inn)

4:30 p.m.           Arrive at 601 Front Street, Beaufort

6:00 p.m.           Depart for Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center, Harkers Island

6:45 p.m.           Arrive at 1785 Island Road, Harkers Island  (dinner and entertainment)

9:30 p.m.           Depart to return to 601 Front Street, Beaufort (Inlet Inn)

Sunday, February 20

7:00-9:00 a.m.   Continental Breakfast: Room 309 (Lounge) or delivered to room

10:00 a.m.         Depart Inlet Inn for 2245 Knox School Road, Farmville

11:45 a.m.         Arrive at 2245 Knox School Road, Farmville (lunch stop)

1:30 p.m.           Depart  Farmville for Raleigh

3:00 p.m.           Arrive at 1511 Sunday Drive, Raleigh (drop-off point)

3:15 p.m.           Depart for 2316 Maple Avenue, Burlington

4:15 p.m.           Arrive at 2316 Maple Avenue, Burlington (drop off point)

4:20 p.m.           Depart for 800 Green Valley Drive, Greensboro

5:10 p.m.           Arrive at 800 Green Valley Drive, Greensboro (drop off point and end of trip)

*From Wendover Avenue, take exit for Benjamin Parkway and go northwest .4 mi. Turn right  onto Green Valley Drive. Go .5 mi and bear rt. again to stay on Green Valley. 800 is 144 ft. on the right.

** App. ½ mile north of I-85/I-40 on Maple Avenue (exit 145) –  large parking lot of Granddaddy’s Antique Mall. Park in the area closest to Maple Avenue, near Asian Market.

*** Take the Edwards Mill Road exit from Wade Avenue and go south to Trinity Drive, passing the RBC Center on your left and Cardinal Gibbons High School on your right. Turn right on Trinity Drive, then make the very first left turn (app. 100 yards) into “Trinity Place” office park, then the very first right turn into the parking lot. (You will see the number 1511 over the door of the office building on the right.)

Odd & Ends:     We’ll have complimentary wine and cheese at the Inlet Inn at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday (before leaving for dinner at 6:00 p.m.), if time permits. Wine and beer will be available on a cash basis at dinner on Saturday. The cost of the trip covers everything else, including gratuities.

On PBS TV

If you've been reading then you may recall that we went on Bob Garner's Inaugural Restaurant Road Trip last fall. He had a videographer with him to record a bit for North Carolina Weekend, a local PBS show. Well, I've finally found the clip posted on the website and here it is. I appear in all my porky glory about the 5 minute mark next to Carl Curry. Only Clay's shirt appears next to me. http://flash.unctv.org/ncweekend/12232010highlandlakein.html