Summer of ‘Cue was the perfect excuse to drive to Greenville to experience the 73-year-old James Beard-Award-Winning restaurant, Skylight Inn BBQ. After all, it’s the self-proclaimed Capitol of BBQ, with a replica dome sitting atop the vestibule. Skylight Inn is about as old school as it comes when it comes to the menu. Whole Hog Barbecue and fried chicken are the only two proteins on the menu. The side options are basic, too, with coleslaw, potato salad and baked beans your only options. But you don’t become a James Beard classic if you aren’t doing something right. The barbecue plate came with a generous portion of cornbread that was just the right mixture of sweet and salty. Don’t forget to save room for some banana pudding! On our way home from Lexington the previous week, we had the grand idea of inviting a farmer or someone else involved in the industry to join us on our trips so we could ask some questions. Bailee Arnold, who is a sow farm manager in Beaufort County, joined us for barbecue.
What you need to know: Despite what their website might say, Skylight Inn now accepts credit cards! And the friendly employees gave us a discount since it was our first time. (Sssh! Don’t tell!) They do allow indoor dining, but we chose to eat outside.
Road trip ideas: Greenville is also home to many iconic barbecue restaurants. B’s, Bum’s, Sam Jones and Parkers are also nearby. Visit Greenville isn’t open, so you can’t stop in to get a Pitt County Brew and Cue Trail Pass Pork, but you can still hit the trail. With plenty of breweries and barbecue restaurants in the area, there’s plenty to do. We also stopped by Simply Natural Creamery, a working dairy farm that makes their own premium ice cream. You can take a farm tour and hayride to learn more about how a dairy farm works or just get a scoop of ice cream and hang out and play checkers on the front porch. There’s also a playground that looked open for the kids.
For more ideas, check out Visit Greenville NC | Visit NC
~Jen Kendrick, director of communications and outreach