Currituck BBQ Company North Carolina BBQ- Road Trip Part II

To read Part I of our road trip click here: Antique Road Trip Post.

Now as my cousin would tell you, "You simply can not come down South and not have some good old Fashioned North Carolina Bar-B-Que."  I love that road trips allow you to get a taste for local culture, instead of just a view of the tourist hot spots.  So when my cousins told us we would be stopping at the Currituck BBQ Company for lunch I was one happy camper.  Its right off of the main strip heading down to the Outer Banks so it makes a great stop for family's traveling to and from the beach. 

The menu has a nice selection of BBQ favorites along with southern sides like green beans, potato salad, and fried okra.  The prices were very reasonable for the serving sizes too. After much debate I ordered a regular sized pulled pork platter with baked beans and mac and cheese. Once you decide on what you want you can either grab a table in their dinning room or a bench right outside.  Since it was raining when we stopped we opted for the dinning room with the great cozy country kitchen feel.  There are booths as well so don't worry about coming with a large group.      

Despite the constant flow of people the staff was very polite and managed to keep up well with the rush.  We received our food quickly and it was everything my cousins promised it would be.  The pulled pork sandwich comes without BBQ sauce so you can choose one of the six they provide you with on the table and customize the sandwich to your liking.  There were too many good options to just pick one so I decided to split my sandwich up and give a few of them a shot.  Of the four I tired (North Carolina, Brisket, Sweet Brisket, and Larry's Original) I thought the Larry's Original was the best.  The mac and cheese was creamy and flavorful and the baked beans were the perfect combination of smokey and sweet.  I loved everything I ordered but I think my favorite part of the meal was the fresh hush puppies.  I didn't order them because in the past I found most places serve mushy oily corn balls.  I decided to take the word of a local when they said these were the best hush puppies around and give them one more try.  Wow were they right! These tiny little snacks were perfectly crisp on the outside and bursting with moist rich flavor on the inside.  They were so good you don't even need the butter they give you.






















This BBQ joint will be a definite stop on any future North Carolina road trips.  I may not be an expert on down south BBQ but I do know that this food tasted great, there was a constant line of locals looking for their regular BBQ fix, and the large map by the door shows that people have traveled from all over the US just to get a taste of this North Carolina BBQ. What to do if you fall in love with the food but don't think you will be back anytime soon? Not to worry they have a shelf just for you filled with their BBQ sauces and other goodies.  Just because you don't live in the south doesn't mean you can't take a taste of North Carolina home with you!

Antique Road Trip

O'Neil's Antiques

I know when I set out to write this blog I wanted to focus on crafts, family, and life in NYC. Well I can't help it is my love of crafts and family are also tied into my love of travel. This Thursday (yes during the blizzard) my family and I started out on a road trip from New York to North Carolina to visit some family. Since the weather was bad we decided to drive about half way and spend the night near some of our favorite antique stores around the Delaware/Maryland border on Rt. 13. If you haven't figured it out already I am infinitely interested in tradition. I am a firm believer in understanding your roots before you can grow and spread your branches. So I guess it is no surprise that antique store amuse me. Walking through an antique store is like walking through a mini time capsule.

Loving all the books I found

One of our family's favorite antique stops is O'Neil's which is a few miles before you hit Maryand.  We have been coming here for years and absolutely love the big collections of estate jewelry, antique furniture, and treasures spanning a few centuries worth of nostalgia.  We were saddened to see that within the next few weeks the store will be closing.  The lovely couple who owns O'Neil's have decided after over 25 years they will be retiring.  On the bright side appointments can still be made to view their jewelry at their home.  Since everything was pretty much on clearance I went to work digging through each section looking for treasures. (Yes that is me sitting on the floor exploring craft books... the owners did say to make myself at home :)

Maybe I'm addicted, but at least its a healthy addiction

While there are so many beautiful things I would love to buy I decided I would focus this expedition on finding craft books, patterns, tools, and supplies.  I love looking through books to get ideas.  Many of the crafts I grew up with in my family seem to have faded as video games and computers have become the way to entertain so its pretty difficult sometimes to find resources.  Antique stores are a great place though to find these lost treasures.  Usually I feel lucky if I find a book or two but this trip I guess I was rewarded for braving the winter weather.  I  found so many craft resources that I actually had a hard time picking which books to buy and which I had to leave behind. With just two antique store stops I had literally piles of new craft goodies.  If you are looking for a cost effective place to load up on supplies antique stores, thrift shops, and yard sales are a good place to start.

Holding some of the new craft stash!

As for our followers, you can look forward to many new items in our Etsy Shop within the next few months.  The hardest part is going to be deciding where to start!  There are so many good ideas that inspire new items for my personal collection as well as the shop.  I even found some patterns I remember my Nannie working on when I was a little girl.  I love when we find little trinkets that remind us of our past.  Nannie was such an important part of why I am the crafter I am today so those things that remind me of her are extra special.  Antiquing turned out to be a successful part of the trip but we still had a few hours drive until we could begin our weekend getaway with some of our Southern relatives so we once again hit the road.  While flying is definitely a faster way to travel I wouldn't give up our road adventures for the world.  There is nothing like meeting new people, discovering hidden sight seeing gems, and spending time with your family.

We continued driving down south and decided to take a route that would bring us over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  For those of you who have never traveled this strip it is a combination of tunnels and bridges with a beautiful view of the water.  We were lucky enough to hit it just as the sun was setting.  The view was so colorful that we decided we couldn't just quickly pass it by.  Instead we stopped at their rest area.  There is a restaurant there with water views as well as a gift shop and convenience area. It is also a great place to stop and take a few family photos or just enjoy the spectacular view.

After all the snow we have had in New York this year it was incredibly refreshing to stand by the ocean on a warm day, listen to the seagulls and the churning of the water, and watch the sunset.  On that note, I will update our readers next post on the rest of the trip!

A sunset so perfect it almost doesn't seem real

For Part II of our road trip adventures click here!