Down East BBQ tastes like drinking a bottle of apple cider vinegar...said the old boar with is nose curled up like a gilt. In 3+ decades, I never acquired the taste for vinegar based BBQ, Most be a taste acquired in the womb.
We'd zip down HWY 70 to Wilber's in Goldsboro. Another joint claiming to be the 'best". While I can't attest to the BBQ, I can say the Brunswick stew was without a doubt the best I've eaten anywhere. It was so good, Wilber's didn't pay their taxes and NC DOR shut 'em down.
Wilber's was a mandatory stop for presidential candidates politiking.
Having lived in Cary for 33 years, its good to be back along the SC coast in the land of shrimp and grits. Cary was too far from the beautiful western NC mountain streams holding native Rainbows and Browns. And too far from the beautiful inshore estuaries of the Outer Banks and Down East.
All the good SC BBQ joints have closed up in SC since my high school years in the 60s and 70s. I guess the Bessingers who enjoyed cooking in the pits have all died off and their kin have little interest in continuing the tradition. Bessinger's joints today are not the same as 40 years ago.
The best ever in SC BBQ (IMHO) was Robert's (a Bessinger's) who worked the pits and golfed with Arnold Palmer. Sadly, both now passed.
Robert's is still open in North Charleston, but, not quite the same as the 70s.
Current issue of
Southern Living has the "Best of the South" lists, including bars and BBQ joints. I've made it to 8 bars and 7 BBQ joints over the decades. While I liked BBQ joints on the list, the bars visits bring back immediate fond memories.