Scenes From a Vacation: The Skylight Inn
WARNING: If you are a vegan out of principle, some of the following images will be upsetting.
I travel more than my husband, Mark, so I let him set the schedule and plans for our vacations. And my husband is a bit of a foodie, not so much for the trendy stuff, but for what he likes to eat. And he likes BBQ.
In our trip to North Carolina, then, one place that he needed to stop at was The Skylight Inn. Now, if you don’t know BBQ - and no, I am NOT talking about grilling, that’s what you do to hamburgers and hot dogs - The Skylight Inn has been feeding the people good, plain North Carolina whole hog BBQ. Yes, WHOLE HOG - and that is important. Most people think of BBQ as only a pulled pork sandwich. Now, there is nothing wrong with a good smoked pork butt - but that is just the shoulder of a hog. Whole hog gets you everything and with everything comes a wonderful flavor. And that includes the skin, which gives a delightful crunch to the finely chopped meat. Throw some vinegar-based North Carolina sauce on it and it’s heaven.
The Skylight Inn is in Ayden, North Carolina, just off of the new NC 11. It is nothing fancy - they serve pig, chicken, and a choice of slaw, beans, or potato salad. Get a piece of corn bread. Fill a styrofoam cup with sweet tea, grab some napkins, and eat. Come on, what more do you want?
But what you are eating is a meal crafted back in 1947 by Pete Jones. The entire hog is slowly smoked over a pit using wood and wood only. Then it’s chopped by hand on a wooden block. Is it labor intensive? Yes - the fires have to be kept stoked so that the coals are shoveled into the pit. It would be easier to throw the hog into a giant food processor to shop it up, wouldn’t it? But then, it would be Skylight BBQ.
The Skylight Inn is managed today by Sam Jones, Pete’s grandson (he also has Sam Jones BBQ up the road in Winterville). After our meal, I stepped outside to take a drone shot of the capitol dome over the restaurant - a nod to their designation by National Geographic as the BBQ capital of the world (and why not?) - and as I was walking back to the car, a man standing nearby approached me and threw our his hand.
”Hi, I’m Sam Jones.”
And so my husband and I got to meet one of the most personable chefs in the world of BBQ. Sam took us around to his ovens, his fridge, and his pit. He may hold high rank in the BBQ world but this guy was down-to-earth and cares about his community - heck, he’s even the fire chief. Let me show you his world:
Sam (left) explaining the operations to Mark.
The fire is kept going to make the coals for the pit. It is damn hot inside, let me tell you.
Locally sourced hogs ready to be smoked over wood.
The pit.
I’m half-Polish (thanks, Mom!) and we Poles know, the head has some of the best meat!
Low and slow. There is no rushing BBQ.
Across from The Skylight Inn is the home of Pete Jones and Sam just bought it. He plans to make it into a sort of culinary AirBNB. This is not a bad idea: first, the area of East North Carolina is beautiful and in addition to filling yourself with BBQ, why, you can then just pop down the road to have a meal at The Chef and the Farmer in Kinston, the restaurant of renowned chef, Vivian Howard. It will make a delightful country getaway. And more people need to visit such places. My God, if you don’t drive the back roads of North Carolina . . . Maine . . . the great Southwest Desert . . . Nebraska . . . and other areas, don’t say you have “seen America.” And certainly don’t say you have “eaten America” unless you stop, grab some pig and a cup of sweet tea, and sit down next to the locals. What you are getting at The Skylight Inn is more than a meal - it’s a plate of heritage.
Oh, and when you do go, make Sam happy by telling this worker he looks just like Glenn from AMC’s The Walking Dead. Get in on the joke.
No, he can’t pop his eye out for you . . .
BTW, if you go up to Sam Jones BBQ in Winterville, get the collard greens as a side. Seriously, best I have had. Oh, and the corn bread is flat and dense, and not sweet - you want it fluffy and sweet, well sissy, that’s just cake.