Goldsboro & Eastern North Carolina

"The shrine of Eastern North Carolina BBQ. Since 1962."

Wilber's has been smoking whole hogs over wood coals since 1962, and the result is the definitive expression of Eastern NC BBQ — chopped pork with vinegar-pepper sauce, coleslaw, hush puppies, and cornbread. This is a pilgrimage destination for BBQ enthusiasts.

"Everything pork from the source."

Just outside Goldsboro, Nahunta Pork Center processes and sells local NC pork — BBQ shoulders, whole hogs, and cuts not available at a grocery store. The attached restaurant is simple and excellent.

"A 90-foot exposed riverbank of geological strata. In eastern North Carolina."

The Neuse River eroded 90-foot exposed bluffs through layered geological strata — a geological oddity in flat eastern NC. The park has a lake, trails, and the dramatic exposed cliff face where the river cut through. One of the more surprising landscapes in the state.

"The NC coast without the Outer Banks crowds."

The Crystal Coast — Bogue Banks barrier island with Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, and Emerald Isle — is 70 miles east of Goldsboro. The beaches are less developed than the Outer Banks, the water is warm in summer, and Fort Macon State Park (historic Civil War fort with beach access) anchors the eastern end.

"The Research Triangle. Three universities and a real food scene."

The Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) is 55 miles west — home to NC State, Duke, and UNC. Durham has undergone the most dramatic food revival of any mid-sized Southern city in the last decade. American Tobacco District, the Durham Food Hall, and Alley Twenty Six are the anchors.

"One of three NC coastal aquariums. On the Crystal Coast."

The Pine Knoll Shores aquarium on Bogue Banks covers NC coastal marine life — sharks, sea turtles, stingrays, and an excellent loggerhead sea turtle exhibit. Combined with the beach, it makes a perfect Crystal Coast day.