Dining in North Carolina's
historic restaurants can make
for some palatable surprises.
’orth Carolina's
historic restaurants
offer some surprises
for the palate. I law you
ever tasted vinegar pic?
Tried pickled sausage?
Eaten the morning catch?
Sampled garden lettuce smothered
in hot bacon grease? Made a meal on
wild game? I low about sawdust salad,
southern caviar, skid-row stroganolf,
firc-and-icc tomatoes or humming¬
bird cake?
The recipes don't sound too appe¬
tizing on first impression, but almost
any diuei who is willing to tty them
is pleasantly surprised. They're also
usually pleased with the unique stir
roundings that historic restaurants
across the state offer. I lere's a sam¬
pling of the vat iety of dining ex|>ci i-
cnces that await the traveler in the
Tar I lecl State:
The Colonial Inn, Hillsborough
Since 1 759. good home-style cook¬
ing has been standard hire at this inn.
one of the country's oldest in continuous
operation. British General Cornwallis,
who angered Hillsborough residents
when lie laiscd the Royal Standard in
1781, made the inn his headquarters.
Dolley Madison and Aaron Burr,
Thomas Jefferson's first vice president,
also paid visits to The Colonial Inn. Dur¬
ing the Civil War. Yankee soldiers had
begun to strip the inn of its luinishings
but stopped when owner Octavia Stroud
waved the masonic apron.
Carlton and Saia Mi Kee (sought the
inn in 1989. They run it as a family busi¬
ness. with frequent assistance from Sara's
parents. Joe and Nancy Fountain of
Hillsborough ’s Colonial Inn, which dales back In
/
759. once senrtd as headquarters for British Gan
era! Cornwallis.
Charlotte. Guests love spoiling the McK¬
ees’ two small children. The current own¬
ers have not altered the inn's eclectic
appearance, except for a few cosmetics
or a change of the menu.
Old South cuisine is prepared by cooks
who have worked at the inn for many
years. Offered evenings and all «lay Sun¬
day and served by long-skirted waitress¬
es. the menu includes favorites such as
fried chicken, baked ham with raisin
sauce and Eastern North Carolina bar¬
becue. All of it is served with a choice of
two home-cooked vegetables, hot breads
and homemade apple or peach cobbler.
Dishes are offered family-style in a cheer¬
ful dining room, papered in cabbage
roses. Steaks, prime rib. seafood and
other dishes are also available. The
luncheon menu includes some of
the same entrees, as well as soups, sal¬
ads and sandwiches. A full country
breakfast of ham or bacon, scram¬
bled eggs, biscuits and all the trim¬
mings, served to overnight guests
only, is included in the room rale.
•The Colonial Inn, 158 West King
Street. I lillsborough. Call (919) 732-
2461 for more information. The
restaurant is open Tuesday through
Saturday from 1 1:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
for lunch. 5 to 8:30 p.m. for dinner
and on Sundays from 1 1:30 a.m. un¬
til 8 p.m. Lunch is S5-$8; dinner $7-
SI2.
Tire Daniel Boone Inn, Boone
A mountain tradition since 1959.
the Daniel Boone Inn is known far
and wide for its country cuisine.
Guests line up year-round for the
family-style meals of fried chicken,
country ham. vegetables, homemade
biscuits and dessert (usually strawberry-
shortcake or chocolate cake). Meals start
with a salad in the summer and soup in
the winter, and black cherry preserves
and stewed apples arc always served. Hu-
full breakfast is just as filling as lunch and
dinner — ham. sausage, bacon, eggs,
red-eye gravy and cream gravy, grits,
plain and cinnamon biscuits and stewed
apples. In the summer, diners spill out
onto the wrap-around porch and the
llower garden after a tiu-al.
Founded by Mr. and Mrs. S.L. Whit¬
taker. the restaurant is now owned by
Gene Wilson and Jim Pall. Calvin Wilson
has been the manager for more than 20
»T OnriPtfWt
The SiJtc/J'cboijrv IW
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