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Our first ‘Best of North Carolina’ reader poll
PRODUCED ONE OVERWHELMING CHAMPION,
SOME PREDICTABLE WINNERS AND A FEW SURPRISES
THAT EVEN WE DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT.
When we sei out Iasi
September to find what our
readers liked best about
North Carolina, we had some ideas
about who the winners might turn out
to be. There were many categories,
quite frankly, that we thought would
be runaways, with one nominee get¬
ting most all the votes.
There was one vote-getter — just
one, mind you — that lit into that cat¬
egory- the month of October, which
routed the competition for the
“Favorite Time of Year." Perhaps sur¬
prisingly, however, the remaining
races were tight and down to the wire.
There were at least two dozen nomi¬
nees receiving votes in seven of the 10
categories. Maybe that tells us some¬
thing about North Carolina, perhaps
that this state has so many superlative
people, places and things that it’s dif¬
ficult to make a determination as to
who or what is the best.
So what we ended up with in this,
our first-ever "Best of North Carolina"
reader poll, were several races ending
in ties because of the stiff competition.
In the process, we found out about the
popularity of some restaurants that we
hadn't heard that much of. such as
Que Whiffle in Aberdeen, which
received several votes in the "Favorite
Restaurant" category, and Bee's
Barbecue in Greenville, which fin¬
ished as lunnerup in the “Best
Barbecue" competition. The best part
about all of ibis was that it offered
some great story ideas for upcoming
issues. We may soon
Ы1
paying a visit
H*-o h. Ion ll»l>
to the folks in Aberdeen and
Greenville.
You might recall that we ran a full-
page advertisement in last
September's issue asking readers to
answer 10 questions about some of
their favorite people, places and
things in the Tar Heel State. The
response was outstanding, we’re
happy to say. so much so that we plan
to make it an annual thing around
here. So expect the Best of North
Carolina reader poll to be a tradition
at The Stale magazine for years to
come.
For your trouble, we offered to
enter each ballot into a drawing for
two North Carolina travel videos —
the "North Carolina Video Travel
Guide" and "North Carolina Bed &•
Breakfasts and Country Inns." The
winner was Arlene Patterson of Pilot
Mountain, whose North Carolina
favorites include Maggie Valley. Long
Beach and Captain Bill’s seafood
restaurant at Lake Norman.
Congratulations, Arlene.
For Arlene and the rest of our read¬
ers who took the time to respond to
the poll, we thank you. Here are this
year's "Best of North Carolina" win¬
ners:
BEST BARBECUE
Winners: Stamey's of Greensboro , Parker's
of Wilson
Run nets nf>: Wilber's of Goldsboro, Bee's of
Greenville
Stamey's held up western-style
The Slatt/hrbnurv 19%
honor, while Parker’s made sure east¬
ern-style wouldn't take a back seat to
anyone. The overall edge went to east¬
ern-style. with three of the top four
vote-getters hailing from "Down East."
Perhaps the most surprising was that
the home of the Barbecue Festival and
North Carolina's unofficial barbecue
capital, Lexington, didn’t produce
one of the top finishers. Also, you
think more about seafood than barbe¬
cue when you’re talking about the
Outer Banks, but Bubba's in Frisco
has obviously impressed some people,
as it picked up a handful of votes.
At the risk of starting the third
World War, here's what Fd Plog of
Morrisville had to offer to the ques¬
tion of who makes the best barbecue
in the Tar Heel State: “No one. It’s
made in Texas."
While we wholeheartedly disagree.
Ed is entitled to his opinion.
FAVORITE INN
Winner: Grove Park Inn, Asheville
Runnerup: Sanderling Inn, Dark
The picturesque Asheville land¬
mark, which has hosted the likes of
Thomas Edison. Franklin Roosevelt
and Mikhail Baryshnikov in its 83
years, got the nod here. The
Sanderling is seemingly becoming the
Grove Park of the Outer Banks, with
resort-type accommodations and an
all-encompassing array of activities
available in a peaceful environment. It
was a strong second. This category
received the most nominees, as 30
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