NC Barbeque Trail

Chowhound had a good exchange on barbeque places in NC. Let me comment:

1) The Skylight Inn in Ayden is the best. Hands down. No contest.

2) A barbeque restaurant with more than one location is by definition no longer a barbeque joint. It's a chain.

3) You can't make barbeque without burning wood. If you don't see a big pile of hickory or oak stacked up outside the restaurant, turn around and keep looking. Many places cook their pork butts in an oven. That's roast pork, not barbeque.

4) There's a severe shortage of decent barbeque anywhere near the beach. The only place that I can think of even remotely close to the water is Smithfields in Havelock, but that doesn't count for 2 & 3 above. I'd be interested in hearing any theories explaining this phenomenon.

5) The barbeque you make in your own backyard will be better than most restaurants, at 1/20th the cost.

You'll notice I gave Chowhound a nofollow link. That's because they do the same to all their posts. You've got to give love to deserve it back.

And I'm a bit angry with the moderators at Chowhound, who thought that a post on Operation Sauce Drop was off topic and deleted it, even though for the 10 minutes it was up it got several responses saying "Great Idea!" Sorry, but anyone unwilling to help the troops goes down several notches in my estimation.