Edenton Coffee House, Edenton, North Carolina

After a long day of driving and eating, the Four Horsemen of the Porkapalypse, John Shelton Reed, Dan Levine, Allan Parnell, and I, headed to Edenton for the night. We stayed in a rental that had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a living room. Dan, being the youngest, got the couch in the living room. Allan got one of the beds in the tow-bed room, and John and I threw fingers for the one-bed with the bathroom. I won, sorta. The bathroom was accessible only through the bedroom and, well, there was some traffic.

We rose with the dawn, went back to sleep, and finally got up. We all strolled down to downtown Edenton where we broke our fast at the Edenton Coffee House.

First, try though you might, you won’t find a place much prettier than Edenton. It’s small but positively dripping with history as an old, old port city. Tell me, have you ever seen a federal courthouse to match this?

Neither have I. The new ones are all … can I say butt-ugly in a family blog? No? Oh well. The new ones all lack beauty, big time. And turn around from that view of the courthouse and you’ll have this view.

Oh, and there’s so much more. There’s the historic Cupola House (1758), from which thugs/gentlemen from the County of Kings, aka Brooklyn, made the owner an offer she couldn’t refuse and removed sundry historic panels from the cupola house to the Brooklyn Museum. We four immediately started a campaign for the return of the paneling, which we hope will soon bear fruit. If not, you’ll hear more.

When will I get to the food? At once. We entered the Edenton Coffeee House. It was hopping. It’s a nice blend of the pretty City coffee house

and the rare coffee house with actually good food.

We placed our orders — coffee plus various foods. I didn’t keep track. I personally ordered a biscuit sandwich with sausage, egg, and cheese.

A triumph! A very good biscuit, a fine country sausage, and a reasonable amount of egg and cheese, all nicely balanced. The biscuit had a good buttery flavor and a pleasant texture. It held up throughout my eating of the sandwich. The more biscuit sandwiches I eat, the more I appreciate the combination of flavors and textures, all in equipoise. You can’t beat a country ham biscuit, but a good country sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit like this beats anything but the tenderloin flat. At least so far. I shall continue my researches.

While I do that, be sure to plan a trip to Edenton. It truly is a lovely town with a spectacular architectural heritage and much else to recommend it, not least a good barbecue place, of which we shall hear anon. Meanwhile, high-tail it to Edenton.

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