Oh, so sad for Windsor and Eastern North Carolina – Bunn’s is closed as of July 28, 2023 Driving up, you might wonder if this really is a restaurant. There’s a Texaco pump out front – that’s because before 1938, Bunn’s was a service station. Inside, old signs hang on the walls, but the minute… Read more
Local Attractions
Like so many of our old country haunts, Martin Supply has closed. This is my story about Martin Supply in eastern North Carolina. It was always the same. They buy and sell pecans. Many farmsteads throughout the south have pecan trees that were planted by their parents or grandparents. All the southern cooks like Paula… Read more
Cracklins: Pork fat and skins that are deep fried in rendered lard until they are crunchy. (From the Eastern North Carolina lingo dictionary) Cooking Up Cracklins Cracklins used to be common fare on southern tables. Sometimes you have to go back to your roots and eat the food of your heritage. My folks and the neighboring… Read more
2026 marks forty-seven years that the folks of Piney Grove Baptist Church in the Farm Life Community near Williamston, NC, have been performing this 90-minute outdoor drama of the life and death of Jesus Christ in the small Eastern North Carolina community of Farm Life, not very far from Big Mill Bed and Breakfast. This… Click to read more about the Outdoor Drama
Lake Mattamuskeet and the Pocosin Lakes of eastern North Carolina come alive every winter as thousands of tundra swans and snow geese make the journey from the Alaska tundra to our Inner Banks. Both refuges are an easy day trip from Big Mill Bed and Breakfast. Photo of Tundra Swans by Guy Livesay of Livesay… Click to read more about the Birds of Lake Mattumuskeet and Pocosin Lakes in eastern NC
Updated: 10/08/25 War wages every year on the first weekend in November as the Confederates attempt to defend Fort Branch against the Union Army. Fort Branch is located in Hamilton, North Carolina — just about 12 miles from Big Mill Bed and Breakfast. Reenactment is November 1 & 2, 2025 Yankee reenactor Mike Kerriker… Click here to read more about the Battle of Ft. Branch
(Updated October 2025). Sunnyside is an eastern North Carolina tradition and folks from all over the country come to taste these special, just-shucked oysters……………..OPENS September, 18, 2025, at 5:30!! They do it the same way they have been doing it since 1935, when Charles Roberson, Sr. first opened his restaurant and called it Sunnyside. As… Click to read more about Sunnyside Oyster Bar
SAD NOTE: We lost this wonderful eastern North Carolina treasure in 2018 to a devastating fire. The Cypress Grill is a place you just don’t want to miss; even if you don’t like fish. Sitting precariously on the banks of the Roanoke River in eastern North Carolina, it has welcomed diners for over fifty years… Click to read all about this fun Mom and Pop eatery
Rockfish or Catfish Stew Here’s a rustic recipe that captures the spirit of “use what you catch” large stew pot 1 qt water3 bunches green onions (chopped, reserve 1 cup)2 sweet onions (diced)4 small Thai hot, red peppers, or other small hot peppers (crushed)1 lb. bacon (fried and crumbled, reserved)1/2 lb. fat back (cut… Read more
