Destination Friday: Warwick Castle

When visiting in 2005, I gave my husband several options for a day trip.  His request was that he wanted to see a really good castle (in addition to Windsor).  I figured that ruled out Brighton Palace, I decided Leeds might appeal more to girls, and I wanted to go somewhere I hadn’t been before.  In prowling the TripAdvisor forums, I learned about Warwick Castle.

 

NC Eatin’: Johnston County

Saturday, February 23, 2008
The Chicken Barn
110 South Brightleaf Blvd 
Smithfield, NC 27577

I had been to Smithfield before and knew I wanted to go back there for my Johnston County visit.  The downtown is cute – little shops and restaurants on one side of the main street and government buildings and the Ava Gardner Museum on the other.  The folks in Smithfield I’ve met in my two visits there are wonderful, regular people.  They are willing to help out and want to make people feel welcome.  They’ve also done a great amount of work in demolishing the good ol’ boys network, which is especially impressive considering that the county was famous for a KKK ad not so long ago. (See here, here, here, and here about the sign.  I’m not making it up; I think it was removed sometime in the ’80s.)

In planning my visit, I did a Google search for reviews of restaurants in Smithfield.  Recommendations for places to eat in Johnston County are a bit tough to find.  I finally found this review on The Chicken Barn and knew I had to go.  The name alone was good enough for me!