EDENTON OFFERS BARON'S PUB A FULL HOUSE WELCOME
BELTON CREATES JAH HALL OF FRAMES HONORING HALL OF FAMERS
Yes, dear readers...I will say that there is no shortage of seduction, skin and sheets in this movie,.... Adachi.
The BACKBAR ONCE SHELVED MEDICINALS OF OTHER BRANDS
Edenton Welcomes Baron’s Pub with a full-house evening
Baron’s Pub called it a soft opening. Edenton town folk offered a full-house welcome as the new staff, with experienced trainers from their other VA. locatioins, worked the dining room, oyster bar and front bar with the ease of professionals enjoying every step. Owners Tyler McMillen and Mike Williams were on hand solving opening night challenges every knowledgeable restaurateur expects.
Stepping through the front door, guests could see the transformation of Scottie Harrell’s original showroom, later home to the Oyster Bar. Flying pigs, model airplanes and assorted props gave the new pub a comfortably familiar feel, as though it had been there for years.
Mitchener’s Drug Store shelves, dating back to the late 1800’s where they once framed other branded medicinals now serve a similar purpose , while becoming a major focal point and prime conversation piece.
Residents packed the restaurant early Wednesday evening, welcoming the owners and getting their first taste of the town’s newest dining spot.
The opening brought fresh activity to a familiar gathering place, with patrons settling into wooden booths, taking seats along the bar and gathering around tables for dinner and drinks. Families with young children joined the crowd, while other guests stood chatting between tables.
Behind them, a large chalkboard offered a simple greeting: “Baron’s Pub Welcomes You!”
The name may already be familiar to residents who dine across the Virginia line. Baron’s Pub has established locations in Olde Towne Portsmouth and historic downtown Suffolk. Its website describes the Portsmouth restaurant as a neighborhood fixture dating to 1988.
The Virginia restaurants feature casual American dining, with a signature Baron’s Burger, seafood and craft beer among their offerings. The Suffolk restaurant’s description emphasizes the personal welcome of a neighborhood pub—a place where staff get to know their customers.
In Edenton, it’s a setting with plenty of character. Blue-green walls, the color of the famed teapot patina frame wooden booths and tables, aside from the front bar and dining room, the oyster bar off the patio has been redone and now offers a comfortable space to gather and watch the shuckers. Along with the model airplanes, a dinghy hangs high next to American and North Carolina flags overhead and televisions positioned around the room.
Staff wearing black Baron’s Pub shirts attended to customers as the first evening unfolded. Plates of food and drinks filled tables, and the mix of seated diners and guests stopping to talk gave the room the appearance of a neighborhood gathering.
For residents familiar with the former Oyster Bar, the evening offered an opportunity to return to the marina space and meet its new operators. For Baron’s Pub, it provided an immediate introduction to Edenton’s enthusiasm for a new place to eat and socialize.
A soft opening gives a restaurant an opportunity to put its kitchen and service through their first paces. Wednesday’s turnout gave Baron’s Pub a busy start—and a warm welcome from its new hometown.
EDENTON'S NEWEST EATERY ATTRACTS A CROWD
Framing the Aces’ legacy
Simple request becomes a major woodworking project for Lucas Belton
When Lucas Belton received a call from John A. Holmes High School asking whether he could build a frame for some sports memorabilia, the request sounded straightforward.
Then came the jerseys, awards and trophies — enough to require a box truck to transport the multi framed collection to his studio.
For Belton, the owner and artist behind Rustic to Reclaimed, the assignment grew into a massive woodworking project using 1,000 feet of cypress. The result is a collection of substantial wooden frames designed to protect and bring order to the school’s athletic history.
These are frames within frames. Individually framed jerseys and awards slide into larger protective wooden surrounds, with the collection divided into sections by category. The design brings pieces of different sizes and styles together within a consistent framework while retaining their individual presentations.
Spread across Belton’s studio, the finished sections reveal the scale of the undertaking. Long rows of awards sit alongside broad displays holding several jerseys. Stacks of completed frames rise beside piles of lumber, their warm brown finish highlighting the sweeping grain of the cypress.
The wood provides a striking border for the Aces’ blue and gold, the white jerseys of East-West All-Star participants, and college and professional uniforms represented in the collection.
Among the pieces is a red Atlanta Falcons jersey bearing the name Chesson and the number 81. Its accompanying plate identifies Wes Chesson and his years as a wide receiver from 1971 to 1974. Nearby are framed Aces football jerseys, each with its own identifying plaque.
The collection also reaches beyond the football field. A swimming display includes blue racing shorts, a yellow cap, a medal and a photograph honoring James “Ches” Chesson’s 2008 state championship in the 100-yard freestyle. Other sections hold rows of conference awards recognizing team achievements.
Together, the pieces tell a story of individual accomplishment and shared school pride. Names, numbers, photographs and awards connect the athletes who wore the uniforms with the teams and community they represented.
Accommodating that variety required more than repeating a single frame design. Belton’s wooden surrounds had to fit everything from large jersey displays to smaller award plaques, creating sections suited to the contents while giving the overall collection a unified appearance.
What began with a phone call about a frame became a project measured in a truckload of memorabilia and 1,000 feet of cypress.
For Belton, the finished work puts his craftsmanship around another kind of handiwork: the athletic legacy built by generations of Edenton Aces.
Enjoy the Food, Spill the Tea, Coming to Edenton
GET A TASTE OF THIS
Taste of the IBX to Benefit Food Bank - October 10-Edenton
A favorite Edenton tradition is returning with a new name and an important mission.
Taste of the IBX will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, on the Chowan County Courthouse Green. Inspired by the former Taste of Edenton, the event will raise money for the Food Bank of the Albemarle, with all ticket proceeds benefiting the organization.
Guests can sample tasty bites from restaurants and culinary groups throughout the Inner Banks. James Beard Award-winning chef Ricky Moore will select the Outstanding Dish Award and present the People’s Choice Awards. Enjoy live music, savor signature tastings from some of the Inner Banks’ best kitchens, and purchase beer and wine while soaking in an evening that’s equal parts celebration and community impact.
“Your ticket does more than get you great food. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, 100% of ticket sales will be donated directly to the Food Bank of the Albemarle, helping provide meals to neighbors across our region,” said Leslie Hogan, representing the event. “The cost of 1 ticket will provide 60 meals to neighbors in your community.”
Tickets for the event are $20. per person. Beer, wine, water and soft drinks will be available for purchase, and singer, songwriter and guitarist Island Gerry will perform live under the tent. Known throughout the coastal Carolinas, Gerry blends island-style and classic rock with a splash of country music.
Only 500 tickets will be sold through the Food Bank of the Albemarle’s website. Sponsorship Join us on Saturday, October 10th for an evening celebrating the incredible food culture of Northeastern North Carolina. This revived favorite brings together 15-20+ regional restaurants, each serving tastings of one of their signature dishes, all in one place. https://afoodbank.org/events/taste-of-the-inner-banks/ for more information and to purchase your tickets.
Edenton Tea Party musical to open new performing arts center at John A. Holmes HS
The women of the Edenton Tea Party will take center stage in their hometown when Spill the Tea! becomes the inaugural production at the new John A. Holmes Performing Arts Center.
Performances are scheduled for Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. The final performance falls 252 years to the day after the Edenton Tea Party. Admission is free, but tickets must be reserved at www.spilltheteamusical.com.
Created by Edenton native Laurie Edwards, the musical draws inspiration from the 51 women who signed a declaration on Oct. 25, 1774, pledging their support for a boycott of British goods. Their actions provide the foundation for an original story and score that combine history, humor and the relationships of a town caught up in revolution.
Led by Penelope Barker, the women took a public stand at a time when they could neither vote nor hold public office. Their declaration attracted attention far beyond Edenton, with news of their protest reaching London.
For Edwards, bringing the musical home gives the production special meaning.
“There’s something pretty magical about watching this story unfold where these women actually lived and made history,” Edwards said.
Spill the Tea! portrays its characters as friends, spouses and neighbors navigating both everyday tensions and revolutionary change. The story brings Revolutionary-era Edenton to life, with part of the action extending to London.
The score blends pop, orchestral and traditional Broadway styles. According to the production announcement, the show takes a humorous and sometimes irreverent approach while recognizing the significance of the women’s decision to make their voices heard.
The hometown production marks a new chapter for local performing arts, opening the John A. Holmes Performing Arts Center with a story rooted in Edenton’s history. It also joins the celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Spill the Tea! is funded in part by a grant from America 250 NC, a program of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Sponsors include Colony Tire & Service, Regulator Marine, Dr. and Mrs. Alex Kehayes, and Willful Entertainment
Ricky Moore Book Signing
Ricky Moore is a James Beard Foundation award-winning American chef, entrepreneur, speaker and author with decades of restaurant and hospitality experience. Moore believes that ordinary, simple food can be extraordinary when executed at the highest level.
Moore was born and raised on the inner banks of North Carolina in the coastal town of New Bern, where catching and eating fresh fish and shellfish is a way of life. He served as a cook in the US Army for seven years before graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1994. After kitchen stints in some of the world’s most prestigious kitchens from DC to Chicago, In 2007, Moore’s reputation earned him a spot competing against Chef Michael Symon on Iron Chef America.
Moore opened SALTBOX Seafood Joint® in Durham, NC in 2012. Accolades in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, Garden & Gun, and Southern Living followed.
In 2020, as one of the region’s most admired chefs, Moore received his first James Beard nomination. In 2022, he was awarded the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Southeast. In 2025, Moore was named a semifinalist of the James Beard Foundation's national Outstanding Chef Award.
The Second Edition of Moore’s beloved SALTBOX Seafood Joint® Cookbook arrives in Fall 2026, with 60 original recipes celebrating his coastal culinary heritage alongside 8 brand-new globally inspired recipes.
Moore and SALTBOX Seafood Joint® have received additional awards and accolades in recent years. In 2020, Discover awarded Saltbox Seafood Joint® $25,000 for its #EatItForward campaign for black-owned restaurateurs and MOFAD included it in its Black History Month exhibit, “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table.” In 2022, Ricky Moore was named the Tar Heel of the Year by The News & Observer. In 2023, Moore was recognized as a Heinz Black Kitchen Initiative grant recipient.
As an avid advocate of North Carolina fisherfolk and foodways, Moore serves as a Chef Ambassador of NC Catch, member of the NC Oyster Trail, member of the Coalition for Sustainable Aquaculture, member of the Board of Directors of Triangle Central Kitchen, and former Advisory Board member of NC Sea Grant.
ADACHI REVIEWS VERITY
You may consider leaving Mother at home...
By Darryl Adachi
If you are an Anne Hathaway fan, 2026 is turning out to be a bonanza year for you. You may have read my reviews of The Devil Wears Prada, The Odyssey, and The End of Oak Street. In one, Anne plays a charmingly efficient problem solver for a major fashion magazine. In another, she is the long-suffering wife of a Trojan War hero trying to find his way home. And in yet another, she goes head-to-head with dinosaurs in an effort to save her family after their neighborhood is catapulted 100 million years into the past.
These are remarkably diverse roles for one actor to tackle in a single year. What else could she possibly do, I wondered? Apparently, quite a lot more.
Verity, now playing at the Taylor, tells the story of Verity Crawford, a best-selling novelist who has suffered a devastating car accident that has left her catatonic and unresponsive. Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer who is offered a lucrative opportunity to serve as a ghostwriter, completing the remaining books in Verity’s popular series. She accepts the assignment and moves into the Vermont home of Verity and her husband, Jeremy Crawford, where she begins sorting through Verity’s mountain of notes, drafts and ideas.
While staying at the Crawford home, Lowen grows close to Jeremy and the couple’s young son, Crew. Before long, she and Jeremy develop a mutual attraction and begin an affair. Then, while working through Verity’s papers, Lowen discovers a hidden, unpublished autobiographical manuscript written by Verity herself.
The manuscript contains disturbing confessions, including passages describing Verity’s deep resentment toward her children, one of whom had previously drowned in a boating accident. Horrified by what she has read, Lowen shares the manuscript with Jeremy. It is at this point that the movie shifts from a slow-burning examination of the Crawford family dynamic and Lowen’s developing relationship with Jeremy into a bona fide mystery thriller.
That said, for the benefit of those reading this review, I should probably be more precise: Verity is an erotic mystery thriller.
Yes, dear readers. While the Taylor has entertained us this year with superheroes, characters from classical literature, and the bond between a man and his dog, our movie-going community has apparently ventured into the realm of — dare I say it? — s-e-x in films.
I will say that there is no shortage of seduction, skin and sheets in this movie, an observation that is, of course, relative depending on one’s views on the subject. I tend to draw the line on films like this by asking myself, “Would I be comfortable watching this movie with my teenage son or daughter sitting next to me — or, worse yet, my mother-in-law?”
You be the judge.
The film quickly evolves into a series of surprising revelations, an ill-advised attempt to resolve an emerging problem, and, ultimately, a denouement that leaves you questioning just about everything that came before it. The movie runs two hours, but it sometimes feels as though everything that really needs to be seen happens in the final 20 minutes.
I won’t deny that parts of the film are left unresolved and open to interpretation. In fact, as I sit here writing this review, I find myself wondering what really happened.
For those who enjoy heading out after a movie and discussing it over a cup of coffee, that can be a good thing. Some movies are meant simply to entertain us. Others are more ambiguous and multi-layered, forcing us to debate what actually happened and what it all means.
Verity falls into that latter category.
For those who gravitate toward this type of film, it may certainly be worth a visit to the Taylor this week. However, you might want to consider leaving Mother at home.
THE NUT RUN
THE SACK RACES
THE SACK RACES
Many Costumed Nuts Ran Like Shells Never to Crack at the Finish...
The Nut Run’s 15K Nutty Challenge tested runners who completed both the 10K and 5K races, with their combined times determining the standings. Mark Cagle, 57, of Belhaven, captured first place overall in 1:04:31.46. Edenton’s Ryland Elliott, 38, finished second in 1:06:33.52, followed by ...
THE SACK RACES
THE SACK RACES
THE SACK RACES
Adult Sack Race Participation Increases Competition...
Age and size no barriers as sack race hosts
Kids of all ages enjoyed this year's sack races. This year saw an expanded field of racers, obviously taken in by the success of last year's race. Along with toddlers, this year's competition sprouted a larger group of adult competitors participating.
PEANUT PARADE
THE SACK RACES
Peanut Parade Marches Edenton Into Fall ...
The rain held off Saturday as Edenton welcomed the spirit of fall when the 51st annual Peanut Parade and Festival brought runners, tractors, colorful floats and families together for a day celebrating community and Chowan County’s agricultural heritage.
COLONIAL MARKET
Colonial Market Brings Artisans and Collectors to Cupola House Gardens
When the floats and tractors finished their journey down Broad Street Saturday, visitors kept the celebration going with a stop at the Cupola House Colonial Market. It turned out to be another amazing shopping experience on Broad St. where shopping among the creative artisans turned into lengthy conversation.
CAC 50 GALA EVENT
A Golden Evening Celebrates 50 Years of the Chowan Arts Council
Beneath a white tent glowing with strings of lights, the Chowan Arts Council celebrated its 50th anniversary Saturday evening, with a Golden Gala that brought art enthusiasts, auction supporters and a wonderful group of well dressed tent full of community members enjoying an evening of entertainment.
Colonial Market Brings Crafts and Community to Cupola House Gardens
When the floats and tractors finished their journey down Broad Street Saturday, visitors kept the celebration going with a stop at the Cupola House Colonial Market. It turned out to be another amazing shopping experience on Broad St. where shopping among the creative artisans turned into lengthy conversation.
The third annual market was organized by the Cupola House Association in conjunction with Edenton’s Peanut Festival weekend, the event offered a convenient place to browse before and after the parade.
Beneath vendor canopies, tables displayed jewelry, artwork, books and decorative items. The Cupola House Association displayed kitchen towels almost too pretty to use. Old North Pewter offered a number of pieces with a story to tell. Seasonal wreaths hung overhead at the Edenton Woman’s Club booth, where necklaces, bracelets and earrings invited a closer look. Members wearing club aprons greeted visitors amid displays that ranged from framed art to holiday decorations.
Nearby, Julia Townsend of The Peanut Factory offered a creative example of giving discarded materials a second life. Green, amber and clear drinking glasses made from recycled bottles stood in rows beside mesh bags of tumbled glass. A sign explained that the organization recycled Edenton’s glass waste into drinking glasses, connecting local craftsmanship with resourcefulness.
The market also gave its youngest visitors an opportunity to create something of their own. At a craft table, children leaned over brown paper bags, carefully adding decorations with colorful markers. Stickers, yarn and a basket of beads spread across the table offered plenty of possibilities, while adults helped nearby.
Those small moments added to the market’s appeal: children concentrating on their projects, shoppers examining jewelry and neighbors pausing to talk beneath the canopies.
GFWC Edenton’s Woman’s Club First Vice President Karen Parks offered one of the high points of the market. Ham and Biscuit sandwiches, prepared by Jerry Parks disappeared as rapidly as they were offered.
Before the event, organizers reported that vendor participation had grown each year and anticipated filling the garden to capacity. Saturday’s varied displays offered visitors opportunities to find a gift, or simply enjoy browsing.
The historic surroundings gave the marketplace a character of its own. Built in 1758 by Francis Corbin, the Cupola House overlooks Edenton Bay. Its preservation grew from a community effort in 1918, and the restored house and formal gardens provided a fitting backdrop for an event that brought local organizations, vendors and families together.
With the 51st annual Peanut Parade traveling south along Broad Street toward the waterfront, the market was a natural next stop. Its afternoon hours gave parade goers time to linger and explore.
Across downtown, the festival’s lineup also included the Farmers Market, educational booths and food trucks on East King Street, and “Peanuts on Porches” musical performances near the Courthouse Green.
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