Top Pot Donuts Seattle and Maurice's BBQ South Carolina

So I've been a bit busy. In the past two months, I've been to Seattle, drove to North Carolina and I've had three different sets of house guests. But I've been able to taste some really great food.

In Seattle, Top Pot Donuts was recommended to me by local Jacksonville Chef Dennis Chan. It was worthwhile because they were really good donuts. First, a bit of lore about the name. When Top Pot first opened, the owner was on a shoestring budget, so he bought a secondhand sign that said Top Spot. The S in spot wasn't quite operational, so he took it off. Hence, Top Spot Donuts became Top Pot Donuts, even though pots are not involved.

There are basically two different styles of donuts. The one pictured above is the "cake style" donut. The texture inside is almost like a slightly dry cup cake, perfect for dunking! The other style is the old school donut, aptly named the old-fashioned. We got a dozen. choosing as many different types as we could. It wasn't hard since they have about 40 varieties of donuts. They're really filling and they taste amazing. There's no scarfing down of five donuts because they're huge and decadent.

My other great dining experience was in South Carolina. You may have heard of Maurice's BBQ. We stopped there by chance on our way to North Carolina. We indulged in the buffet, where I discovered ribs so tender and soaked with flavor that I had to close my eyes to better experience them. South Carolina loves their sauces, and the mustard-based sauce on my ribs was amply dramatic and savory. I didn't take a picture because the camera was packed away and because, quite honestly, barbecue often isn't beautiful. It tasted beautiful, but it certainly didn't look it.