Our tribe recently camped near Winston-Salem, in North Carolina, and loved the family friendly atmosphere of the area! One of our favorite destinations in the area was the Old Salem Museum & Gardens. Old Salem is a living history village, where original 1700s buildings, staffed with reenactors, are opened up to ticket holders.
The visitor’s center offers 2 gift shops, a treat shop, and some exhibits. The staff gave us maps, and were careful to point out stops that it might be easy to miss on the walking tour. After we checked out the v.c., we walked through the covered wooden bridge that spanned the main roadway separating the visitor’s center and the authentic 17 and 1800s buildings that are featured in the tour. Once across the bridge we came to the Frank L Horton Museum Center which offers 45 minute guided tours (signup required and tours do fill up during busy times). Right out the door of the museum the walking tour of Old Salem begins. The walk through the township includes 14 living history buildings where re-enactors will share their early 1800 lifestyle with you.
During our visit, ‘Timothy’, in the 1830’s ‘Timothy Vogler Gunshop’, told us about his smithing, gave the boys some great in depth info on period guns, and let us check out his shop. While we enjoyed every one of the buildings, we each had favorites; mine was the ‘single brothers house’ where we learned about the Moravians who settled the area. While walking the tour, be sure to stop by the beautiful Moravian church that is often open to the public for tours, and another of my favorites; God’s Acre, which is a cemetery where all the tombstones are identical to illustrate how all people are equal in God’s eyes. The whole tour of Old Salem was a very interesting lesson on local history!
Part of that local history is Krispy Kreme! Did you know that the first Krispy Kreme doughnut shop ever, opened in Winston-Salem? In fact, you can find a plaque commemorating the location right on your Old Salem tour! When we found that W-S is the home of KK, we were sure to stop by the local shop; and we had good timing too! The ‘hot doughnuts’ sign was on, so we got fresh, picked off the conveyor belt, glazed doughnuts. 3 dozen to be exact.