The Old and New South: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

April 3, 2014

For us northerners, the South is an unknowable place of old and new ideas. We think we know it if we stick to stereotypes.  This mini-van conveys pretty neatly some of those.






Winston-Salem is the home of R.J. Reynolds.  We visited the Village of Reynolda and toured the R.J. Reynolds home built in 1917. This is a fabulous museum with original furnishings.  We learned that the mauve, orange, and green decor in the reception hall was all the rage at the time, inspired by the Diaghilev ballet the Firebird. The Philadelphia designer hired by Mrs. Reynolds to decorate the house also gave her the latest Wiener Werkstatte inspired breakfast porch.  Of all the breakfast porches I have known, this is my absolute favorite!

Winston-Salem (and North Carolina in general)  has a vibrant arts and cultural scene.  We loved the area around Trade and 6th Streets -- the Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery, the Fiber Company, and Sweet Potatoes Restaurant were 3 stops we made.  True to its name, almost everything on the menu features North Carolina sweet potatoes.  Their motto is "Not Soul Food, but food that's good for the soul."





Finally, we took a walk with Ivan through Old Salem, now a living history museum, first settled in 1766 by members of the Moravian church, a Protestant denomination that expanded southward from Pennsylvania.  You can see the influence of the Moravian architecture today in many modern developments.