Winston-Salem (and a bride)

An old friend and a lovely wedding brought us back to Winston-Salem, NC.

I have been here a few times before for various events. The last time was on our kids college tour to see Wake Forest.

We flew in and out of Charlotte, so we got to stop and look at our old house. How cute is this house? I would buy it again!

We stayed in downtown Winston at the Hotel Indigo. Super cute, but the WORST valet service ever. It was impossible to park downtown, so you had to use the valet. Tim had to drag the guy away from the bar to park our rental car on Saturday night!

Other than that, the hotel was great. Modern and very fun. Check out their old Art-o-Mat.

We decided to be tourists on Saturday and I don’t mean museums. Going for the local color!

First stop, Trade Street and Mast General Store. Known for barrels and barrels of old-fashioned candy. We had to get some for the girls. Aka, we ate it all.

Tim had cheesecake for breakfast at Cheesecakes by Alex. They sell it by the slice, he was in heaven. I am less of a cheesecake fan.

Trade street is near the art district. Lots of boutiques, art galleries, murals and sculptures. Very fun!

Quick stop at the Broad Branch Distillery before we head to Old Salem.

Old Salem was settled by the Moravian community in 1766 and officially preserved as a community in 1950. It now includes over 80 acres with many of the beautiful original structures intact.

Chilling in his workshop.

Charming.

Speaking of Moravian, you can’t go to Winston-Salem without going to Mrs. Hanes Moravian Cookies. The Moravians brought these delicious wafers to NC in 1753. The dough is traditionally flavored with spices like ginger, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Because they are so thin, they practically melt in your mouth! There are many more flavors now and a sugar cake at Christmas that is to die for!

Ok, this is an old Shell gas station build in 1930 to “bring awareness” to Shell in Winston-Salem. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It must be a thing because we had a picture of it in our hotel room too? Weird. You can find it at the corner of Sprague and Peachtree streets.

Time for lunch! The only thing you HAVE to eat when you are in the NC is the traditional vinegar-based barbecue. We found a fabulous place called Real Q barbecue in Winston that made everything in-house.

Shredded pork sandwich with cole slaw, hush puppies and onion rings. I don’t think we will be hungry for dinner at the wedding…

A lot of the wedding guests stayed at The Graylan Estate. It is a beautiful private home buildtby Bowman Gray, a former chairman of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. We came and had an aperitif in their garden. So pretty. I bet their valet is much better than ours.

Did someone say bride and groom? I have been friends with this wonderful lady since we met at the Junior League of Boston our first year out of college. Congratulations to you both. It was a wonderful weekend, filled with lots and lots of love.

the wry home