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Winston-Salem
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Though synonymous with the brand names of its cigarettes, WINSTON-SALEM , 105 miles west of Raleigh, instead owes its spot on the tourist itinerary to the delightful Old Salem , a well-preserved twenty-block area that honors the heritage of the city's first Moravian settlers. Escaping religious persecution in what are now the Czech and Slovak republics, the first Moravians settled in this rolling area of the Piedmont in the mid-seventeenth century. They soon established trading links with the frontier settlers and founded the town of Salem on a communal basis they permitted only those of the same religious faith to live here. The demand for their crafts helped establish the adjacent community of Winston, which, accruing tremendous wealth from tobacco, soon outgrew the older community. The two merged in 1913 to form Winston-Salem. Today visitors can tour ten of Old Salem's buildings and, with the help of costumed guides, learn about the skills, trades and customs of the Moravians. Start at the visitor center at Academy and Old Salem Rd (MonSat 9am5pm, Sun 12.305pm; tel 336/721-7300), and if time is tight, prioritize the Single Brothers House , built in 1771, where unmarried men would sleep, worship and make items such as silverware, hats and paper. There's also a tavern at 736 S Main (tel 336/748-8585) where beers and large lunches and dinners are served, and a bakery at 525 S Main that produces great cookies. There isn't too much to see in Winston-Salem's downtown, although the city is trying to liven things up by introducing live music outdoors from April to October, Thursday through Sunday nights. On Thursdays, Live after Five is at Corpenington Plaza; Fridays, 4th Street is blocked off for jazz and blues performances; on Saturdays, Trade Street hosts a variety of music programs; and on Sundays there's VIP In The Park. Three miles northwest of downtown, the Reynolda House Museum of American Art , 2250 Reynolda Rd (TuesSat 9.30am4.30pm, Sun 1.304.30pm; $6, free to college students; tel 336/725-5325), uniquely throws together pieces by all the top American artists from the eighteenth century to the present day in what was the home of tobacco baron Richard Joshua Reynolds. The mansion, designed by Charles Barton Keen, is set in lush, landscaped gardens, with a number of its surrounding buildings converted into fancy stores collectively known as Historic Reynolda Village . Close by, and integrating the former home of underwear manufacturer Charles Hanes, is the occasionally controversial Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) , 750 Marguerite Drive (TuesSat 10am5pm, Sun 2pm5pm; tel 336/725-1904), which gets all the area's major shows. About a mile east, Whitaker Park , off Reynolds Boulevard (tel 336/741-2458; free), is the impressive, fully automated factory that churns out up to 275 million Winston, Salem and Camel cigarettes per day; unfortunately a video has replaced the previous tours and there's not much of a reason to stop by anymore. At Winston-Salem State University the renowned Diggs Gallery , 601 Martin Luther King Bvld (TuesSat 11am5pm; tel 336/750-2458; free), has ten to fifteen different exhibits yearly, primarily on African-American art and various educational programs. Be sure to check out the colorful and somewhat perplexing murals Origins and Ascension , by John Biggers, in the nearby O'Kelly library. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United States,
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