seekingmygreaterperhaps

I like to think of myself as an avid traveler. I’ve been to 28 countries, and often times I overlook the travel opportunities in my own city. I’m guilty of this for the past 2 years. I’ve lived in Greensboro, NC for almost two full years now, and I’ve yet to really put my tourist hat on (don’t worry, it’s not an actual hat- that would be way too obvious).

But better late than never… right? This might happen to you, or maybe not, but I found myself with my summer calendar suddenly filled up. Quickly. My Google Calendar is looking colorful for real. But before I start out on my next adventure and move to a new place, I really wanted to pack in some of the tourist punch for my own area. I headed to Old Salem, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to step back into history.

Old Salem is a preserved Moravian settlement that was founded in 1766. (Click here to see the Old Salem visitor website).  There are people dressed in period themed costumes inside of the buildings who give you a tour and tell you a little bit about the buildings. To gain access to the buildings, you have to buy a ticket, but there are some shops that are open to everyone. My student ticket was $13, so I went to every single building in my quick visit.

To truly get more bang for my buck, I went on a Saturday when they had the farmer’s market. I chowed on some delicious home-brewed tea, and delectable bakery bites. They of course have the produce and some meat vendors, but I had my tourist hat on remember?

This is the back of the “Single Brother’s Home”, which was one of my favorite stops because it showed many of the industries they used to work on back in the day. The guy in the pottery studio was on the wheel and he had to spin it with his feet. He wasn’t wearing shoes which was kind of gross, but the technique was cool.

Aaaaand, this would be me laughing at how short the doors were at the Single Brother’s Home… height has clearly come with future generations.

Overall, I enjoyed strolling through the town and seeing the homes in relatively similar conditions to how they were in the 1700s. Some of the people did a great job of staying in character, while others preferred to use 3rd person. Their information was on point either way.

One of the best parts about Old Salem is the working Moravian bakery. They have a huge brick bakery oven in the original condition. Throughout the centuries, people have continued to use this oven and it remains functional today. Of course, to make a profit, Old Salem sells products like cookies, “cheese stars” which are like cheeze-its, and breads- all of which are delicious. I took home a tin of the lemon cookies and they are, or were, scrumptious.

This is the back of the inn where George Washington stayed with his men on a surveying trip. As a huge American history nerd, this was pretty cool.

As my lens as a counselor has forever changed my perspective, there was one thing that I noticed during my trip. One of my final stops was the African American Moravian church. Located on the outskirts of town, this stop is quite out of the way from most of the other attractions in Old Salem. Unfortunately, this is the south and racism was fervent during the planting of this church. I learned that Moravians thought of their African American brothers as equals and everyone shared the same church and town, until people from other settlements came in and were like “uh that’s not cool they should be separated” and the Moravians of Old Salem listened. Sigh.

Historic racism needs to be acknowledged so we can grow. However, what concerned me was what I was seeing present day. Instead of the inside of the old church being the same vibe as the rest of Old Salem, it was converted into a type of museum space. They tried to cram in all of the African Moravian history into a small space. Instead of having multiple volunteers, they only had one man helping, and he was manning 2 buildings, so to tour the new African American church, he had to put a sign up so you could go look around. That also means he had to sit alone all day waiting for people to stop by. There were 3 extra people at the George Washington inn, so not busy that they were on their not-period-specific phones when I walked in. Hmm. Share the love Old Salem. It saddened me that he didn’t get as many visitors, but his 2 buildings were just as interesting.

This didn’t cloud my perspective of the day, visiting the quaint town of Old Salem was a nice way to spend a Saturday morning.

Thanks for reading- here’s a treat of a Moravian star hanging in the entry bridge. These stars are everywhere.