A New Visit to Old Salem, NC: Easy Day Trip

For Memorial Day weekend, we wanted a calm outing that nonetheless got us out of town. Brainstorming places we had not been, we decided to head to Old Salem Museum and Gardens, a living history museum of a Moravian village from the late 1700s and early 1800s.  Smaller than Colonial Williamsburg but with similar charm, Old Salem is easily visited in a day or so.  We purchased tickets that allowed us one day, "all stops" access--but there are options for memberships that are reasonably priced if you are visiting for multiple days or across the year.  Like Williamsburg, you can walk the street for free--but you will need tickets to enter buildings.

The walk through town is delightful on a temperate day--you'll begin by leaving the visitors' center across a covered bridge built in 1998 but that nonetheless sets an historic tone.  You "land" in Old Salem right at MESDA, a small decorative arts museum that will make you feel like you are living in a particularly classy episode of Antiques Roadshow.  We stopped off to see the interior of the tavern for non-Moravian visitors and the Single Brothers' House, both of which provided pretty fascinating glimpses into Moravian life of the time and associated trades.  The Single Brothers' House is particularly interesting: it's where single boys and men, aged 14 - at least upper 70s, lived in community and completed work until they were earning enough money to support a family and marry if they chose.  Keep walking out to God's Acre, an active Moravian Cemetery that is simple in tone and a beautiful reminder of the design of the Moravian community.  One strange aside you can find--a marker for the site of the first Krispy Kreme (it's gone), right in the middle of this historic district. You can also see Salem College.

If you go with kids (as we did), consider going on a day when Old Salem is having a special event. The special events, which range from seasonal visits with Santa to small-scale performances, add a little something extra to visits with children.  We visited on History Meets Horsepower day, so with the price of our tickets, the kids also got to try out a M & M NASCAR racing simulator, and we all got a free covered wagon ride.  There are many of this type of event on their calendar of events feature on their website--click links for more detailed information than you will receive if you navigate to special events in other ways.  Check these details to see what will be included in your ticket price.  In our case, the special event did not add substantively to crowds. For food, it would be easy to pack a picnic and eat on the grass in the town square, or you can eat at The Tavern in Old Salem or gorge on sweets and breads at Winkler Bakery where you can see a wood-fired oven in action for cooking cakes.  Be prepared for walking on hills and uneven sidewalks, expect stroller parking to be outside of historic buildings, and check operating hours--if they say they close at 4:30, they mean 4:29. If you are staying in the area overnight, Marbles children's museum is not too far away.

Poplar Forest--Finally!

After talking about a trip there for years and buying passes online over a year ago, we finally made it to Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest.  The site is lovely--not to mention substantially more low key than TJ's Monticello. 

Compared to Virginia's other historic Presidential homes, this one is approachable: smaller tours, smaller site, home designed to be the retreat of a private citizen.  Like James Madison's Montpelier, Poplar Forest is being actively researched and reconstructed.  Their reconstruction efforts are historic in nearly every way, down to the use of antique tools; their work in this area has earned them recognition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  Don't miss learning about the bricks, as multiple shapes of brick were made to construct the home.  Also worth noting is the amazing skylight in the home's dining area, unique in Jeffersonian architecture.  The exhbits on the lower level answer many visitor questions about the progress of the site and are attractively presented.

If you go, thank the volunteers--your tour may even be led by a knowledgeable one.  Visit the website of special events, too.  In November 2011, the first candlelight tours of the home are planned.

Relevant Twitter Handle:
@PoplarForest

Relevant Website:
Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest

Elijah Meets TJ

Beautiful weather, beautiful house, beautiful friends. This weekend, we drove up to Charlottesville to take in Monticello with the Mejias. As always, Monticello is a little mountain with stunning views, making it easy for a novice like me to take some stunning photos. The house kitchen has been renovated recently and lots of folks were taking garden tours to enjoy the spring blooms. The new visitor's center there is spiffy and features an expanded museum shop, so Kim came home with two new Christmas ornaments. Justin also picked up at Thomas Jefferson doll for Elijah. They could have done a better job with accessibility, but the center "fits in" with the landscape and is a nice home to some amenities like a cafe, theater, and gallery.

Following our visit to Monticello, we drove to the University of Virginia's campus to walk the lawn. Folks were busy prepping for next weekend's graduation, and the "capitals" of the columns on the Rotunda were draped in black, presumably in memory of the recently murdered lacrosse player. Otherwise, the grounds were alive with a wedding and college kids entertaining their visiting parents. We ate lunch at an excellent deli in "the Corner," Little John's. The sandwiches were unique enough to be interesting and huge enough to be quite filling.

Justin and Kim usually find Charlottesville's atmosphere a bit pretentious, but today, that was eased by good company. If you go, we also recommend eating at The Virginian, also on the Corner, for a lighter lunch, but we do not recommend Bodo's Bagels, a UVa institution, for anything other than breakfast. The Charlottesville Downtown Pedestrian Mall is a fun stop for leisure shopping and has a Caspari store, something you can find only three places in the world, along with numerous unusual gift shops. You can take the trolley there from the campus area. The farmer's market is also worthwhile and sells some non-perishables routinely. At last check, UVa's bookstore still allows the browsing of the stacks--a shopping treat for academic book nerds like ourselves. You can also make a longer trip with historic homes, visiting Monroe's Ash Lawn as well.

On our drive back to Roanoke, we stopped by The Factory Antique Mall just outside Staunton in our second visit this year. The mall is big and full of non-pushy, interesting vendors on the weekends. It's a great place to find vintage toys, beads, postcards, documents, and books with a particularly good book stash near the back and two finely-organized, reasonable postcard outlets near the front. Highly recommended.