Last Updated on August 19, 2022
You’ll find many things to do in Winston-Salem, NC, a charming old Southern town…
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
By Marcia Levin
Did you ever Bank at Wachovia, wear Hanes textile products or enjoy a Krispy Kreme donut? Or smoke a major brand of cigarettes? Ever heard of Wake Forest University?
Those major household names have their roots in that charming old Southern town that is, in fact, two cities.
Winston and Salem, where history and arts, cuisine and wineries meld into an interesting destination. And today you’ll find lots of things to do in Winston-Salem.
Revel in the History of Its Moravian Settlers
Salem’s origins can be traced to early Moravian settlers who more than 250 years ago left their Eastern European homes to farm the fertile land of central North Carolina.
The religious immigrants brought with them many skills including furniture making and tanning and made their home—the city they dubbed Salem—on an area of 100,000 acres called the Wachovia Tract.
Today in the in Old Salem Museums and Gardens you’ll learn plenty about these settlers. Several places worth visiting in Winston-Salem include the walk-through museums that feature furniture making, a bakery and more.
Well-informed interpreters in traditional garb provide historical information in all the trade shops. In the Moravian Single Brothers House, be sure to see a working organ built in 1758. And, by the way, Moravian sugar cookies and ginger crisps are great take-home souvenirs from an old culture in the new South.
Joining the Cities
Just north of Salem, Winston was established in 1851 and named after a Revolutionary War hero and legislator, Major Joseph Winston. The cities joined forces – and became hyphenated – in 1913.
It was late in the 19th century that the R.J. Reynolds and Hanes families brought Winston into national prominence as an industrial center.
Today though, while the tobacco industry has greatly diminished in size and prestige and Wachovia has become part of Wells-Fargo, Krispy Kreme continues to survive (after all, who’d want to do away with donuts?) as does Wake Forest among NACC basketball fans.
Things to Do in Winston-Salem Today
At one time if you drove through Winston-Salem you inhaled tobacco smoke whether you wanted to or not. That’s now all a thing of the past.
These days Winston-Salem is a vibrant community with a rich multi-cultural heritage, outstanding Southern-accented restaurants, and fine hotels, a convention center, traditional homes and gardens and a thriving arts scene. A downtown center of high-rise buildings and busy roadways is impressive.
R.J. Reynolds – the folks who brought us Winston, Salem, and Camel cigarettes – has left the community a fantastic legacy of art at the magnificent Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
It’s a must-see museum, home to an outstanding collection that includes works by Mary Cassatt, John Singleton Copley, Grant Wood, Jakob Lawrence and Georgia O’Keeffe.
Reynolda was the Reynolds family home, and it is lovely. Built in 1917, It tells the love story of R.J. Reynolds and Katherine, his wife. The couple’s heirs have maintained the sprawling house and its amazing collection of art dating back to 1755. Be sure to see the fantastic family rec room in the basement.
Art abounds in Winston-Salem. The cities are also home to the University of North Carolina School of art, and MESDA, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, as well as storefront galleries and workshops run by local artists.
Foodies Of The World, You’ll Love It
Southern cooking is a lot more than collard greens and bacon, and in Winston-Salem it has been elevated to a kind of art form.
Consider breakfast at Sweet Potatoes, where locals and tourists alike line up to get a table for servings of eggs and grits, sweet potato biscuits, and pancakes, oh my!
Dinners throughout town offer everything from late-day Southern fare (fried tomatoes, for example,) at Mozelle’s Fresh Southern Bistro or on an elegant level, at Graylyn Manor, a super hostelry.
Winston-Salem offers all the name brand hotels, with the Kimpton Cardinal Hotel among the most recent openings. The famous Graylyn Manor has hosted Oprah Winfree, late Dr. Maya Angelou, and past Presidents Jimmy Carter and the late Gerald Ford.
Owned and operated by Wake Forest University, the beautiful estate and gardens were the historic home of Bowman Gray, son of the Wachovia co-founder. Gray was a former president of R. J Reynolds Tobacco Co. Graylyn is a wonderful example of gracious southern living.
Places Worth Visiting for Wine and…
The Yadkin Valley, outside Winston-Salem, is home to several new wineries featuring some pretty good wines. These include Childress Vineyards, Sanders Ridge Winery, and Divine Llama Vineyards.
Divine Llama Vineyards also feature 60 llamas available for trekking. (Treks are not offered during the summer months.)
The gentle animals are friendly, and the wines include a variety of reds and whites. At Divine, several offerings are named for llamas: Mustang Sally, In a Heartbeat and Red Rita Rose.
…Chocolates
A retired tax attorney, Brent Peters, opened a chocolate factory, Black Mountain Chocolate and starts with the bean, finishing with the bar.
Visitors tour the facility, enjoy the chocolate-making process and maybe come away with a bar or two.
Winston-Salem can be very sweet!
You may also enjoy: Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC (Video) / Asheville, NC – Not Your Typical Small Southern City / North Carolina’s High Country
If You Go:
Winston-Salem Visitor Center
200 Brookstown Avenue
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
www.VisitWinstonSalem.com
Tel: (336) 728-4200
Old Salem Visitor Center
900 Old Salem Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
www.oldsalem.org
Tel: (336) 721-7300
Reynolda House Museum of American Art
2250 Reynolda Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27106
www.reynoldahouse.org
Tel: (336) 758.5150
Need to update: some of the restaurants closed forever- Mary’s,
Bibs barbecue, Tavern @Old Salem. I have an Airbnb so I like to keep my guests up to date.
Thank you for the update Dave.