Look Out, This Is A Long Post!

Since living here, I've learned the Moravian influence is huge in this area - especially at Christmas time! From what I've learned, the Moravians have a rich, religious culture specific to this area since one of their first colonies settled in the Winston Salem area. At Christmas time, most houses decorate with candles in their windows and the Moravian star. 

I've also learned that their cookies are popular because they are sold everywhere! We even got them from one of my neighbors as a welcome gift. They are thin, crisp cookies that come in different flavors.

Today, Mom, Dad and I (not poor Matt, he had to work) went to Old Salem, a Moravian colony. The community sits right next to downtown Winston Salem. It's surreal to be in a historical city that showcases simple traditions and have it's backdrop be a modern city!

We started at the Salem Tavern for lunch. It was converted from an old house and each room has a different section to eat.



Afterwards, we strolled through the town, hitting gift shops and visiting the well-known bakery.  It's there that the Moravian cookies (amongst other delicious looking goodies) are made.

We had some time to kill before meeting Matt, so we went to a house named Korner's Folly

A brief history for this house. It started with an interior designer named Korner. He bought the house and gave it quite a few re-models. He staged each room differently to showcase his interior design talents and invited future clients to visit the house. For those that have been to the Winchester Mystery House in CA, I'd say this house is similar, but on a much smaller scale and without the ghost stories. The house has 22 rooms, 3 stories and 7 levels. As a bonus, they still had the Christmas decorations up! From the look of it outside, it really doesn't look like a large house - that's what makes this house so unusual.

And as if this wasn't enough for the day, we concluded the evening with Matt and a tour of his plant! I wasn't allowed to get a picture of Mom and Dad in their fashionable outfits, so I took one for the team! :)