Great! Old Salem (day 4)

I've never been so happy to show up somewhere as it was closing. After the Transportation Museum, Ivan and I hightailed it to Old Salem. This is a National Historic Landmark which essentially restores and cultivates the community that was settled in 1766 by the Moravians. Who were they, you ask? A Protestant sect that came into being in 1457 in the now-Czech region of Bohemia and Moravia (click here for Wikipedia entry), they came down from Pennsylvania to create a village based, not on farming, but skilled trade. You can see that as you walk (or drive) through the streets. There's a tavern, an apothecary, a hat store and - the bakery.

Now I had read that the bakery was the place to be. Since almost all of Old Salem closed at 4:30pm and we made it to the Visitor's Center at 4:26pm (whew - thought we'd miss something), we couldn't get to go into the village stores and homes. However, in a brilliant move only the Moravians and their descendants could think of, the bakery was open until 5pm.

Here's one of the many great and funny things to happen here. We park in the street in front of the bakery. Now you gotta imagine that this is a little weird to us. We're surrounded by late 18th century and 19th century architecture and I'm pulling up in my 2009 Corolla (great on this road trip, by the way). We got out and looked around and Ivan says, 'are we allowed to park here?!'. Now you remember that I said that this trip has been all about meeting great and interesting people. Enter Vince. He's unloading a truck that's parked in front of us and hears my brother's comment. He says (I'm paraphrasing now), 'yeah - you're good; I saw the Jersey plates and realized only people from Jersey are that worried about where they're parking'. HILARIOUS and so true. If we find parking out front of anything, that's about as sure a tow as if we wrote, 'COPS SUCK' all over the rear window.

We went in to this amazing building, which actually bakes what they sell (and the Arts Horizons people will get a little taste of that when I get back). There were some samples of 'sugar bread', which I like to call 'Living in Heaven with Type II'. Fantastic. Over at the gift shop, we start chatting with Vince some more and it turns out that he's a NYC transplant from 22 years ago. Still has family up by me, but lives down here with his wife who's from the area. Couldn't ask for a nicer guy. He even facilitated an introduction with three of the loveliest ladies to work in a Moravian village (and that includes back then too, I'm sure). There were Frances and Amanda, or as Vince called them, the Moravian sisters. And next door at the hat store was Stacy. As Bridget's pointed our already, taking pictures with the great people I meet has been one of the highlights, so here are. WOW. I just realized now that I didn't get a photo with Vince. I'm a little disappointed at myself for that. However, this is an excellent opportunity to show off some of his talent. Vince told us, with a bit of a wink, that he knew the artist who did the great artwork on the Moravian cookie tins (click to order Moravian cookies). Lo and behold, the side of the tins indicate that they were 'illustrated for OLD SALEM by Vincent Cannino'. Even more interesting is that he won a Gold Addy for these illustrations. And to top it off, animal lovers like me and other will be really happy to see that he's put his talent to great use. Here's another sample of his work, which was done for the Forsyth Humane Society's Artists Unleashed exhibition. Talk about the great people you meet!

REMEMBER TO CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO SEE THEM BIGGER!


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Historic Salisbury and the NC Transportation Museum (day 4)

Started with another overcast day, headed north to Old Salem, located within Winston-Salem. More on that later, as I-85 was so clogged up halfway there, we made a u-turn and headed south to Salisbury. It's a cute little town, with a cute main street. We learned that there in the neighboring town of Spencer was located the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Earlier that morning (on the way to Old Salem) Ivan and I joked that it was probably going to be a couple of buses, but it was more denial than anything else. As stated before, my brother and I are total geeks and when we found out there there was an old steam locomotive roundhouse amidst the museum, we hightailed it there.

To picture the roundhouse, imagine a huge shed with a half-circle cut out of one side. In the middle of that half-circle is a huge turntable, with 37 tracks leading into 37 different sheds. It's absolutely amazing. Turns out that Southern Railway (motto - Southern Railway Serves the South, click here for logo) established this repair/roundhouse exactly halfway between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. Spencer was the last name of the first president of Southern Railway and this whole town was built around this industry. Long story short, diesel engines killed the roundhouse, but it lives on with this museum and the fabulous employees and volunteers that work within it, including Tip (see photo).

More Lexington BBQ (day 3)

I'm going to post a link to YouTube here tomorrow. It's a short video during which one of the pitmasters at Lexington Barbecue (Honeymonk's to the cognoscenti) opens the doors to one of the more beautiful culinary sights I've been lucky enough to see.

After Monk's, we headed to The BBQ Center. They're known for their excellent 'cue and some slamming desserts. Since we'd just come from a huge lunch, I settled for the nut sundae and Ivan went for a banana milkshake. However, I did go in and grab a couple of pork sandwiches to go. Freaking great - 'nuff said.

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If I'm Dreaming, Don't Wake Me Up, or Honeymonk's (day 3)

Just about everyone I've told that I was in N.C. for a BBQ trip asked me if I'd been to Lexington. When I say yes, the next question is whether I'd gone to Lexington Barbecue. Also known as Lexington Barbecue #1 and, even more 'in-the-know', Honeymonk's or Monk's, this is considered by some to be the epicenter of barbecue. While this may be exaggeration, I'm not sure I'd disagree. The combination of great pork, a super-friendly staff and the glow (not kidding) that comes, not from the four pits in the back, but the incredible reputation, is enough to sway me in that direction. We were honored to have been served by Nathan Monk, grandson of Wayne Monk, the ginger-haired original owner (hence - 'Honey' Monk). He was kind enough to take us into the back to show us the pits.

Normally, I'd just put one or two photos here, but it was hard to choose this time, so I've put in a few. Remember, if you click on the photos, you'll see a bigger version. Then you can just hit the 'back' button to get back to the blog. The captions, going clockwise from the bottom, are 1. Ivan and a 'Chopped Platter' 2. Working For His Supper 3. Alan and the Firebox 4. A Pig in Poop!

North Carolina Aviation Museum (day 3)

Started out this morning without too much of a plan at all. At looking at one of our 38 maps/atlases, we saw that the North Carolina Aviation Museum was about an hour away, in the town of Asheboro (not to be confused with Asheville). First off, I don't necessarily judge a museum by its gift shop, but a good one goes a long way with me and this place qualifies. The exhibits, located in a hanger close to the tarmac, were fantastic. My brother is a huge plane freak and some of it has rubbed off on me. Part of what made this place amazing was the history of the area and it's contribution to WWII.

As I've noted before, it's the people I'm meeting that is making this road trip exciting. Today, I made the acquaintance of Roger Hicks. He'd seen a Purple Heart sticker on a car in the parking lot and sounded excited at the prospect that it was one of us. Despite the fact that the closest either of got to one of those military decoration was possible carpal-tunnel due to too much PlayStation, Roger was really friendly and hospitable. Like other folks, he was very interested in the Porkway and the road trip and was forthcoming with his 'cue opinions. Add another great person to the growing list of folks I've met lately.


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More VA 'Cue - S&S Barbecue (day 2)

After Richmond, we jumped on I-85S, heading southwest towards North Carolina. At a gas fill-up, we asked the attendant for a good BBQ joint. He steered up to S&S Barbecue, in South Hill, VA. Our server was Kristy (see photo) and it was a nice stopover. The barbecue was great and Kristy was very sweet.



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No Appomattox For Us (Day 2)

We woke up this morning to some severe rain. Decided that Appomattox Court House, which was out of the way to N.C. and more of an outdoor activity, wasn't in the cards. It was too bad, as today was Palm Sunday, and Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered 143 Palm Sundays ago (1865).

Drove down to Richmond and visited The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar, a must see in my opinion. Based on the old Tredegar Iron Works, it's now a National Historic Landmark site. There's an incredible history to Richmond, including and especially it's surrender to Union forces in April 1865. Soon thereafter, Abraham Lincoln toured the city, including the 'White House of the Confederacy', with his son Tad. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House a week later.


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