Winston-Salem

Robert got another rare Saturday off last weekend.  I'd say he's had about 3 weekends off (besides being on vacation) since November, so we definitely try to take advantage of it when he has a Saturday off.  After we had lived in North Carolina for a few months I made a list of things to do and places to go during our time here.  One of the towns we wanted to visit was Winston-Salem.

It's a common misconception that Wake Forest University is in Wake Forest, but it is actually in Winston-Salem.  We took a brief self-guided tour of the university, and it was stunning!  Wake Forest University used to be located in Wake Forest, but in the mid 1900s it moved to Winston-Salem and built a new campus that looked rather similar to the former campus.  A few years later the Southern Baptist Convention purchased the abandoned campus and turned it into SEBTS.  Anyway, because of that WF has a few of the same building names and designs.

We also enjoyed a couple of stops at super super random sites that I had found online the day before.

Who doesn't love a huge coffee percolator?

How about a Shell gas station shaped like a shell?

The main attraction of the day was Old Salem.  I hadn't heard of this before, but Robert suggested it.  It's a similar vibe to colonial Williamsburg, and it represents historic Salem at the Moravians.  It was way cooler than I could have ever expected.  Of course, it helped that it was 75 degrees and not too humid.  Since it was a Saturday they had a very impressive farmers' market going on.  Then we hit up a few shops for some window shopping.  You could theoretically just wander around for free without ever having to pay anything, but we decided to purchase a two stop ticket.  We didn't go for the all access pass.  For our two stops that cost a ticket we went to the Single Brothers' House.  I would definitely suggest this as one of your two stops if you buy two tickets.  It was the largest and most time-consuming stop so we felt like it was well worth our money.  To summarize this stop, I'll quote their website:

Salem’s residents were members of the Moravian church. The Moravian Church, or Unitas Fratrum, is a Protestant faith originating in the present-day Czech Republic and Germany. In the 18th and 19th century, Moravians lived by the choir system, where members with similar life experiences (age, gender, marital status) worshipped together. Some of these groups even lived together. In Salem, the choir for unmarried men, the Single Brothers’ Choir lived together in this building. Across the square was similar housing for the Single Sisters’ Choir.

We're taking a poll: What do you think about Robert's beard???

For our other stop we went to the garden.   Very pretty!

We also enjoyed an absolutely delicious lunch at The Tavern in Old Salem.  We had relatively low expectations, but left saying we would genuinely enjoy going back to eat there again.  It will come as no surprise to many of you that I got a chicken salad sandwich and Robert got a hamburger.  And if we approve of the CSS and burger at a place, then it's a good restaurant, indeed.

Complete with candied walnuts!

With cheddar cheese, bacon, and jalapenos! 

UNC

Robert had a rare Saturday off a couple of weeks ago so we decided to take a trip to Chapel-Hill.  The only other time we had been there was for Robert to have back surgery, so we were excited to return under better circumstances.  We started out walking around campus some.  Since it was a Saturday during the summer we couldn't actually get into any buildings, but we did manage to take a picture by one of the statues.

Duke fans at heart

Our next stop was the North Carolina Botanical Garden.  It was fairly pleasant for being an early July day, and we enjoyed walking around in the garden.  I will say, however, that we probably liked the Sarah P. Duke Gardens better.

Some Common Dandelion, anyone?

Our favorite flower in the garden.  Does anybody know what type of flower this is?

Look who I found!

What are some fun adventures you've gone on this summer?

North Carolina Natural Science Museum

Robert had been begging to go to the natural science museum for approximately two years.  I didn't have much of a desire to go, and he also works nearly every Saturday which makes outings like this nearly impossible.  It just so happened that the Saturday of his birthday weekend he got the day off from work.  I asked him what to do, and he said the natural science museum, and since it was his birthday I was forced to oblige.  It actually turned into a very fun day.  Admission is free, and since it was the weekend we scored some free parking close to the entrance.

Ready to celebrate the birthday boy

The museum had a nice balance of placards with facts to read as well as more hands on type exhibits.  I was a fan of the waterfalls.

Robert liked the whale exhibit

The solar system made of blown glass

The absolute best part was the two-toed sloth.  It was on the 4th and final floor, and we were pretty ready to leave, but we stumbled upon the butterfly garden and decided to check it out.  There were about a dozen kinds of very pretty butterflies inside.  There was also a sloth, but the worker said he'd been in there for an hour and hadn't seen it move an inch.  It just so happened that right after we went in he got super active.  Mind you, super active for a sloth isn't saying a lot, but still.  He got wild and ventured down for a carrot.  It took about 5 minutes, but he got it.  On his way back up the poor two-toed sloth dropped his carrot.  He seriously decided what to do for a second and decided to go on back up without the carrot.  It was totally pitiful and cute.

So there you have it.  The next time you're in Raleigh make sure you hit up the NC Museum of Natural Science.