October 2013 - part 3 The Fair!

The Dixie Classic Fair is in town! According to their website, "Celebrating its 131st year in 2013, the Dixie Classic Fair is the second largest agricultural Fair in North Carolina.  It is attended by and average of 325,000 visitors each year. "  

As a child I loved going to the fair!  I loved the noises - the squeals of joy, fear, and laughter of the people, the music from the various rides, the "barkers" touting their sideshows, the wheels clacking against the tracks, the "SSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"  sound of air brakes when some of the rides came to a stop!  I loved the smells of the sawdust, the rain, the cotton candy, the candy apples, the ripening fruit, the barnyard smells (well, maybe love is the wrong word for some of the smells).  I loved the garish colors, stuffed animals, balloon games, ring toss games.  The carnies seemed intriguing, exotic and frightening to me at the same time.  I couldn't imagine living on the road like they did.  The rides were thrilling and there wasn't a one of them that was too scary or rough to keep me from getting on it. The final thing was the fireworks at the end of the night.  When I was really small, this wasn't my favorite part and mama or daddy would hold me close against them and I would try to put my hands over my ears to keep the noise away.  If I looked it seemed as if the world was blowing up and that was really scary.  The percussion of the explosion made my core shake... I just couldn't take it. But aside from that,  I loved every magical thing about the fair.

Since we moved back to Winston-Salem and the fair is advertised everywhere you look, we decided to go.  We got there just after it opened the first day.  As an adult, my favorite thing besides the food would have to be the animals. We decided to eat first and then see the animals.  We strolled around the main food areas and decided on the Moravian Church's booth.  They were offering chicken pan pie, pinto beans, slaw and roll or cornbread.  It was hard to choose between their booth and the group offering the collard green sandwich.

We went on to the exhibition hall and looked at all of the art, photography, food, quilting, sewing, collectibles and hand carved items.  It is amazing the amount of talent that exists in this world. 

By now we were ready for some dessert and after walking around the midway once, we settled on hand dipped ice cream.  We found a bench outside the poultry house and listened to the farmers talk and visit with one another while we ate our ice cream.  I love to listen to them and I chuckle to myself when I hear some of their unique expressions.  

Finally we went into the poultry house and the roosters were taking their turns welcoming the day (even though it was now well past 1:00 pm).  I loved the selection of birds and was just disappointed that I couldn't take pictures of all of the various head adornments, but here are a few...

After leaving the poultry we went in search of the livestock but there was none to be found.  Apparently the livestock comes the next week.  There was, however, a petting zoo and there were plenty of little goats trying to get fed there.  

There were 2 young camels and 2 young calves there as well but all of the animals were behind a fence so you couldn't really pet them at all.  I guess the past years with people becoming sick at the fair has caused the zoo owners to be extra cautions.  You simply can't rely on people to wash up at the sink station when they're through handling the animals.  

We walked through Yesterday Village and watched a couple of men "handing" and "tying" tobacco on a stick.  Hubby and I both worked in tobacco when we were growing up so it brought back memories for both of us.  I still think I could tie tobacco.  Some things just become so ingrained in you that you could simply do them without thinking about what you're doing.  

We walked back past the livestock area and they still hadn't arrived so we decided to come back again the next week.  We went back today and THE COWS WERE THERE!!!

We went through the agricultural exhibit hall and found that the theme for this year was about the sea. Children used apples, potatoes, and pumpkins decorated according to this theme.  What fun it was to see them!:

We had a seat and people watched while we ate our cinnamon Elephant Ear and marveled at all of the people there.  It was Senior Citizen Day and many were wrapped in blankets and being pushed along in their wheelchairs.  Others where going along slowly with their walker or their cane.  Children were being pulled or pushed in wagons or strollers but no matter what their means of travel, their faces were happy because it seems that everyone loves the Fair.

I have to admit that the fair wasn't quite the way I remembered it from my childhood.  The rides didn't seem to go quite as fast, they weren't quite as big and scary as I remember them being, and I know that the big humpy slide was much, much taller when I was a child and climbed to the top with my burlap sack.  But it was still fun and I can't wait to go back!

October 2013 part 2

It's hard to believe that you can live near a place most of your life, go there every day for 4 years, live within 5 blocks of it but still , you've never taken the tour.  This was true for me and my much beloved Old Salem.  I grew up in Winston-Salem and as a child my daddy would drive through Old Salem on our way to visit family when there weren't interstates and freeways.  What I remember most about Old Salem at that time was that instead of stop signs, there were these rubber signs fastened to the road that so that they would stand up about 12 to 18 inches.  They had the word "STOP" painted on them with white letters. The rubber would flex as the car drove over them.  There was also this really beautiful building there that said "Salem College" across the top and I just felt this real connection with it...but I digress.

Well, last Saturday was finally the day... I had no excuses. Being a double Scots Irish, I'm known as Kathy "Frugal" Blanchard, and even though as a Salem student, I could have taken the tour at half price, I was still too parsimonious (that sounds much better than "cheap" doesn't it) to go.  But last Saturday the Smithsonian was behind a program encouraging various museums across the United States to allow free admission for one person and their guest.  How on earth could I turn that down?

We ate an early lunch and picked up our tickets at the Welcome Center and made an appointment for a guided tour of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Art (MESDA).  We started our self guided tour with the Timothy Vogler Gunsmith Shop (1831) and were learned there that the average income for a Salem resident was equal to about $25 a month.   The next stop was the 1784 Salem Tavern (George Washington slept here), then went to the tavern barn.  Next was the Blum house and print shop.  This particular print shop printed the Blum's Almanac, the same one that Daddy always insisted that we use.  The front of the almanac is almost an exact replica of the one printed there from 1815 - 1854.  Within the print shop was a collection of embroidery from young ladies who attended Salem Academy during the early years.  The work was just lovely and so delicate!

Next on the list was the Single Brother's House (1769).  We learned that wthin the Moravian Church, everyone was divided up into "choirs" - not to be confused with singing choirs (although they did sing, in fact music was and is very important to them), but small living and study groups called choirs.  The choirs were set up according to age, gender and marital status. During the week they lived, worked and studied with their choir and on Sunday they all worshiped together. If you visit a Moravian cemetery you'll find it arranged in blocks/choirs.  Husbands and wives are not buried side by side but with their gender and marital status.  

The Single Sister's house sat across the square from the Single Brothers house.  It has been refurbished and is partially used by the college.  

Next stop was the Miksch Gardens and House (1771).  It was a 2 room house - one room was the kitchen and the other room was the everything else room.  The guide in there was sewing.  She said that they have various chores that they do each day and at different times of the day (cooking, washing, sewing, etc,) just like the folks living in the 1700s.  

Since we have shopped in Old Salem, there was no need to go to the stores and bakery so we went along to the Doctor's residence.  It contained the family living space as well as the apothecary.  We were lucky that the Home Moravian Church was still open with a man giving a talk about the church and how it had changed over the years.  The church is really beautiful with its curved pews and balcony.  

Our time was nearing for our MESDA tour.  It was hard to believe that we had already spent hours looking around.  On our way back to the museum we stopped in at the log church and St. Phillips Moravian Church, built by the Moravians for the African American congregation who until the mid 19th century had  worshipped alongside the Moravians.     

We finished up with our tour of MESDA.  This was only a partial tour, about 10 rooms but it was fabulous.  Frank L. Horton, who the museum is named in honor of, and his mother enjoyed collecting early Southern furniture and actually collected entire rooms from homes that were about to be demolished.  These rooms have been reassembled or recreated within the museum using the paints and original furnishings (when available).  It is a gorgeous treat and I do plan to bite the bullet one day soon and take the rest of the tour.

There is always something going on in Old Salem.  During the summer they have the Cobblestone Market, which is a farmer's market of certified organic goods, Ghost Tours, Christmas Events including the Candle Tea and Love Feast and they are known far and wide for their Easter Sunrise Service.  If you'd like to find out more about these wonderful sites and maybe arrange to take the tours yourself, you'll find the link below.  

http://www.oldsalem.org/

http://www.salem.edu/

http://www.mesda.org/