Work Trip: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

It's already October, which ususally means work is starting to slow down for me. Well, not this year. My first October shoot was taking me to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After spending the day photographing the circa-1772 woman's only boarding school, Salem Academy, I went for a little walk around Old Salem.

Winston might be the more urbane half of the North Carolina Twin City, but Salem was settled during the colonial era by Morovians. They were, and still are, a protestant sect that settled here via the modern Czechia (Czech Republic).

The neighborhood is a living museum with restaurants and residences intermingled with homes-turned-museum spaces.

The architecture felt of its era, but also representative of the German-speaking Moravians.

These doors were so rad.

I especially appreciated the glazed first floor bricks on many of the buildings.

In some cases the glazed-brick was replaced by stone.

I'd definitely add Old Salem to your list if you're interested in historic American architecture.

I decided to explore the 4th Street corridor on the west end of Winston-Salem's downtown after doing a few more 360 shots for my client away from Old Salem.

And then meandered my way back through downtown and north to the arts district.

The town still has a big corporate presence from Reynolds cigarettes. It was once the whole economy.

The old cigarette factory on the east end of downtown had been converted into hip lofts and restaurant spaces.

It's fun to see how the historical local industry has been repurposed across the states. In Minneapolis its the old flour mills, but in Winston-Salem it's the remnants of big tobacco.

Comments

Six Months, More Like Six Years

Approaching the 11th hour of this Sunday we finally rolled out of bed. Brooke and I made a night out of our six month since being married. In a way we could be celebrating six plus years together. I met the little lady above in February 2006. Now we garden together. We had a lovely night indeed: dinner at Red Stag and drinks at Aster Cafe. I went outside to show Brooke where our new boulevard tree was going to be planted. We found a love letter in our bushes. Brooke couldn't read it, so we let it dry on one of the radiators. The first page was mostly apologizing for not writing and then the second page turned sour with lots of swear words. We drove downtown to eat brunch. We parked across from this rare small pre-1950s building that has somehow survived in downtown Minneapolis's ongoing urban renewal. We decided to eat at La Belle Crepe since I picked up this for our post-wedding breakfast back on that October day. This creperie is...

Honeymoon: Duluth, Minnesota is Not Flooded. Long Live Long-Pong.

When the waitress asked for Blake's ID and he told her he was underage we were kicked out of the Thirsty Pagan. To not miss out on our favorite pizza and beer (and we had a coupon to use up) we ordered food to go. While waiting for our food we walked around the great, but sad city of Superior, Wisc. Heading directly out the door and towards the industrial waterfront this Charlie Brown block was plopped amongst the former industry.

A Few Thoughts to Pass the Time

I'm sitting at the library, my new hang out besides random coffee shops. Class isn't for another 2 hours and I've finished all my homework. There's a guy running across holding his pants up and rush hour is just setting in. I never realized how weird Minnesotians actually are until I saw American Idol last night. They were doing auditions in Minneapolis, which Randy liked to call Minnehopeless. I thought it was just the culinary students that we're weird at my school, but no it's the whole state. The majority of the people that I know here are not actually from Minnesota, only one that truely is seems ok to me. Maybe I'm just like them but I don't want to admit it. School is alright. It keeps me busy. I like that some classes only have 10 students. Everyone in my Nutrition class eats healthy and reads the ingredient list but me. At least I get to take home everything I make in my baking class. Summer seems so far away. I need to find a place to live befo...

Search This Blog