Not too far away from Oak Hollow Campground is Winston-Salem, NC. It is well-known for its rich history in tobacco. But over the years, tobacco has lost a lot of its financial impact in the area but other industries stepped up such as the private university of Wake Forest (where Will, our son-in-law got his law degree). Winston-Salem is now known as an academic, financial, insurance and technology city. Several times in my career, I have had to interface with companies in Winston-Salem. I found the people to be young, innovative and very smart.
Today we wanted to tour the Old Salem part of town. It was a perfect 70 degree day with clear blue skies. We bought two tickets, got a map, walked over a neat old wood bridge that spanned over the two lane incoming road and off we went into Old Salem. Old Salem started in the early 1750’s by a religious group, one that I have never heard of before, the Moravian’s. They were out of Pennsylvania and wanted to re-colonize into North Carolina. They bought about 500 square miles of land to make a living growing tobacco. Salem became their business and religious center.
We walked through many historical building, talking to the period actors. They were very informative when you asked them questions, which I definitely did! At the old city tavern which was also the city INN, we found our way to the INN’s kitchen. This was the most interesting for Denise. Denise asked the period actor about how coffee was made. She explained that she received green coffee beans in 50 pound bags imported. Then she had to roast them over a fire in a thing that looked like a two-quart fruit juice can laying long ways with an attached 2 foot metal rod handle coming out of the cans’ round end. The beans would go into the can, held over a fire and continuously being rotated by hand as to not to burn the beans. For about a quart of beans, it took about 45 minutes to roast. The beans then was stored into a clay pot. The INN would house about 20 people each night and coffee was served each morning. To make the coffee, the beans needed to be ground by a rotary hand grinder. It takes about a tablespoon of grind coffee beans to make a cup of coffee. Pour the grinds into the bottom of a coffee pot. Then heat the water over the fire and pour onto the grinds. It’s a lot of work for a cup of Joe!
For me, the gunsmith was the most interesting. The gunsmith gave Denise and I a verbal tour of how he makes a musket from a raw maple block of wood, forging steel for the barrel and flint-lock mechanism. He then hand carves his personal art work on the wood gun stock. The guns are bought by museums and re-actors before it is made. He said there is a big demand for hand-made period guns. I think I can do this!
