Dining in the Dash: Mary's Gourmet Dinner

This post is so severely overdue there are fines on it. I can't remember when exactly when ate here but it was before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving! That was a long time ago.

We met Anne and Locke here for brunch on a Sunday. I'm not sure why we came here on a Sunday considering this is their busiest day of the week and both of our husbands are off for 7 days in a row and we could have come aaaaany other day, but here we were on a Sunday, waiting in line for brunch.

That was probably my first tip off that this was going to be a good meal. Waiting in line for brunch is the norm of course… IF that is, you live in New York, Chicago, LA, San Fran, DC or any other city with public transportation and people who don't regularly go to church on Sunday. Waiting for brunch in Winston, sure. Waiting in a LINE twenty people deep? Doesn't happen here.

Fortunately, it was worth the wait. Totally, totally worth it.

There were so many things on the menu I wanted to try that I can't believe we haven't been back eighty times since then. (Matt, we need to go back to Mary's.)

Anne and I both couldn't decide between a savory or a sweet breakfast, so we split the difference. She ordered the French toast special with lemon curd and I ordered the Apple Butter, Baby. Apple Butter, Baby: scrambled eggs, smoked sausage and homemade apple butter on wheat toast.

If you don't have a friend who's willing to go half-sweet, half-savory on brunch with you then I would recommend interviewing everyone in line to find one. Best idea ever.

Our food was great, our service was excellent (responsive without being overbearing), the prices were decent and most important of all to us these days, it was very baby friendly. The husbands both had various omelets and were equally as happy. We have had so many friends recommend this place to us and I completely understand why now. It is a favorite among Winston-Salem residents and we can be counted among them now.

In fact, we liked it so much we went back just two weeks later. This time, on a Wednesday.

A review of our “Dining in the Dash” Project

• Kitchen Roselli
• The Screaming Rooster
• Goat Lady Dairy
• the Taco Truck
• Sweet Potatoes
• Breakfast Of Course
• Bernadin’s (My Review - 12/15/12)
• Meridian
• Old Salem Tavern
• King’s Crab Shack (7/01/12)
• New Town Bistro
• Muddy Creek Café
• Winston-Salem Prime
• Spring House Restaurant (My Review - 5/11/12)
• Lexington BBQ
• Hillbilly Hideaway
• Mooney’s (My Review - 6/11/12)
• Vin205
• MamaZoe Michael’s
• El Maguey
• Chef Dion Sprenkle 

Christmas Progressive Dinner at Bernardin’s {Dining in the Dash review}

In lieu of our usual Christmas tacky party, we went in the complete opposite direction and celebrated the season with our friends with a fancy-dress up progress dinner party. We missed seeing everyone decked out in their finest tacky knitwear, but I must say our friends clean up pretty good.

We started off with appetizers at Anne + Locke’s, progressed to dinner at Bernardin’s and ended with dessert at Chad + Caroline’s.

It was my first time eating at Bernardin’s, despite having heard so many good reviews about it before. I’m going to double this as a “dining in the dash” entry since that was one of the places on our list. I’m not entirely sure when they moved into the Zeverly House location but I loved it – it just such a cozy little spot for a restaurant. The downstairs has a living room like feel to the front room with the bar, and then there’s one dining room downstairs, a main one upstairs and a smaller private room. Because we were a group of fourteen, we were in the small private room upstairs. It felt as cozy as eating in one of our own homes. Except, someone else did the cooking and dishes. Win.

And the cooking! I rarely order steaks when I’m out to eat (not because I don’t like them, but I try to make it a point to order things I don’t cook very well like fish or risotto) but Jamie had told me that they had the best steaks in town. Jamie’s not a big steak eater either, so when she laid down that proclamation I simply had to follow through. Filet mignon with melted goat cheese on top? Done. I don’t even remember what the side was. Was there a side? Don’t know, don’t care. It certainly was the best steak in town. (Okay, in all fairness, I just told you I haven’t really had any of the other steaks in town… but suffice it to say, this was a great one.) My husband, usually the steak eater, ventured on to the wild side of the menu and tried the evening special – kangaroo. Truthfully, when I give him a few bites of my filet, I think he was pretty jealous he went with the roo. (His summary: like a tough pork chop.) My meal was excellent, the service was top notch, the ambience lovely and the company – well that was the best part.

It was a wonderful evening with friends and I felt like it put me in the holiday spirit for the coming two weeks. Or maybe that was a food coma. I’m not sure, but I liked it.

And I definitely owe a special thank you to Matt’s parents who came up for the evening and baby-sat our little munchkin, so we could go out on the town with our friends. That in and of itself is a Christmas present we’ll remember!

Just Another Fall Weekend in the South

Another fall weekend spent doing what we love: tailgating!

This was a noon game so we did a breakfast tailgate - mimosas & Bloody Mary's, eggs & bacon on the grill and the most ridiculous pecan rolls from Camino Bakery. Despite the fact that noon games mean shorter tailgates, we can still manage to squeeze a few thousand calories in during those short hours.

This was Bo's first tailgate AND game. We only stayed for half the game because it was super hot - even on the shaded side of the stadium! Despite the heat and the noise, he did great and slept through most of the game. Around half time, I figured my luck would probably run out soon and we should pack up and head home. My instincts were right on - as soon as I hit the parking lot, my snoozing Deac fan woke up and stared SCREAMING. (Maybe he was just mad I made him leave the game?)

It was insult added to injury when we got home from the game and I walked in the door expecting the relief of the a/c to hit us.... and discovered it had broken. This doesn't sound so bad in September but it was 84 outside. And 86 inside.

Bo got a quick bath and was swaddled up with just his diaper on and a fan blowing for a nap and I poured a cold glass of Pinot Grigio and retreated to the porch, which was actually cooler than my house. (In fact, that was where Matt ended up sleeping that night!)

Ahh, fall. Nothing like sweating your bum off in your own house in the middle of September to remind you that even though there's football games and Halloween candy in the store, it's still practically summer in the south.

Dining in the Dash: King’s Crab Shack

Winston-Salem needed a restaurant like this.  A down-home, pretend-you're-at-the-beach seafood place. My husband has said for years Winston needed a "good seafood place" and I think we finally found it.  Yes, there is the one out by the mall but we hate driving out to that trafficy-retaily side of town and there are lots of restaurants that serve amazing seafood dishes - Mozelle's, Milner's and Meridian's come to mind - but this is the kind of place where seafood is the entire point and your meal comes in plastic red baskets with a side of perfect tartar sauce and a lack of any pretense. Basically, the only thing missing is a nearby source of saltwater.

As Anne wrote in her post (she always beats me to it!), we were originally attracted to what we heard was the weekend lunch special - all you can eat crab legs. Turned out that they were $28 per person, which I did not think was very special. (I often get confused by restaurants calling something special - do they mean it's just the only time you can get it or do they mean it's a good price for something they offer regularly? I think this case might have been the former, but either way we decided not to opt for it.)

The good news is, despite the initial disappointment of no endless crab legs, everybody was very happy with their meals when all was said and done. Matt loved his spicy catfish sandwich - he is a catfish aficionado and has been disappointed ever since Village Tavern stopped carrying it on their menu a few years ago!  I debated between a shrimp po'boy and clams and finally decided to go with clams. I love me some clams, and could easily have taken down 2-3 dozen of these suckers but since that wasn't an all you can eat special, I limited myself to a dozen plus a starter salad.  They were excellent - briney and delicious, with the right complementary sides of melted butter, a tangy cocktail sauce and pungent horseradish.  Matt had a Pacifico to go with his meal, and I perused the fun drink menu for future reference.

I liked the set up of the restaurant too - it had a really long bar area, plenty of tables on the inside and lots of outdoor patio seating. (Given it was our 100+ degree Saturday, no one was taking advantage of that... no big surprise.) There were enough things on the menu I'd come back regularly, and there were options for non-seafood eaters as well too. Our meal came to $35 with gratuity and everything, so that included 2 meals, a salad and a drink - which I think is very reasonable for delicious seafood! It was just an easy, laid-back place to have a delicious seafood meal. Definitely a place we will make future visits to!

Oh, and the ego boost in the ladies restroom sure doesn’t hurt either…

A review of our “Dining in the Dash” Project*

• Kitchen Roselli
• The Screaming Rooster
• Goat Lady Dairy
• the Taco Truck
• Sweet Potatoes
• Breakfast Of Course
• Bernadin’s
• Meridian
• Old Salem Tavern
• King’s Crab Shack (7/01/12)
• New Town Bistro
• Muddy Creek Café
• Winston-Salem Prime
• Spring House Restaurant (My Review - 5/11/12)
• Lexington BBQ
• Hillbilly Hideaway
• Mooney’s (My Review - 6/11/12)
• Vin205
• MamaZoe Michael’s
• El Maguey
• Chef Dion Sprenkle 

Dining in the Dash: Mooney’s

Anne & I checked another restaurant off our list of must-try places in our Dining in the Dash project!  I know a lot of people are regulars at Mooney's, but somehow neither of us had ventured down 4th Street to try it yet.  In fact, when I tweeted that I was going at least 3 different people mentioned it was one of their W-S faves (and I even got a recommendation for a dish to try from Miriam.)

I was really happy to see Anne had snagged an outdoor table when I walked up - I love al fresco dining in the summer!  I decided to take Miriam's advice and go with a sampler plate because it seemed like a good way to try out a couple new dishes.  I've eaten a good bit of Mediterranean food but I haven't varied much from a few basic standards that I know I like.  So I decided the falafel as something completely new to me, along with some stand-by favorites like hummus and couscous.  And then I got the cauliflower just because it sounded good.  Anne ordered a moussaka that was a special recommended by the waiter. My biggest problem was narrowing down what to try on my sampler platter - I also really wanted to try the tabouli and baba ghanouj!  Just means I have to go back, right?

General food review: the hummus was excellent - very creamy and tangy.  I loved the couscous - I forget how much I like couscous because I don't cook it at home very much since Matt doesn't really like it.  I loved the addition of raisins in it for a hint of sweetness.  The fried cauliflower were great too - very light, not breaded or battered and they came with a sesame dressing for dipping.  The only thing I didn't love was my new dish, the falafel.  I didn't dislike it - but I was glad there were only two because I didn't find myself scarfing them down.  I also tried Anne's moussaka (and I'll let her review for herself) but I wasn't a fan - there was a spice in it I couldn't identify but I just didn't love.  Something that made it almost sweet... maybe nutmeg?  (Let the record show that I have no idea what moussaka is supposed to taste like though.)

I also thought it was fairly priced for the amount of food we had.  Our bill was $19 with tip for our 2 dinners (no drinks) and we both had leftovers to take home. One of my favorite things about our meal is that unlike a lot of dining out experiences, I didn't feel like the food was super heavy and I left full but not overstuffed.  While we were eating, Zac came by to pick up dinner there which gave me a lightbulb moment... I have a very small list of places that I like to pick dinner up from on nights I don’t feel like cooking because most take-out options end up being so heavy – I’d rather just eat a bowl of cereal!  So I might not race back here in lieu of some other favorites in restaurant (especially with my long list of places to try still), but there were so many other things on the menu I wanted to try I'm going to keep it in mind as a pick-up option for busy nights too.  I'll just have to remember to leave the couscous off Matt's plate!

A review of our “Dining in the Dash” Project*

• Kitchen Roselli
• The Screaming Rooster
• Goat Lady Dairy
• the Taco Truck
• Sweet Potatoes
• Breakfast Of Course
• Bernadin’s
• Meridian
• Old Salem Tavern
• King’s Crab Shack
• New Town Bistro
• Muddy Creek Café
• Winston-Salem Prime
• Spring House Restaurant (My Review - 5/11/12)
• Lexington BBQ
• Hillbilly Hideaway
• Mooney’s (6/11/12)
• Vin205
• MamaZoe Michael’s
• El Maguey
• Chef Dion Sprenkle 

*Yes, we added a few to the original list.  And it’s taking us awhile to get to them.  I anticipate this being a long (although enjoyable!) project.

Dining in the Dash: Spring House Restaurant

One of the many things I love about living in Winston-Salem is the restaurants.  For a small city, we have so many amazing options for eating out. And as our downtown continues to go through this revitalization process, there seem to be more and more wonderful places to choose from!

So of course that means we end up trying something new every time we go, right?  Of course not.  Like the townies we are, Matt and I had gotten in the habit of going to the same places over and over again.  After discussing this with Anne and finding that she and Locke were doing the same thing, we came up with a plan to make ourselves a list of places that we would try over the next year instead of going back to the same stand-by.  The only criteria was that at least one of us had never been or both of us hadn't been in over a year. And thus, our new project - Dining in the Dash - was born!

Here is the list we came up with:

• Kitchen Roselli
• The Screaming Rooster
• Goat Lady Dairy
• the Taco Truck
• Sweet Potatoes
• Breakfast Of Course
• Bernadin’s
• Meridian
• Old Salem Tavern
• King’s Crab Shack
• New Town Bistro
• Muddy Creek Café
• Winston-Salem Prime
• Spring House Restaurant
• Lexington BBQ
• Hillbilly Hideaway

Of course, Anne has beaten me to the punch with her dining review but I'm going to go ahead and post about it anyways.

The first place we picked was the Spring House.  I had heard about this new place a few months ago via Twitter and then from my friend Teri who raved about their mojitos. I'd read it was a former mansion from the "Millionaire Row" - the downtown 5th street area that was where the turn-of-century big shots had built huge estates - but which was now mostly converted to office spaces.  I love when old spaces are renovated to capture their original charm so I was excited to see what the renovations looked like.

It did not disappoint at all.  The setting is downright charming.  We lucked out with a warm spring night and the front doors of both dining rooms and the library bar were flung open on to a bright green lawn, a patio with more outdoor seating and a small collection of benches around a fountain where I could imagine comfortably waiting for our table with a glass of wine in hand.  (Fortunately we didn't have to wait since we had a reservation.)

The menu was fun and interesting, with lots of creative dishes that provided a twist on what I'd describe as maybe upscale home cooking.  I had the pork tenderloin saltimbocca and Matt had the chicken fried chicken.  (It came with a waffle.  He was pretty smitten.)  My pork dish was delicious and very tender, with an delicious smoky spoonbread for the side.  It didn't knock my socks off so I'd probably try another dish next time I went, but I definitely wasn't disappointed by it either.  I ended with a almond apple crisp that I generously passed around to share with the table, even though I could have easily hogged the whole thing myself!

One of the major features of the menu was their cocktail selections, which of course I didn't partake in, but would easily make me come back for another visit in a few months.  I would have gotten the drink Anne had - the twisted brown trucker.  It looked every bit as pretty as the description sounded and she gave it a thumbs up.  There's a couple different things that would bring me back to try this again: they offer a tasting menu which I think would be a great way to try many of the unique dishes they offer and the first Wednesday of every month has cooking classes.  Both of these are going on my to-do list... but I better wait until I get through our other places to try first.

I thought Anne summarized it well when she said it was on the pricier side if you did appetizers, drinks and dinner but definitely worth it for a nicer meal.  It would also be a great place to come for drinks and appetizers on the patio or the charming library bar.  We'll definitely be back!

Happy

I had an "I'm old" moment today.  I was purchasing my tickets to Sister Hazel online and thinking to myself "I can't believe they aren't sold out!  This is such a big show for Ziggy’s -  I would have thought Wake students would be buying them out!"

And then I realized: Sister Hazel had their biggest hit in 1997.  I was 15, and riding around in cars, singing to the radio at the top of my lungs, and that kind of music sticks with you for life.

Wake seniors? They were born in 1990.  They were 7. SEVEN.

Oh dear lord.  I don't feel like that much time has passed since the late 90s...and yet... and yet.

Anyways, despite my senior moment, and despite the fact that the band itself is getting quite senior themselves...they ROCKED.  Seriously, rocked.  They sang every single song I would have hoped to hear.And the brand new Ziggy's was fabulous.  And we celebrated cute Teri's birthday.  And friends and favorite-concert-buddies Kate and Charlie joined us..  And they sang "This Kind of Love" which my friend Karl had sang at our wedding and makes me all squishy and happy inside when I hear it.

And it was such a happy night.

Celebrating

Happy Birthday, Jacob & Michelle!

It always sort of amazes me when the schedule gods grant us one of those nights where almost everyone has the same night off.  That just doesn't happen a lot when all your friends are residents.

Tonight we got together to celebrate Jacob and Michelle's victory lap of their 20's at Tate's.

I was driving and a teensy bit worn out from our garage sale extravaganza this morning, and sometimes when I'm tired I feel like I'm sitting back and watching things instead of actively participating.  I felt that way tonight, but in a very content and peaceful way.

I love our friends and I'm so thankful that residency brought us all together, and that even more important, we have each other to get through residency with.

I love our city, and I'm so thankful that we've gotten to live here for 10 years and watch this city grow and change as downtown becomes somewhere you'd actually want to be.

See, now usually it's too much wine that makes me all "I wuv you guys" but tonight?  Tonight it's a clear head and calm heart that's letting me look out at this life and feeling my gratitude.

And the best part?

No hangover when you get drunk on gratitude.

California, Here We Come

Ever since we got here, I've had the theme song from The O.C. Stuck in my head.

California, here we are.

Our travel was wonderfully uneventful. Neither of us even had to go through the x-ray machine. We got to San Diego mid-afternoon, and my brother was wandering around baggage claim looking for us.

We headed to his home, a cute beach bungalow he shares with his two grad student roommates, a sweet kitty named Eddie and an adorable Aussie shepherd named Sebastian. Seb has been providing us our doggy fix already. On our way to his house, we crested a huge hill and looked straight down into the sparkling Pacific Ocean.



Yup. I get why so many people love living here now. Wow.

After we dropped off our stuff, we changed into workout gear for what I anticipate to be the first of many outdoor exercise outings. From what I can gather, exercise is a way of life here. I likes.

Mike took us over to Torrey Pines State Park, where we hiked up dusty desert trails to see some more a-maaazing views, then ended on the beach. I can't get over a beach that goes right up to a high craggy roll of rock. Very different from our East coast beaches!








After we burned off some calories, we headed back to his neighborhood to consume some. Considering both my mom and my sis texted me to ask if we were going for fish tacos, I was anticipating a good meal. I was not disappointed. We finished up our evening with some Baileys on the rocks back at Michael's house and crawled into bed exhausted... At 10:30. Clearly we are still on east coast time, and with the addition of the travel, the hike and the baileys, didn't stand a chance. See you in the morning.

Probably at 5 am.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Chronicles of a Townie

How is it possible that 5 days can pass so slow, and 2 days oh so quickly?

It seems to happen with an alarming regularity.

Another weekend, come and gone.

We went out to eat Friday at a new restaurant called Bob's Big Gas Subs and Pub. I am obsessed with the building this restaurant is in. It's in one of my favorite parts of town - West End - and I've been watching crews come and renovate this former dilapadated service station into this beauty. I declared long ago I wanted it to be my future office, but I wasn't exactly picturing a pub and sub below... ... maybe more like a coffee shop that also served cupcakes and champagne. We'll have to work on that.

But in the meantime, until I can move in upstairs, subs and pubs will have to do.

I will say, it's the first place in Winston-Salem I've ever found Labatt Blue Light. Oh LBL, you somehow make me a teensy bit homesick.


And their sandwiches are quite tasty too. Strange combinations - apple, ham and goat cheese toasted. A pimiento cheese sandwich with bacon and avocado? Worth repeat visits.

After dinner, we went out to two watering holes- Tate's Craft Cocktails and Rec Billiards. Winston's night life has changed tremendously since we were here in college when I'm quite certain the only three choices we had were Burke St, Black Bear and Daytona's. I'm still not sure why we went to Daytona's - a complete hole in the wall without anywhere good to dance (a priority for my 21-yr-old self) and has since become a tractor and mower parts store.

Certainly a far cry from Tate's with cocktails that have more ingredients than most dinners I cook, comfy couches crowded around heaters and blankets outside, and old rugged high wooden bar inside.

Winston, you done grown up!

All the changes that we've seen in downtown over the last few years makes me excited to see what's to come in this city, as people keep finding new ways to use old buildings (like tobacco factories into apartment lofts) and the growing movement of a slow food culture, a night life and a walkable downtown. It makes me proud to be a resident here... going on 8 years! Seeing as how that's almost a third of my life, do I qualify for townie status?

If so, do I need to relocate to Burke St?

Salute!

Let's see... time spent with good friends, in warm weather with delicious wine? Check. Pretty sure that's a recipe for a perfect weekend day. Matt and I spent Saturday at the Salute NC Wine Festival with friends - Mike, Anne, Locke, Crystal, Donna, Kim and Crick. I'm not sure we tasted everything there but we definitely put a good effort forth. I'm totally shocked to report that my absolute favorite wine was the Cellar 4201 Sangiovese. Yes, moi, who pretty much only started drinking, nay tasting, red wines a month ago. It seems like white wines from NC are just super sweet. I'm a fan of semi-sweet wines, for sure, but I don't want a sugar buzz along with my vino buzz. Other faves were the Raffaldini Fiore, Divine Llama Chardonnel and McRitchie Sparking Niagara.

After our (sugar) buzz, we headed to dinner at Downtown Thai. Afterwards we headed across the street to a new bar. It's called Tate's Craft Cocktails... I guess craft means hand-made and hand-made means really, really, REALLY slow service? I'd give 'em a 2nd chance, since apparently they have just opened, but it took an hour and a half for 8 of us to have one round of drinks.

And then we stood in a street and danced to an 80s cover band and I thought about how much I adore life in this city with our wonderful friends, the end.

The Dash

Last Sunday, Jamie and I had plans to go peruse the new shops along Burke St – Gusto and Re-Tale.  However, our plans were a diverted when we got there and realized both were closed on Sundays.  Girl Scouts that we are, neither of us thought to look online or call ahead for hours.  We scrapped our shopping plans, and decided instead to go chill at BrewNerds and catch up over some coffee.

As we zig-zagged our way from Burke St over to Fourth St, a little thought popped into my head: I love this city.

I’m surprised to say this, but I think I’ve fallen in love with Winston.  I was not very excited to leave DC in 2006 to move down here and had there not been a handsome, funny and lovely medical student residing here, it’s safe to say I would not have relocated to the Dash.  I didn’t have the fondest memories of the city from time at WFU, but then again I rarely left the “Bubble” except the rare venture to Daytona’s (now gone) and Burke St.  Not exactly Winston’s finest.

And, in my defense, many of the things that I love today about Winston didn’t exist, or are even still “in the works.”  I adore 6th and Vine and Noma – both of which are new additions since I’ve moved back here.  I’m excited about a/perture, and Barnhills (wine + bookstore, opening soon on Burke St) and the gorgeous baseball stadium that will have opening day in just a few weeks.  I love that tonight’s agenda includes a for-charity fashion show (at Level 23), a Prosecco tasting (at Cafe Pradda) and boutique shopping (at Gusto and Re-tale).  Excuse me, fashion shows and Prosecco?  This isn’t the Burke St Pizza and Rose’s Deli Winston I remember from college.

(Although, to be fair, I still love Rose’s.  Give me those seasoned fries and a chicken fajita wrap on a sunny Saturday morning on the deck anytime.) 

I love the small-town feel in a city with, arguably, many things that bit cities have – arts, sports, awesome restaurants.  (My only major complaint: incredibly poor cab services and bus services.  Leaves no choice but to pick a DD every weekend, and often means we’re more likely to convene at a friends’ house than try to coordinate multiple cars going downtown.)  

I love that after 8 years of driving and running here, I finally get how downtown, West End and Ardmore all connect.

I love the white office that’s been restored on the corner of Reynolda and Northwest Blvd.

I love the Krankies airstream coffee place, Reynolda Farm Market and Mostly Local Market.  I love that the slow food movement is gaining speed in Winston. 

I love the plans for The Olio.

I love that half the people I follow on Twitter are local Winston-Salem businesses – and when I mention that I’m visiting them, they respond like a good friend would.  I love that Southern hospitality can be found anywhere you look.

I love that every time I drive by Corpening Plaza I remember pulling up there in a big limo and seeing a huge white tent, my smiling groom and all my favorite people in front of the waterfall backdrop.  I love that we decided to get married in “our” town.

I love that the gorgeous modern looking ISP building is diagonally across the street from my creaky floor, exposed pipes ceiling yoga studio.

I love that where tobacco once thrived, now vineyards flourish.

I love that I live “out in the country” but it still only takes me 25 minutes to get downtown – with bad traffic.

I love running through Buena Vista, and seeing the variety of architectural styles, time periods and new construction built to look like old.  I love that it has sidewalks, and big trees, and dogs being walked every hour of the day.

I love coming back from the Greensboro airport on business 40, and seeing the most infamous building of the Winston-Salem skyline.  It’s always at that moment I think “I’m home.”

It’s a good place to call home.

 

(Photo by Ryan Bumgarner, my wedding photog.)

Old Salem

I love walking around Old Salem, a the “living history museum” of my city.  Walking around there, you can almost imagine yourself back a hundred years.  Last Saturday, Jamie and I went to romp around Old Salem with our camera to just snap whatever caught our eye.  Some of my faves… and I think I have an addiction to macro shots.  I just can’t resist obscure close-ups.