Historic South

For the past couple of days I have been off touring some historic communities in both South and North Carolina. The first place I visited was Brattonsville, about an hour north of Columbia. This is a historic village remembering back country (inland Carolinas) farming just before and after the Revolutionary War. There are replicas of single room pioneer log cabins, slave huts and a plantation home (incidently this is one of the plantation homes used in the movie The Patriot). There is also a farm with various livestock and produce of the era and costumed staff performing crafts like weaving flax and spinning cotton. Of course there is also a battlefield nearby where Farmer Joe and his 3 musketeers defeated a British batallion of 20 000 men on horseback in a battle that was the turning point of the war. (Did you sense the sarcasm?) The whole area is surrounded by woodland and farmland and there are hiking trails throughout so it made for a pleasant day's outing.

I then continued north across the state line to a city called Winston-Salem (you may guess from the name that this is tobacco heartland). In the centre of this city there is a restored village called Old Salem. It is the same idea as Brattonsville with costumed craftsmen and women acting as guides and interpreters of days gone by. It had quite a different style though because this village is not a shrine to any battles. The people who lived (and still live) here are Moravians, a religious community with German roots. They were predominantly craftsmen and tradespeople but lived self-sufficiently so also did their fair share of farming, cropping and baking. The Old Town, while holding to traditions for tourist purposes, still functions as a part of everyday life. There is an old tavern where you can get a hearty bratwurst and sauerkraut, a gunsmith who's hand-made rifles sell for a mere $5000, a butcher, a baker selling wood-fired oven delights, a candlestick maker, a tailor, a doctor practising herbal remedies and of course a church to welcome the faithful. The Moravian community had very strict rules regarding the genders and married men and women were not allowed contact with one another except at church meetings. Nowdays the village incorporates an Academy which reminded me a lot of Soro Academy in it's architecture and general vibe. Nearby there is also a wonderful Toy Museum and a separate Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts showcasing the craft skills of the early settlers. I was one of the few tourists around so was lucky to have private guided tours of both of these museums as well as most of the craft houses mentioned above.