Forsyth county farms

There are still places in Forsyth County where farmland persists.The charming Lombardy Lane leads to such a spot, improbably squeezed in between Interstate 40 and Peacehaven Road.

A question of belief

Brought to you by the most believable blog in the world.

The blog should hate this, but it doesn't

New construction (Cheslyn, off Spicewood).

Hidden quarry

Kester Mill Road looks normal enough on the map. But the road is closed, and the feeling is utterly remote. Despite the fact that the blog was NOT trespassing and Kester Mill Road is an actual street, the blog felt uneasy and did not linger. Winston-Salem is home to the mid-east office of Vulcan Materials, but this pit appears to be inactive and the land (possibly including the pit is for sale)...

Scary house

A new category - ugliest house in Winston-Salem, unfinished new construction. From Tuesday evening's walk.

We are not alone...

...it turns out that obelisk obsession is more common than one would think. Here's a link to a site dedicated to obelisks that provides photographic documentation that obelisks were once widely used as street signs in Winston-Salem. Jon, if you scroll down to Matthew's post (#25) on this site, you will see a surprise.

Hard working obelisks

Monday's walk in the neighborhood that borders the the now defunct Grandview Golf course revealed a delightful surprise: obelisks used as street signs. They linger in the landscape side-by-side with their modern counterparts.

Significant anniversary

Fifty years ago today...at 4th and Liberty in Winston-Salem...a black man ate lunch at the Woolworth's lunch counter. The blog joined local politicos and educators, including Wake Forest President Nathan Hatch, for a short commemoration at the Urban League. A nice touch: Hatch read the names of the participating Winston-Salem State Teachers' College students, while Chancellor Donald Reaves of Winston-Salem State University read the names of the Wake Forest College students who joined them in their protest.

Pre-blog and pre-ballpark

It may be hard to remember those dark, dark days, but once there was neither a blog nor a downtown ballpark in Winston. The before photos were taken in January 2009, just before construction came to a halt until the city council stepped up to the plate and hit (in the blog's humble opinion) a stand-up double.

Bee lab's name up in lights

The bee lab and friends went to see the Winston-Salem Dash (Carolina League White Sox affiliate) lose to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans on Thursday night at the new downtown ballpark. More on the ballpark later, but it was great to see the bee research lab up on the big screen. And Ian proved that he'll do anything, absolutely anything, to get mentioned in the blog by volunteering to participate in the Lemon Drop contest.

There used to be a golf club right here...

(Apologies to Frank Sinatra and Joe Raposo.) But, as the existence of the little shrine indicates, Hillcrest Golf Club (right off Stratford Road) is not forgotten. In 2005, the site was optimistically prepared for residential, office, and retail development by Mega Builders LLC of Greensboro.

Pfafftown ramble

Just further down Reynolda Road. DavBow Park dates from the 1950s and 1960s. Zillow thinks that the old house on Waldraven Road was built in 1909. Pfafftown is pronounced "paff-town," and is named after the 18th-century Moravian settler, Peter Pfaff. Jon, note the Lancaster, PA connection. Also note how many other local place names are those of local Moravians who married Pfaffs: Leinbach, Spainhour, Styer, Transou...

A complicated neighborhood

Path Tracker indicates that we walked more than 5 miles through Atwood Acres on Tuesday evening...but this sprawling neighborhood bounded by Hanes Mall Boulevard, Stratford Road, and the now defunct Hillcrest Golf Club is hard to pin down in a few words. Rental houses, ostrich farm, cul de sacs, private lakes...

Duodecagonal living

Susan wants to buy this little 12-sided house that the blog found for sale on Idlewilde Road near Wake Forest last night. Days on Zillow: 66. And it has a Walk Score of 35, which is higher than Jon's.

It was just that sort of day...

...smiles all around.

Hugs provided by...

...WFU President Nathan Hatch (left) and Jon (right).

WFU Commencement 2010

The plan and the reality (the chairs were up on Sunday, but it rained on Monday and we were in the Joel Coliseum instead).

Historic Preservation Month honors the Odd Fellows Cemetery

When the blog went on line to pay its storm water fee to the City of Winston-Salem, it was astonished 1. to learn that May is Historic Preservation Month and 2. that the City of Winston-Salem was unveiling a new historical marker at the Odd Fellows Cemetery on Shorefair Drive this very afternoon! Way to go, Winston-Salem. The blog was otherwise occupied (by pre-commencement festivities on the Wake Forest campus - way to go, Erin), but here provides a link to the city's description of this important site (the ten-acre site is estimated to contain 10,000 graves of African-Americans, most from the early decades of the 20th century), a link to the article in the Winston-Salem Journal and some 2009 photographs from its own archives.

None sold yet

Maybe it's the weird combination of Jefferson and Reagan that's suppressing sales.

Pylon photography competition heats up

Photographed by Susan. View from downtown Winston-Salem. The Wikipedia entry is brief and to the point.

Friday evening in the Downtown Arts District

Yes, the blog knows that the real Avenue of the Arts (despite what New Yorkers may think) is in Philadelphia.

Your McMansion awaits you

A short two mile walk on Tuesday evening took the blog into exciting new territory - roads so new that their existence is not yet recorded on GoogleMaps. (Note the tasteful way the blog worked in an oblique reference to the "mother of parliaments", in honor of their election.) Jon, note that Zillow.com has more up-to-date maps than Google!

What the inside of cinderblock buildings looks like

A short walk by the construction at Speas School on Monday evening was very informative.

"Benign and enterprising"

This could be the blog's motto. But the phrase actually comes from a New York Times' editorial published on April 4, 2010, welcoming the return of legal beekeeping to New York City! The blog is happy to report that Jon's bees are doing exceedingly well, but Sandy seems a little worried.

In Susan's test garden...

...there is nothing cuter than the very tiny "mouse ears hosta."