MESDA

M

macchips4

Well-known member
    Well again it's time to plan summer vacation (if gas money holds out and does not reach 5.00/gal) I was thinking of visiting the MESDA and old salem. How long should we plan to be there? 1, 2 days?
      Any suggestions on accommodations?
      Are there other sites to add to the "excursion"? We will be traveling from NY thru the Grand Banks ocean beach area and decided "while we were close" we'll visit MESDA "on the way home". 
Any comments or suggestions?
Thanks for any replies.
Joe
 
Take at least 2 days.  There are 2 separate attractions to see at MESDA - the museum of early southern decorative arts, and Old Salem.  The museum itself is fabulous - there are easily half a billion (yes, with a b) dollars worth of antiques and paintings in the museum.  I would highly suggest introducing yourself as a SAPFM member to one of the curators (as opposed to one of the docents) - they may be willing to give you a "special" tour that will allow you to look in/under the pieces of furniture (otherwise, it's no touching).

Old Salem has a number of buildings from the Moravian settlement, as well as living history craftspeople.  The working joiner's shop and riflemaker's shop are both fascinating.

One other thought - you may not wish to pick a hotel right next to Old Salem/Mesda, it's in a somewhat rough section of town (not slums, but lock your car when you leave it).
 
    Thanks for the information. As far as hotels, I was looking at aaa, and saw two that were a couple of blocks away, I'll look into it some more. Over the years we have had our share of lemons.
Thanks again for the reply
Joe
 
The Marriott is just a few blocks north and has a very good reputation. It's basically downtown so it should be fairly quiet. There are shops and restaurants in walking distance. Usually there are people out at night walking the streets in the downtown area. I live within 30 miles of Old Salem. I've never heard that this section of town is "rough". I've been told by people that stayed there, that the Zevely Inn(Main St.) is a very nice place. This puts you in the middle of Old Salem, walking distance to attractions. Be sure to try the Salem Tavern, across the street from the Zevely.

RE: MESDA Tour structure has been updated. You can get a customized tour by appointment!
http://www.sapfm.org/forum/index.php?topic=1537.msg6703#msg6703
Also be sure to check out the Library and reference materials in the basement of the Horton Museum.

If by grand banks you mean the outer banks, you may want to stop by Hope Plantation in Windsor, NC it's in that area. If you get near Raleigh the Thomas Day collection(the largest assembled number of pieces) is at the NC History Museum.
 
Hmm - the "rough section of town" comment actually came from someone working at the Old Salem vistor's center.  Based on what I've seen on a few visits, I'd agree.
 
dkeller_nc said:
Hmm - the "rough section of town" comment actually came from someone working at the Old Salem vistor's center.   Based on what I've seen on a few visits, I'd agree.
Click to expand...

Well I guess you've got the inside track then. I defer to your superior knowledge of the area.
 
Yeah, I am going with dkeller on this one. I have an EX in Winston so I know the town pretty well, you'd be better off on I 40 as it's not far and thats where the food, shopping malls, etc are located.
 
We are only 5 miles off I 81 near Winchester Virginia. If you come our way please stop by. We have many interesting things to see plus we can direct you to many more.
 
  Again Thanks for everyones posts, and yes I did mean the "outer banks". Now we have to try to get all this into 6 days! and hope the price of gas doesn't kill the whole idea. Maybe I could convince the wife that a week in the shop...... well you get the idea.
Thanks again
Joe
 
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