<p>When we move D into Wake in August we want to spend a few days touring the area. Any good suggestions of what to do in the area? Would like to give her a sense of the Winston Salem community or visit neighboring cities--Greensboro, etc.
And is Ashville worth the extra drive to visit sites there?</p>
<p>Asheville and the NC Mountains are definitely worth seeing, but won’t be particularly useful as far as orienting her to the area. Definitely worth a trip at some point, though.</p>
<p>Hi, creativecrew. When my son was at Wake, we first explored downtown Winston-Salem, and found that it is a fun little city. There are some nice restaurants (we liked “6th and Vine” and Mellow Mushroom for pizza), and has some neat little shops that are not cookie cutter types. Krankees Coffee is our favorite place to grab a cup of really fresh brewed coffee, in the evenings they have impromptu plays which are very creative. I am not sure if you are history buffs, but for family fun, we spent an afternoon visiting Old Salem:</p>
<p>[Old</a> Salem Museums and Gardens | Home Page](<a href=“http://www.oldsalem.org%5DOld”>http://www.oldsalem.org)</p>
<p>We all loved Old Salem, and visited a few times when our son was there. If you go to Old Salem, enjoy some homemade treats from the Moravian Bakeries. Right next door to Wake, there is the adorable Reynolda Village. It is expensive to shop there, but it is very charming and worth it to look around and stop to have a cup of coffee or an ice cream cone. Also, the Reynolda House:</p>
<p>[Reynolda</a> House Museum of American Art](<a href=“http://www.reynoldahouse.org/]Reynolda”>http://www.reynoldahouse.org/)</p>
<p>It is yet another place for the whole family to enjoy, we were astounded at the collection of art at their little museum. We did the audio tour, and enjoyed it immensely. Also, try to take a ride through the Greylyn grounds:</p>
<p>[Graylyn</a> International Conference Center, Winston-Salem NC, Corporate Conference Center near Greensboro NC](<a href=“http://www.graylyn.com%5DGraylyn”>http://www.graylyn.com)</p>
<p>As you can see, it is just beautiful!
You might want to take your daughter to Hanes Mall, as she will eventually make a trip or two there while at Wake. I know these suggestions are more for the family in general, but I hope it give you an idea of what is right next to Wake. Best of luck, and enjoy the experience!</p>
<p>NJ Mom, thanks for all your help. Yes, we are history buffs and one of the reasons D is interested in Wake Forest is the history of Salem and Bethebara as the early Moravian settlements–they were the first to educate young women. 
Glad you recommened some eateries. When we did her interview we were very hungry and tired and stopped for dinner in a hurry–didn’t explore interesting places. We didn’t even make it downtown, although we did a quick visit to the Bethabara historical park and Old Salem. Yes, good idea to show her where Hanes Mall is so she has some perspective on what is around her. And really good idea to go to Reynolda Village and Museum. If I remember correctly, they can even walk there from campus. Ginnyvere, good point about going to Asheville during one of our many upcoming trips. Perhaps not this one since we’ll only have 2 days prior to move in but in the future we should plan some extra days to explore the mountains and Asheville. Thanks!</p>
<p>If you go to Reynolda Village be sure to stop at the Village Tavern for either lunch or dinner (they also have a location near the Hanes Mall). It is our favorite place to go as they have something for everyone! In fact, I was there last week and had their Filet Marsala and it was wonderful.</p>
<p>Irishmary- how could I forget the Village Tavern? It is a family favorite here as well, the French Onion soup is delicious! Are you looking for another child, or do you still have one at Wake? How I miss visiting Wake, we would be happy to have son #3 (rising senior) attend, and make us all happy! :)</p>
<p>njmom, I have a son who is currently a student at Wake (I was there moving him out of a summer session) and a daughter who will be applying there in the fall. She really likes Wake alot and we will have to take her back sometime this fall for an interview. Not sure where Wake falls on her list; I suspect it is somewhere near the top but she is keeping that pretty close to the vest. Thankfully we are done looking at schools and right now she has about 10 on her list. I am trying to get her to trim that a bit and she very well may when she sees the supplemental essays she will need to write! While it would be nice to have them both at the same school, I am not sure my wallet feels the same!</p>
<p>Don’t forget the grilled cheese sandwiches at Simply Yummy in Reynolda Village! We now make ours at home with brown sugar :). We love the walk from campus to Reynolda.</p>
<p>My daughter arrived at WF last year not knowing anyone or anything about W-S. She and her new friends (one of which had a car) ended up going off campus quite a bit on the weekends to eat, go to movies etc. They found all kinds of great little restaurants in W-S. A couple of times they went to Greensboro to eat or shop at the Friendly Shopping Center.</p>
<p>I’ll throw out a few more restaurants.</p>
<p>Willow’s Bistro is my favorite in W-S (downtown behind Children’s Museum)
Also check out Mozelle’s and Milner’s…both of which have good although slightly more pricy contemporary southern menus</p>
<p>Thanks for all the tips. I noticed there is a tour of Graylyn Conference Center on August 21. Has anyone done it? Sounded like nice history lesson and beautiful setting. Also wondered if anyone has visited the WFU Anthrology Musuem.</p>
<p>Ditto on Village Tavern and Simply Yummy. Be sure to stop by Sakura if you like sushi. Sushi Thai is good, too. </p>
<p>If you go to Simply Yummy, as was previously stated, you NEED the brown sugar grilled cheese. At Village Tavern, the pulled pork sandwiches are awesome. Sakura – get the Wake Forest roll!!</p>