Winston Salem, NC

I'm finally back to my home sweet home.  It was great to spend a few days with my sister and her brood.  I always have such a relaxed time with her.  She's so easy to be with.  The kids entertained each other and went off into her backyard (which here in NYC we call "the woods").  They were gone for quite a while and they loved every minute of it.  They came back with a plastic container full of vintage Pepsi bottles they found in the woods.  Awesome.

After we left her home we went into Winston Salem and looked around a bit.  It was Sunday so everything was pretty much closed and we had to improvise.  I tell you, it's really hard to get used to life outside of the city.  I just don't understand what people do.  Winston seemed like such a nice little place but it was like a ghost town.  There was no one to be found anywhere.  Kind of creeped me out.  Our whole time there my hubby and I kept asking each other "where is everybody?"  We did manage to find some nice places.  And we came across a really good coffee shop called "Krankies".  Looks like they grind their coffee fresh and brew it there.  It was delicious.  I thought the coffee shop's name was fitting because I get super cranky without my coffee.  One thing that struck me was how off-putting people seemed to be.  It's almost like they couldn't be bothered to smile or make conversation.  I found that ironic, considering how we New Yorkers have the bad rap of being the nasty ones.  I have to be honest, we are very focused people here in the city.  I mean, we share space with MILLIONS of people every day.  So we can come off as rude or mean.  But we really aren't.  If you're lost and you come here please ask anyone for help and I promise they won't hesitate to do so (unless they really aren't from here...that's a whole other story).  If you need tips on where to go we are glad to help as well.  We asked for tourist tips in Winston and the hipsters had no idea what to tell us.  Oh well, c'est la vie.  We still made the best of it.

Anyway, I liked the look of the shop enough to take some pics.  So I am sharing them here.  If you're in town do go have the coffee and baked treats, they are really good.  But if you're looking for friendly southern hospitality...keep looking.

Here's the schedule if you want to go.

I loved this! It was an art-o-mat where you could purchase small
canvasses with art (not cigarettes).  Very cool!

Huge coffee grinder

Yummy coffee beans...smell so good!

Spring is in full swing down South.
(When are you coming here??!!)

Bike parking

Huge railroad right out front

On our way home we hit a pretty bad snowstorm from Baltimore into New Jersey.  When we left NC in the early afternoon it was 75 degrees.  Definitely made me cranky!  So hubby and I stopped in to Georgetown Cupcakes for some sweet cheering up.  This place is HUGE now.  The other times we came here it was a tiny cute and cozy little shop.  Now it's a corporate cupcakery.  I still wonder what it'd be like to own one.  A small, cozy, cool cupcake shop with small-batch baking and an at-home feel.  One can dream!

Here's Georgetown:

Now I'm off to create and catch-up!  Have a SWEET week!