Old Salem, September 9, 2017

So, it has been a hot, very hot, minute since I’ve written in this blog. I know this. Truth is, we’ve not been walking and when we did, it was for just a bit and all the places we’d been before. Nothing new and nothing to talk about. But, I realized that this isn’t the point. The point is about health first and foremost. It doesn’t matter how little we walk or if we’ve been there. It’s a combination of chronicling, exploring, health, and personality. We may get lucky and hit all those points in a week, but we know we won’t for the most part. We need to write and be accountable for the job we set out to do, right? I think so.

Old Salem Museum and Gardens

 

Another thing is that with the weather so unbearably hot during the summer, in conjunction with me playing gigs on Friday nights, it was miserable to get up and walk in those conditions. So, we didn’t. And, we won’t. But, now, the weather is cooling down and fall is coming. We can get back to business. Even in the winter, it’s not too bad. We can always add layers. That’s what we’ll do. Summers, though? Nah.

Well, today we started our comeback. or at least our reentry into the lifestyle. We were determined to just get our “walking legs” back under us and that’s what we did. And, if we were going to do that, why not do it in one of our favorite places in town? Why not do it in one of this city’s most famous gems? Why not Old Salem Museum and Gardens? Why not indeed…?

Stephanie and I have tried to do the “10k by 10a” since I realized it was much easier to walk in the morning when it was cooler and before our day was interrupted with misery. We found that it was easier to do that and the misery was to a minimum. But, we also know that in these early stages or re-entry, 10,000 steps is a lot to throw on my large body. We have to, as I said earlier, ease back into it. I’m writing this post at 1:18 pm on Saturday and as of now, we’re sitting at just under 5000 steps. I think that was an honorable start. We will get closer or upwards of 7500 by the end of the day, I feel.

We parked at the parking lot of the Cobblestone Farmers Market in Old Salem. Spent a little time talking with a few of the vendors, including Gnomestead Hollow and the Official Pickle Sponsor of The Less Desirables, Niki’s Pickles. We walked up to Main Street and walked north, where Stephanie dispensed some knowledge of Old Salem to some wonder wanderers. We went through one of the twin alleys over to God’s Acre and then turned south on Church Street back to Race Street and then back up to West Street where we turned, well, west and back to our vehicle.

We left there and drove to Trade Street where we had breakfast at Mary’s Gourmet Diner, our Official Carb Loader. We then rode to Underdog Records and spent some time with some of our record collecting pals. So, it’s still early in the day and I will have some steps in from record washing and just walking about. It wasn’t 10k steps but it’s a great start, we believe.

Thank you to Omega Sports for the awesome Brooks shoes and Thorlos socks. You can get all your walking equipment needs at Omega Sports. They are the sports hook up for the everyday active types. Thank you to Mary’s Gourmet Diner, Twin City Hive and Hoots Beer Company for sponsoring us and caring about our best health.

Go out there and explore our city!

Until next time, get to steppin’!!

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West Salem/Washington Park – January 14, 2017

It was our first walk of the post-holiday/post-snomageddon/new year. I was feeling a bit sick to my stomach but decided to walk anyway.  I thought perhaps that we’d just do a truncated walk; around 5000 steps. A caveat that I need to tell is that we started around 10:45am so we weren’t going to get the “10k by 10a,” either way. But, that’s okay. The point is, we weren’t just lying around in bed or lazing around. It was a day to get out and do some moving.

We parked at Diggs-Latham Elementary School, a school that our son, Trey, attended for three years and where Stephanie taught for two years. Diggs-Latham is on Hutton Street, in the neighborhood of West Salem. We walked north on Hutton, admiring several of the homes on the street. We’re looking to relocate and are exploring several neighborhoods that we think would be good for us. Hutton turns east onto Montgomery Street and ends at Granville Drive, right across from Granville Park.

We turned south on Granville and continued on southeast to where it veers off south, but we continued on Walnut Street. We stayed on Walnut southeast until it crosses South Broad Street. We walked south on Broad until we came to the Washington Park leg of the Winston-Salem Greenway system. Now, we didn’t officially walk in the Washington Park neighborhood, but in the actual park itself. We walked past the dog park and crossed Salem Creek on the wide bike/pedestrian bridge to where the Washington Park #1 ball field is and continued south to where it comes out at Marketplace Mall Shopping Center at Peters Creek Parkway. We debated going back the way we came or going up to Peters Creek and walking back down to Link Road and then to Hutton.

©Bruce Chapman/Winston-Salem Journal

We decided to go back the way we came and when we crossed back over the bridge, instead of going back to Broad, we turned northwest past Washington Park fields #s 2-4 and the park drive to Hutton, right across from Diggs-Latham and back to our car.

There’s lots of things to see on this route, at least the early parts. Like I said, the houses on Hutton are cute bungalow styled homes. When you’re on Montgomery and Holland Street, there are five (I think) new homes that are very modern. So modern, in fact, they’re almost futuristic. These were designed by Stitch Design Group in Winston-Salem. The houses don’t fit the West Salem mold but at the same time, brilliantly fit in the community. They look cool to me.

Granville Park, it’s said, has been popular since the 1910s-1920s. The city of Winston-Salem purchased it in 1920, it was around a few years prior to that. It has a lot of deep valleys and a few trails that appear “off the beaten path,” but aren’t really. I’ll admit that I can’t remember seeing anyone in the park area, itself, but I’ll also admit that I’ve only been there on Saturdays or late at night. I know that the tennis courts are lit up a good bit when it’s a bit warmer. Several houses in this area are listed in the book, Winston-Salem’s Architectural History by Heather Fearnback. The one that we actually walked past that was listed is the “Fred Nelo and Ruth Miller-Snyder House” at 704 Walnut Street, which is known, obviously, for its architectural significance. It’s a rather large house, at that.

The dog park in Washington Park is a fairly good size run. Separate for larger and smaller dogs, there were several people in the large dog fence and letting their pooches run free-ish. The city needs more of these. The weird part is, this park isn’t even listed on the city’s website. There’s one at Tanglewood and one at Horizons Park. A personal tidbit about the Washington Park softball fields, I’ve played on each of them. That is until an injury ended my softball career. I was hit in the face by a line-drive hit on #4. I was playing shortstop in a co-ed league when a guy bigger and wider than me hit the ball. It was like a knuckleball, with no movement and it caromed off my glove and cracked me in the cheekbone just below my left eye. If it had hit anywhere else, it would have shattered my face. It did crack my sinus which still gives me problems today. It lifted me off my feet and turned me around. I have only stepped onto a softball field once since then and that was in 1993.

After the walk, which again wasn’t 10,000 steps, we went to our official “carb loader,” Mary’s Gourmet Diner, and ate. After a brief stop at the record store, we headed to our new official “caffeinator,” Twin City Hive and grabbed our coffee (or in my case, decaf) beverages before heading home. We didn’t get to head down to Hoots Roller Bar and Beer Company, but we’ll get back down there, soon!

At the end of the day, including our supplemental activities (a step is a step, is a step, is a step) we walked 8,367 steps, for a distance of 4.06 miles and burned 3125 calories. Those stats are courtesy of my walking sponsor, Omega Sports. You can get all your walking equipment needs at Omega Sports. They are the sports hook up for the everyday active types.  Thanks to them and all our sponsors and anyone that believes in what we’re doing.

Until next time, get to steppin’!!

Sentry Pointe: December 17, 2016

We decided to do something a bit different this trek. I have lived where I live for over 30 years. Stephanie has lived with me for six of those. In all those years, I haven’t done a lot of walking through the neighborhood. Truth be known, I didn’t even know what neighborhood I actually live in. I always thought, looking at antiquated maps of the  city that I lived in Hootstown. However, in looking it up and researching, I have figured that I live in a neighborhood called Sentry Pointe. I like that name and I know where Sentry Pointe is, but I don’t know why it extends over to my house. Oh well.

So, with the weather being in the frozen tundra range Saturday morning, we didn’t start our walk until almost 9:45a so we obviously didn’t make the 10k by 10a but that’s just a goal, anyway. Even at that time it was pretty cold. We went southeast on Gyro Dr. and to Old Salisbury Rd. where we turned south. It’s a very narrow bit of ground between the street and the front door/fences/cars of other folks on Old Salisbury. It’s obviously not meant for walking, although there are plenty of people that do. It was a rough and unlevel terrain that we had to traverse and it was wearing on my ankles after a while, even after some stretches.

We walked south until we reached the traffic circle on Ardmore Rd./South Park Blvd. We turned west on Ardmore. More of the same terrain was there. We tried to walk on the actual street as much as possible but it is a well-traveled pair of roads. Luckily, Ardmore has more shoulder space than Old Salisbury. There is also a stretch of Ardmore that has a sidewalk. It’s only about a quarter of a mile. We continue along Ardmore Rd. until we get to Park Terrace Ln. where we turn north. Park Terrace Ln. is a relatively new development, built within the last 20 years. Some of the houses are only around 12 years old. We continued on Park Terrace until it bends west and to Hawkcrest Ln. We took Hawkcrest north until we hit Gyro Dr. south. We took it east and back to where we started.

This area, the best I can tell, is some of the “youngest” areas of Winston-Salem. I know that when I moved here 30 years ago, it wasn’t actually within the city limits. That didn’t happen until a few years later. Given that, there’s not a whole lot of interesting things to see or really even remark on about this area. In fact, it’s a very boring part of town. It’s quiet and not a lot goes on around here, which is ideal for living, really, but, that’s about it.

There were a few interesting things we did see on the trek. First, were two ducks that Stephanie remarked that they were competing to see which was going to tell us their joke. It was funny. We just called them, “MR Ducks” and continued on. Another thing was this ridiculously large reindeer that was in a wide open patch of land right beside an equally large light tree. I’ve never seen that before. We laughed and moved on.

Between the cold and the fact that both of us needed the facilities plus we were pretty much out of walking real estate, we stopped at about 7800 steps. So, no we didn’t make the 10,000 goal. But, the day went on and at the end of the day we had 9,275 steps. We walked 4.73 miles and I burned 3,289 calories.

After we walked, we went to our Official Carb Loader, Mary’s Gourmet Diner. From there we went to our brand new coffee sponsor, Twin City Hive. We had a party to get to so we didn’t get to make it to our Official Liquid Reward, Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company, but I am ready to go grab one of the new “crowlers.” I cannot thank my sponsor, Omega Sports enough for the most comfortable walking shoes I’ve ever had and the Garmin Vivofit3 that keeps track of all my progress. Many thanks to all of my sponsors for everything they do for, and believing in, me.

Do you have a recommendation for a neighborhood for Stephanie and I to walk in or talk about? We’re always looking for new places and new areas. Partly because we could be in the market for a new home in the near future and like to scout the different areas around time. Let me know by sending an email HERE.

Rockin’ the Vote and the Art of Stretching

I apologize to my readers and sponsors for not posting more, but I’ve still been getting into the groove of walking again. That ingrown toenail did a lot of damage, more than the pain, but the downtime. Thanks doc, I know it’s for the best. Over the last three weeks, for various reasons, Stephanie and I have been walking the downtown area, some (most) in places we’ve already walked. It’s mostly a steady, consistent walk, in familiar territory and we had things going on in the area; it was convenient. Plus, no matter how many times we walk this area, there is so much history that we learn something, see something, or find something we didn’t know or know about before.

First rule of walking club, though… stretch!!!! Stretch before you embark, hydrate and rest when you need to. One of those, I got down pat. The other two, not so much. So, drink that water before you leave your house if you don’t want to carry anything with you, or get a Camelbak (available at Omega Sports) or something like it; although that may be a bit

Historic sign in front of Plant 64

much on a city excursion. And, stretch. Stretch. Stretch! Your muscles aren’t made just get out and go. You have to work them up to that, even a rudimentary thing like walking. Moving about isn’t too strenuous but I learned the hard way this weekend, don’t take it for granted. Let’s talk about the journey this week.

 

We parked on Fourth Street and walked east to Research Parkway. We turned north and walked by the area now known as Plant 64, a former tobacco plant dating back to around 1916, that has been converted into a luxury apartment community and some office spaces. We walked to Fifth Street and stopped. I was already feeling the affects of being slightly dehydrated and not stretching. We turned west and walked Fifth up to Main Street.

On that segment, we passed by the lovely Bailey Park where the Wake-Up Walk happened for Family Services. We missed that one as we got a late start on the morning. We already knew we weren’t going to make the “10k by 10a” goal, but we were going to go for as long as we could. We weren’t lying in bed being lazy cusses and that was the important part. Stephanie, who used to work in Old Salem said she’d like to at least get close to the area to see if the leaves had turned, yet. Incidentally, I do recommend you get by Old Salem in the next week or so as the leave will start really turning by then.

So on Main, we turned south, as that would lead us directly into Old Salem (since that is the main street in which gives the street its name). We passed by the RAI building, the headquarters of Reynolds American, the tobacco company, if for some reason you didn’t know that. We also went by the new Kimpton Cardinal Hotel and Katharine Brasserie that occupies the original RJR Building. A building of much importance to our city and to the country, really. That building was the prototype of the Empire State Building in New York City. But, it is my belief that this town wouldn’t be the booming municipality that it was in the early 20th Century, nor the booming city it has become over the last 10 years without that building, what it stood for and what legacy it left. Without Richard Joshua Reynolds and his company, there’d be very

Office for the day…

little happening in this city. It could be just any other small town. Next to it is the “box the RJR Building came in,” the old Wachovia building, or the newer Winston Tower, the second tallest building in town.

 

We continued south and passed the new “Wachovia” building, now known as the Wells Fargo building after passing two very miserable places. The Federal Courthouse and the Hall of Justice. Both are courts of law among other things. Both are eyesores of this city and both hold a lot of bad stories, bad people, bad memories and bad incidents within their walls. I know they’re needed but they’re just miserable places and being betwixt them is depressing. Luckily, they were washing the exterior of the Federal building and that gave us something interesting to look at as we passed by them.

We passed down into Old Salem and walked until we got to West Street and well, we turned west. We stopped by the Cobblestone Farmers Market, a delightful collection of farmers, growers, makers and retailers of locally produced wares. There’s something for just about everyone there. After stopping, talking to a few merchants and resting our non-stretched bodies for a few minutes, we went back east on West, through the Old Salem Square, where there was an artistic gathering of local or at least moderately local artisans selling their wares. We turned east on Academy Street and north on Church Street. Going north on Church leads you to God’s Acre, the Moravian graveyard.

Old Salem, itself is something I could write twenty blog posts on. Beautifully restored and curated homes (privately owned), period-authentic costumes, an authentic bakery, a hat shoppe, history, fables, truths, all there in Old Salem. If you’ve not been or haven’t been in a while, you owe it to yourself to pay the entrance fees and do some touring. If you live here in Winston-Salem and haven’t done it, shame on you. It’s fantastic stuff. Stephanie worked in costume there for many years, so I get the cheap tour, but we don’t get to go into the houses and exhibits. We have done that and she tells me about them all the time.

Sporting our “We Voted Early” stickers.

I’m lucky. You should go do the tours, I’m going to leave it at that.

 

Still slightly suffering from the effects of not stretching, most of it had worn off by then and I felt decent, we stopped at the Vierling House (closed for renovations) for me to prepare the long walk through God’s Acre, by sitting on the bench outside of it. We then passed by many rows of plain white grave markers, some going back to the late 1700s. In past weeks, we visited the city cemetery, home of many of Winston-Salem’s famous founders’, industrialists’ and favorite families’ (Reynolds, Hanes, Babcock, Vogler, etc.) for their eternal resting places. That is just on the other side of God’s Acre and it’s very interesting to visit all of the graves there in both cemeteries. You could make a day out of the city cemetery alone.

We then emerged outside the walls of God’s Acre onto Cemetery Street at the continued Church Street. We continued north along Church until we got to First Street, turning east on First to Chestnut Street past Albert Hall and Victoria Hall, named so because of, you guessed it, tobacco. They were canning locations for Prince Albert tobacco (yes in a can) and some of the premiere biotech companies in the nearby Innovation Quarter. We then proceeded to the Forsyth County Government Building where Stephanie and I exercised our right to vote. We did wait in line for about an hour and forty five minutes, but it was
worth it. We were sitting around 8000 steps at that time. After finishing up there we continued north on Chestnut until we got back to Fourth, turning east and back to our car.

We drove over to our official “Carb-Loader,” Mary’s Gourmet Diner and after noshing on her lovely wares we walked up to Atelier on Trade (which I believe now wants to be called Atelier Bakery on Trade), our official “Caffeinator,” for a couple of coffee drinks and then over to our “Liquid Reward,” Hoot’s Roller Bar and Beer Company for our just desserts. We ended up walking a little more throughout the day and ended up doing 11,524 steps, equalling 5.74 miles and burning 3349 calories. I’d like to remind you to visit my sponsor, Omega Sports for your walking/running/sporting needs. Again, they carry Camelbak products as well as the Garmin Vivofit3 and Brooks shoes. I’m thankful to them for getting me out and walking.

I want to reiterate the importance of the stretching and hydrating, though. I mentioned it only a few times here, but it was extremely difficult to do the walk and I was cramping, a lot. I have some weird muscles that tighten up on the outside of my legs, slightly above the ankles, and it affects my gait which, in turn, affects my back. I was a sore man at the end of the evening. I didn’t sleep too awfully much either and that is also important, not only for walking but for everyday life. Take care of your bodies folks, eat well, drink lots of water and stretch! Thank you for reading.

Get to steppin’!

Downtown: The Return, September 24, 2016

It was good to get back to the walking grind after being out of commission for over a month. In my last post, a few weeks back, I talked about missing because of a doctor-imposed hiatus due to an ingrown toenail. Admittedly, I was kind of dreading walking because I got out of routine, out of shape (not that I was in shape) and have been battling an allergy/sinus problem. So, to combat that, we decided to go a little easier on our walk the first time out, just to get back into it. Stephanie and I got a later start than normal on this Saturday and luckily, it wasn’t too hot.

We decided to something familiar to do our “easing back.” That ended up being downtown, of course. We parked in the lot around our “carbinator,” Mary’s Gourmet Diner and walked Trade Street, south to Seventh Street. We walked Seventh, east, all the way to Patterson. We passed the Goler AME Zion Church on the corner of Patterson and Seventh. The church was built in the very early 1900s and was very instrumental in the African American community, especially in the era of the tobacco boom of the early 20th Century. It has been on the National Registry of Historic Places since 1998.

Speaking of the tobacco history of this town, Patterson Avenue is the location of the new Innovation Quarter that is a lot of Wake Forest University, a lot of other technological and innovative companies, incubators and research facilities all combining forces to make the world a better place. These are all either demolished, refurbished or completely reimagined tobacco warehouses. You can stand on the corner of Patterson and Sixth Street and see one of the most spectacular views of the city (see the picture) .

We walked south on Patterson, by the beautiful Bailey Park to the developing area of Third Street, right behind Krankie’s. We turned, west, up the hill at Third and walked that past the oldest “skyscraper” in the city. In fact, it’s older than the city itself. The towns of Winston and Salem merged in 1913. The building of 8 W. Third was completed (mostly) in 1911, two years before the city was established. It was built as the headquarters of Wachovia Band and Trust and served in that role until what is now Winston Tower was completed in 1966, basically, right across the street. It was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1984 as “Wachovia Bank and Trust Company Building.” That’s history!

Also in that area? The old Forsyth County Courthouse. It sits, officially at 50 W Fourth Street (though the National Registry of Historic Places lists it as 11 W Third), directly across the street from 8 W Third. It was the third courthouse to sit on that spot, completed in 1926 and updated in 1960. It continued to be used for county services even after the Hall of Justice (I always think of the Superfriends when I say or hear that) was implemented in 1974. It made the Historic Places list in 2013. There’s a lot of the town’s history in that one little block.

We went north on Liberty, so named because a former resident of Salem moved out and felt “liberated” to be free of the rules of the Moravian theocracy. We made a stop by the new Crafted: Art of the Taco, which I can assure you will be covered on The Man Who Ate the Town, very soon. Again, we knew we’d be taking a lighter load for the day to ease back and I was working on about 3 hours of sleep, so we made our way to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and turned west. We took that past what will be Wise Man Brewing and the old Ziggy’s. I can’t wait to tour the new brewery to see how much of this large building they will actually be using. It seems a bit large for what they’re doing, but that’s not a bad thing.

We walked MLK until we hit Trade again. We walked south and stopped our journey back at Mary’s. After having our breakfast there, we made our way down Trade to our official “caffeinator,” Atelier on Trade. Right before we made it to the store front, we hit 5,000 steps. So, half our normal steps at a later time of the day. We still felt good that we got out and was moving about. We finished our walking Saturday at our “liquid reward,” Hoots Roller Bar and Beer Company. Counting our minor walking about to get a prescription filled and to dinner, we ended up with 6,751 steps, 3.35 miles and burned 3094 calories. This according to my Vivofit, courtesy of Omega Sports.

It was a decent reentry into the walking world. I appreciate those who have voiced concern over why we hadn’t been posting and walking. It was a temporary setback and we’re back to it. I don’t know, yet, if we’ll hit the 10k by 10a next week but we’ll try. I’d like to get at least 7,500. We’ll see. But, thank you, again, to Omega Sports, Mary’s Gourmet Diner, Atelier on Trade and Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company for believing in us and what we do! Until next time…

Get to steppin’!!

Sidelined

If you’ve wondered why I’ve not been posting my walking journeys for the last month, I have your answer…

I’ve been working on the videos that will accompany some of the walks, for the web series. That’s part of it. The other part is for the last 2 weeks and into this week and possibly the next, I’ve been nursing an injury. Nothing that was completely off the charts, but I had an ingrown toenail and it was quite painful. I had it removed and the doctor said I couldn’t do my “10k by 10a” for a few weeks because he didn’t want me pounding the toe. It’s healing up nicely and I hope to get back to doing my ‘thing’ in just a few more weeks. I do have some journeys that I need to update, I just need to get to it.

In the mean time, I would like to thank my sponsors, Omega Sports, Mary’s Gourmet Diner, Atelier on Trade and Hoot’s Roller Bar and Beer Company for their continued support and understanding.

And to answer the question, no my walking didn’t have anything to do with the toe, although I’m sure it didn’t help it. This was starting before I began ‘walking the town.’

Thanks so much for reading!
Get to steppin’!!

Buena Vista, July 16, 2016

Stephanie and I were up early this day, knowing that there were other things we’d be doing in the day and that it was going to be very hot later that afternoon. So we had decided that our “10k by 10a” quest would be Buena Vista this day. Yes, we’ve been to that area a couple of times and we’ll continue to go there. There’s a large neighborhood back in those side streets and plenty that we haven’t explored.

We started our journey (with GoPro from Omega Sports strapped on) at Five-Points on North Stratford and we headed north. We observed some wonderfully rich architecture and I’m not just talking about the folk or houses that made up the neighborhood. I mean the the way the houses were constructed and the history in this neighborhood is quite rich and deep. We walked all the way to Spring Garden Road and turned west onto Spring Garden. We walked that until we got to Sylvan Road. We turned south on Sylvan and walked until Greenbrier Road. We walked Greenbrier southeast to Roslyn Road and turned south.

We walked Roslyn to Buena Vista Road where we turned northwest until we reached Dartmouth Road. Stephanie had attended Whitaker Elementary for a time and wanted to show me where it was. I say was because it had been torn down and a new one built on top of the old place. So there were stories about boys that picked on her to be told. We walked Dartmouth south to Forest Drive where we turned east. We walked Forest until we returned to Roslyn. We walked south all the way to Warwick Road, which we took east, crossing back over Stratford and to Runnymede Road where we turned southwest and back to Five Points. We needed to get a few more steps so we walked back up Stratford until Warwick and crossed the street to come back to Five Points, and crossed Country Club Road and onto S. Stratford and around the BB&T building’s parking lot to reach our car. Just as my watch chimed 10,000 steps it also showed that it was 10am on the dot.

We went downtown to Mary’s Gourmet Diner to have our after-walk nourishment from our official “Carb Loader” and then down to Atelier on Trade to our official “Caffeinator.” Afterwards, it was time for our “liquid reward” at Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company.

But, our day wasn’t done. We then went to RayLen Vineyards to perform with the Vagabond Saints Society and then after that, we went back to downtown WSNC to perform with Clay Howard at Finnigan’s Wake. All-in-all for that day, we ended up with 17,410 steps. That equaled to 8.47 miles and I burned 3546 calories. Not a bad day of walking, I’d say.

Many thanks to our sponsor Omega Sports without whom I’d be on old tattered shoes and bad socks, and have to resort to checking my phone instead of my Garmin Vivofit 3. They make the walks possible.

While N Stratford is a bit noisy (it’s a pretty busy street), the neighborhood streets to the west of it are very quiet, serene and beautiful. There are plenty of wonderful houses, buildings and structures to gaze upon as well as magnificently manicured lawns and landscapes to enjoy. It’s one of the more upscale neighborhoods in town and it shows. But, they seem very inviting to others who may be wandering about their community. We thank them for their welcome hospitality. Look for this to be a video soon (at least that’s my plan).

Where would you like to see or read of me exploring in this town? Do you want to walk with us? Hit me up here by leaving a comment, or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you. Until next time…

Get to steppin’!

Downtown WSNC and Beyond, July 9, 2016

I know we’ve walked downtown WSNC a good bit and the reason we did it this week was more about race against time that it was exploring, although, we still did some of that.

I’m going to back up just a hair. Chad Nance, of Camel City Dispatch (also a filmmaker) and I worked on the video intro for the upcoming web series on Friday and we started walking at 6am to get the best light and it was cooler but you could tell it was going to get thick as the day went on. I’m not going to tell you where we did that as I want you to have extra incentive to watch; to see if you can figure out where I was in it. But, anyway, by 8am that morning I had already walked 7000 steps. By 2:30pm that day, I had my 10,000.

The last 1800 steps were a doozie because it was really, really hot and I almost lost it in that. After that, I walked as little as possible, I’d say because I ended up with 12, 019 steps, walking 6.01 miles and burning 3388 through midnight. I also drank 96oz of water. I’ve upped my water intake, too. I’ve got to get rid of some weight.

Now, all that being said, I realized it was pretty easy to get all those steps earlier in the day. It was cooler and the humidity, while there wasn’t as bad. So, Stephanie and I agreed we were going to walk before we ate and try to be through all of our steps and seated at Mary’s Gourmet Diner by 10am. So, we set off on out trek.

We decided it was a matter of beating the heat today and an experiment so we were less about taking new scenic routes and stuck with what we knew. We knew we were coming back to Mary’s and Atelier on Trade afterwards, so we parked in Mary’s lot at 6:45am which was before any of the other places in town were open. So, there was no search for a parking space. Mary’s lot is at 723 North Trade Street and we started there and headed south on Trade passing by Finnigan’s Wake, which was being attended to by two firetrucks. We were afraid something had gone wrong but it seems everything was okay, and that’s good; it’s where Stephanie and I met.

We followed Trade until Fifth Street where we turned east and walked until Main Street where we turned south. We walked Main Street all the way down into Old Salem and west on, well, West Street, where we met up a friend or two at the Cobblestone Farmers’ Market. When we were done talking, we walked south on Salt Street until we came to Walnut. We turned east on Walnut back to Main and went into the traffic turnaround at the end of Old Salem’s Main Street (WSNC’s Main Street picks back up past the roundabout at Salem Avenue) where we exited out of Old Salem and headed west until we hit The Strollway. We walked The Strollway from it’s southern most point on Salem Ave, northward to its northernmost point at Town Run Lane. There are some hills on that bad boy and we walked fairly briskly so we were winded. We had to stop along the way not once but twice. It wasn’t over hard but again, we were winded.

When we got to Town Run Lane and Second Street (again, where The Strollway ends) we walked Town Run north until we crossed Third Street and along the private drive (I believe formerly the connector to Fourth Street) and turned east on Fourth. We then went north on Trade until Seventh Street. We realized we were going to come up a bit short if we walked straight to Mary’s so we turned east on Seventh and then north on Liberty Street until we reached Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. We walked west on MLK until we again reached Trade. We turned south and decided that even though we were 430-ish steps shy of 10k we were going to go ahead and stop and eat. We were both famished at the point.

So, we ate at Mary’s, our “official carb loader,” and then continued south on Trade until we got to Atelier on Trade, our “caffeinator.” About 10 yards away from Atelier’s we hit our 10,000 step goal, according to the Garmin Vivofit 3 (thanks to the sponsorship of Omega Sports)! That was exciting. And had we not stayed an extra 5 minutes talking at Mary’s we would have made 10,000 by 10am; we were about four minutes past. That got me to thinking. I felt better eating after the walk, we missed the heat and humidity and we had the rest of the day to do whatever after we ate and had coffee. Because we did this by 10am (not counting the 3 minutes), I set a new goal for us. We’re going to do what I’m calling “10k before 10a” which means 10,000 steps before 10am. Well, we had to walk back to our car that was sitting at Mary’s and that gained us a few more steps.

I am an organizer of a street festival in downtown Winston-Salem, that happens every second Sunday of the month from May until October, called Second Sundays on Fourth or SSO4, for short. I had to do the voice overs for Sunday’s event so we parked on the corner of Spruce Street and Fourth. We walked to The Less Desirables Studios so I could do that. Getting there, in the building, to the studio, incidental walking and walking the two blocks back to the car, added to the step count.

Then, my sister and brother-in-law met up with us at our house and we went back downtown, back to Mary’s parking lot and walked around with them. We followed Trade, south, all the way to Fourth (making a stop at Artivity on the Green on Liberty Street) and around Marshall Street to the north, east on Fifth and back to Trade turning north and back to the car. We at dinner at another local restaurant and afterwards in the parking lot, I realized I was almost at 17, 000 steps so while we were talking I walked in big circles to get steps in. I hit 17k and then some.

At home, I realized that I was close to 18,000 but I didn’t want to go back out. Even though it was dark, I just didn’t feel like going outside. So, since I have a fairly open floor plan in my house, I made laps in the kitchen/living room until I hit 18k steps. Then after syncing with my phone/Garmin app, I realized I was not far, say .75 miles, from 9 miles on the day. Stephanie reminded me that 9.33 miles is the equivalent to a 15k (if they even have those) and I said, well what the heck? and continued on until that. Then I realized that got up to almost 20,000 steps. You guessed it, I went on. When I reached 20,000, my app said I was but. 05 miles away from 10 miles. So, of course, I had to do that.

So, all-in-all, yesterday, I ended up with 20,139 steps, walked 10.01 miles and burned 3782 calories. That is the most I’ve ever known me to walk in one day, although as a younger man, I probably did that, plus all the time I spent in Walt Disney World, but for sure since I’ve gotten old and fat, this is the most. My Vivofit even showed that I had gotten my goal… TWICE! I was proud of myself. Plus, I drank 144oz of water throughout the day. That’s an overall fantastic day. Well, we’re not done, just yet, and I apologize for this being so long.

Sunday was SSO4 and it was a long day; lots of walking back and forth, checking on the bands, checking on the vendors, checking on the guests, it was a lot of walking. I drank 112oz of water and ended up with 6810 steps, walking 3.29 miles and burning 2874 calories. The weekend total was 38,968 steps, 19.31 miles (wish I could have hit 20) and 10,044 calories. Thank you, again, to Omega for supplying me with the Garmin Vivofit 3 to keep track of all of this.

We didn’t get to our “liquid reward” at Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company on Saturday because we were under a time restraint but I did have 2 ESBs from Hoots at dinner on Friday night. And, I appreciate that they’re there for Stephanie and me and support what we do. All my sponsors are awesome and so is this town. Let’s say that I’m tired and a bit sore, but I hope to keep up a minimum daily step count (of 2500-5000) and water intake (64oz) to keep my road to wellness in focus. Sorry, we didn’t talk about many landmarks or points of interest, like I said, this was more an experiment than practical exploration. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more about the web series.

Where did you walk to? Get to steppin’!

West Salem, July 2, 2016

Stephanie and I went downtown to get our day started. The July 4th weekend is always Heavy Rebel Weekender here in WSNC and that takes over Trade and Liberty Streets. So, in order for us to get to Mary’s Gourmet Diner and Atelier on Trade, thus starting our walking day, we had to park a good few blocks away. So, really, our walking day began before brunch. That doesn’t happen very often, but that’s okay with us.

We started on the corner of Fourth Street and Spruce Street. We walked north on Spruce until Sixth Street. We turned east on Sixth and made it to Trade Street. We made our way through the classic cars and Heavy Rebel folks as we walked north on Trade. We made it to Mary’s and had our brunch. We finished and walked south on Trade to get to Atelier on Trade. We had our coffee, looked at the cars on that end of the hoopla and then walked south until Fifth Street where we turned west. We walked Fifth to Cherry and then south to Fourth and turned west. We stopped at the current The Less Desirables studios to grab something out of it. We continued west on Fourth back to our car (we call him Nigel, yes we name our cars).

We decided on the West Salem neighborhood while eating at Mary’s. We parked at the Old Salem Visitor Center, slathered ourselves with suntan lotion and head out on our trek. We crossed Marshall Street and went southwest on Walnut Street. We crossed Poplar Street and Broad Street before we hit an incline and northwest until Walnut merged with Washington Avenue and Granville Drive, all becoming Granville.

We continued northwest to Franklin Street where we turned northeast. We came to Green Street which we crossed to get to the campus of Piedmont International University (formerly called Piedmont Bible College) and walked the sidewalk until the water fountain. We had to stop and take in the view of the WSNC skyline along with the fountain. We walked that to Broad and turned north/northwest until we got to Wachovia Street. We turned east/northeast on Wachovia until we crossed Marshall and to where it merged with Brookstown Avenue. Brookstown took us past some of our favorite restaurants, the Winston-Salem Visitor Center (once the Cotton Mill) and the historic Brookstown Inn.

We followed Brookstown until we reached The Strollway. We walked south along The Strollway until we came across the first bench that was available on this segment of the The Strollway. We’re not only doing walking but taking in what the city has to offer. It’s shaded and offers a glance into classic/historic homes behind us and Old Salem to the southeast. Funny enough, we saw a friend of ours, Chris Zona (an avid runner), run past us. That was pretty cool. We continued down The Strollway until we got back to the Old Salem Visitor Center.

We hadn’t hit our 10,000 step goal just yet, so we went up the wheelchair ramp (every step counts) to the Old Salem Heritage Bridge and crossed it. We walked north on South Main Street back to Walnut and took Walnut back across Old Salem Road and to our car. We were about 30 feet from our car when my Vivofit 3 (thank you Omega Sports) alerted me that I had hit my goal. We stood and raised our arms in the air and jumped like Rocky on the steps of the library and high fived and kissed before collapsing back into the car.

We then headed to have our post-walk celebratory adult beverage at Hoots Roller Bar and Beer Company.

It was fitting that we walked West Salem and along and into Old Salem since this is the July 4 Weekend. The very first July 4 celebration in the entire country happened in Old Salem, then called only “Salem,” in 1783. Other cities dispute that, but they’re wrong.

All in all, considering the entire days strolls we walked 11,319 steps. That equals 5.47 miles and I burned 3251 calories. A good day, indeed. It was hot, but West Salem offers a great bit of shade. The shade made for what felt like a 10 degree difference. No way to know for sure, but oh well. There’s a lot of cool older houses and buildings along this route and we will walk it again, in more detail once the video web series kicks in. I’ll keep you informed about when that is happening. I only have two to three more steps to get that rolling.

Thanks for reading and, as usual, get to steppin’!!

 

 

Welcoming a New Sponsor Part 3

This past week, in addition to my awesome sponsor, Omega Sports, I had the great honor of having three new sponsors sign up to help me on my way in this whole “walking the town” experience. I’m going to talk about them, but because I believe that they each deserve their own recognition, I’m going to write three different posts about them individually. I just think that’s fair. And, I’m going to write them in order that I’ll actually “use” their sponsorship.

So, we start at Mary’s Gourmet Diner and then go to Atelier on Trade. Then we pick our neighborhood, if we haven’t by that time, go to town (if you’ll pardon the pun) and get those steps in. When we’ve finished the day’s trek, we always celebrate the high step count by having a refreshing, frothy adult beverage at Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company. Hoots is the fruit of the two Erics’ determination. The two Erics are Eric Swaim and Eric Weyer. Hoots is located in the historic and revitalized Mill Works Building(s) off of Mill Works Street which is along Northwest Blvd. The bar and all inside were custom made and the back wall of the bar needs to be seen to be believed. There’s pinball and on slower days, you can play a little Nintendo on the big projector screen. Count the owls around the joint, too. I think we came up with 67. See if you can find those and if you can find more. It’s simple entertainment, we need more of that.

While they do brew up some IPAs on occasion, Hoots Roller Bar & Beer Company likes to focus on other styles like ESB (one of my absolute faves), wheats and seasonal flavored brews. Their resident IPA is the “Gasshopper” named after the iconic filling station on the corner of Northwest and Thurmond Streets. In addition, Tim Nolan (who happens to also be the distiller for Sutler Spirits and the now-famous Sutler’s Gin) is the bar manager who carefully concocted a craft cocktail list that is spectacular. Hoots make their own soda, with an actual soda “jerk” tap and have, in the past, made some of their own bitters. They take their beverage service quite seriously, at Hoots. They surely have something for every imbiber, no matter your preferred libation.

Hoots Roller Bar can be found at 840 Mill Works Road in the West End District of Winston-Salem and you can find them on their website HERE. We thank Eric S. and Eric W. for believing in what we do and supplying, not only us, but the city of Winston-Salem, with fantastic beer and spirits. We look forward to seeing you on Saturdays, having a brew with you.