Wine Country
Operating a vineyard and winery in the Yadkin Valley during the 1980s and 1990s was a lonely business - there was only one such place.

That all began to change in 1998, when Windy Gap Vineyards near Ronda bottled its first wines, joining the pioneering Westbend Vineyards of western Forsyth County. The altitude, river basin, and climate of the Valley began to receive attention. In rapid succession, more and more growers turned to the grape, a new cash crop for the area. In December 2002, the Yadkin Valley American Viticultural Area was formally recognized, becoming North Carolina’s first.

For today’s day-tripper interested in the fruit of the vine, it’s an embarrassment of riches: In the Valley alone, 20 vineyards offer samplings and tours on varying schedules. The choices range from the large, crowd-pleasing operations such as Childress Vineyards near Lexington to tiny specialists such as Hanover Park, Laurel Gray, and Weathervane.

The Valley is large and diverse enough that a thorough tour of its wineries and vineyards would take several outings. While that’s certainly worth considering, if you can only devote one day, use a recommended itinerary that will provide at least a representative “taste” of what the Yadkin Valley has to offer.

Start your journey by heading west on I-40 from Winston-Salem to RayLen Vineyards. Assuming this is a Saturday, you can arrive at their attractive tasting and winery building sitting amid the vineyards at 11 a.m.

While there, take advantage of a tasting (most wineries have a small fee per person for tastings, but you often get to take home the glass!). Along with blends, you’ll find chardonnay, merlot, shiraz, cabernet franc, viognier, and pinot grigio here.

Next, travel north to Boonville and then east to either RagApple Lassie or Stony Knoll. If you have time, visit both; but be sure to plan ahead if you’re hungry - you will want to be at Black Wolf for lunch, and the café closes at 2:30 p.m.

At RagApple Lassie, a tour is offered if requested, and you’ll taste wines such as pinot gris, syrah, zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and viognier. Just up the road at Stony Knoll, cabernet sauvignon and franc are joined by ardella blanc, chardonnay, and others.

Roll on up just beyond Dobson to lunch at the well-reputed Wolf’s Lair Restaurant, which sits alongside one of Black Wolf’s growing fields. In addition to good vittles, you can choose from seyval and sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, chambourcin, cabernet sauvignon, and chardonnay to complement your meal.

After the meal, head west to visit Shelton Vineyards on the other side of Dobson, near I-77. Also an attractive spread, Shelton operates a restaurant (the Harvest Grill), offers tours, and welcomes guests to its large tasting area. In addition to the rather exotic port and claret, you can also encounter riesling, sauvignon blanc, syrah, pinot noir, chardonnay and cabernet flavors here.

To end the day, head down I-77 to U.S. 421 east for a final stop (they close at 5 p.m.) at Westbend, just back into Forsyth County near the Yadkin River. This winery dates to the 1970s and has a variety of familiar reds and whites, as well as some pleasant blushes and blends.

If this sounds at all like hard work, it shouldn’t be. With winery directional signs, a blue-sky day, delightful scenery, and some time to spend, the day should be nothing more than a pleasure for wine enthusiasts and novices alike.

By Bill Cissna

Designated Guiders:
If everybody wants to sample and no one wants to drive, consider taking an organized tour of the wine district. Expert Bruce Heye offers tours through the Salem College Courses for Community program (www.salem.edu), or you can check out Yadkin Wine Tours (yadkinwinetours.com) for events organized from this company’s base in Lewisville.

If you go:

• For more information about local wineries and vineyards, go to visitwinstonsalem.com, click “Experiences,” then “Wine Country.”
• RayLen Vineyards - raylenvineyards.com or 336-998-3100
• RagApple Lassie Vineyards - ragapplelassie.com or 866-RAGAPPLE
• Stony Knoll Vineyards - stonyknollvineyards.com or 336-374-5752
• Black Wolf Vineyards/Wolf’s Lair Restaurant - blackwolfvineyards.com or 336-374-2532 (calling ahead for lunch reservation is suggested)

Stone Mountain State Park
In additon to being chock-full of babbling brooks and scenic views, Stone Mountain State Park gives visitors a taste of the American frontier.

On a weekend day (Thursday through Sunday), curious folks can take educational tours of the Hutchinson Homestead to learn a little about life on a North Carolina mountain circa 1850. The restored Homestead has a log cabin, barn, corncrib, blacksmith shop, and the home’s original furnishings. Visitors who come to the mountain early in the week can still walk the grounds, though the buildings are closed.

Inside the park office, the open-daily Mountain Culture Exhibit fills in the gaps about early mountain settlers. In addition to historical artifacts, displays include various animal pelts - the full-body black bear mount is hard to miss - and nature exhibits about wildlife indigenous to the area.

If you’re intrigued by old buildings, join a Sunday-morning service at the historic Garden Creek Baptist Church for an inside look at the century-old structure. The fully functional church building has never been remodeled or undergone major repairs.

After spending the morning at these notable sites, enjoy lunch at the picnic area near the visitor’s center and prepare to hit the trails. Conveniently, one of the mountain’s hiking loops is connected to the picnic spot by a short side trail. Depending on which paths you follow off the main loop, most of the hiking is strenuous, so fire up the on-site grills for a hearty cookout. Ranger Jeff Jones reminds visitors to bring proper gear: “Our trails are quite popular, but in order to fully enjoy your experience, you will want durable shoes for this type of hiking,” he says.

The Middle Falls/Lower Falls Trail offers a spectacular, up-close experience of mountain waterfalls, while the Cedar Rock Trail will lead you high up to an outcrop that provides a bird’s-eye view like no other. There are plenty of other options; check out one of the park’s maps to choose your preferred route.

And just to cover the bases, you can also saddle up your horses to ride the five-mile Bridle Trail that begins near the horse-trailer parking lot. Don’t forget to bring proof of a negative Coggins test (required by state parks to prove a horse is free from an infectious anemia).

Extreme-outdoor-sports lovers can take their heart rates to new highs by rock climbing and rappelling the cliffs of the mountain. Beginners might skip these cliff faces, unless an experienced climber comes along. Check in at the park office to register and find out about climbing regulations.

On the flip side, you could cast your fly-fishing line into some of the 17 miles of waters at the park for a more relaxing afternoon. If you’re lucky, you might pull a few trout as souvenirs. Two piers are available for people with limited mobility, but are open to everyone, space-permitting. If you’re a casual fisher, the Rich Mountain and Bullhead creeks have special one-day permits for catch-and-release fishing. Permits are available in the parking lot at Bullhead.

If you are too tired for the car ride home, pitch your tent for an unparalleled evening under the stars. Or, if you’ve got a little energy left in the tanks and an ambitious streak, hike back in to one of the six backcountry camp sites along Widow Creek. Family and backcountry camping sites are available on a first-come basis.

By Erin Etheridge

If you go:

• For more information about Stone Mountain, the historic sites, educational activities, and camping, go to ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/stmo/do.
• From Winston-Salem, take U.S. 421 North to I-77 North. Stay on I-77 for about 10 miles, then merge onto U.S. 21 North toward Sparta (Exit 83). After eight miles, turn left on Traphill Road. In just over four miles, take a right onto John P. Frank Parkway. The parkway turns into Stone Mountain Road.
• Camping fees are $15 a day for sites without electricity, $20 for sites with it (senior discounts are available). Backcountry camping fees are $9 a day. The daily Bullhead fishing permit is $15.

Amish Village in Yadkin County
In the southwestern corner of Yadkin County, between Hamptonville and the town of Union Grove, population is sparse, fields are rolling, and agriculture and craft still dominate.

hose are precisely the attributes that drew the first Amish settlers from a church in Kentucky to establish themselves here in the 1980s. Since then, other families from Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have joined the first Amish residents. Today, some 12 families live in and around the crossroads at Shiloh Baptist Church.

“The Amish are like that,” says Sandy Coletti, who with her husband, Tom, runs the Shiloh General Store at the heart of the Amish community. “When an area gets too crowded, many of us look to move on to somewhere less crowded.”

In addition to a life built around the church and agriculture pursuits, residents operate a popular greenhouse, and a few build and sell log furniture. “With so many people passing by who own mountain homes, the log chairs and swings have sold well here,” Coletti notes.

But it is the Shiloh General Store that has proved not only a landmark, but a destination, for day travelers and mountain homeowners, as well as bus loads of visitors, particularly church groups. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays can be quite busy at the store, with its “Deli Meats & Cheese” and “Home Bakery” signs. That popularity, Coletti says, will likely lead the couple to expand the store sometime soon - they need more room for the bakery and deli operation.

If for nothing more than the aroma of freshly baked bread, a stop here is worthwhile. The store is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays, and now serves “build-your-own” deli sandwiches at lunchtime. A few tables with umbrellas are set out front, in addition to an expansive front porch if you wish to eat your meal on site. If you like good deli meats and cheeses, though, you’d be smart to bring along a cooler on your trip, and take a few choices home with you.

But that’s not all you’ll find, naturally, in a general store. With a strong influence of locally packaged items and goods from other Amish communities, the offerings range widely in bottled, canned, and packaged foodstuffs, candies, sauces, and snacks, many of the old-fashioned, simple variety that are hard to find elsewhere. It may not be possible to walk away without a bag full of goodies.

By Bill Cissna

If you go: From Winston-Salem, take U.S. 421 west about 35 miles to Exit 267/Windsor Road. At the stop sign at the end of the exit ramp, turn left. Go 3.8 miles on Windsor Road (passing the Buck Shoals Vineyard on your right), then turn left on St. Paul’s Church Road, just after Shiloh Baptist Church. The Shiloh General Store will be on your left a short distance east.

While driving in the area, be aware that a horse and buggy can be encountered on the main and side roads. As a general rule, the Amish prefer not to be photographed.

Other businesses in the area include two furniture makers (the Colettis’ son-in-law’s shop is just across the road from the General Store; Oak Grove Furniture is on Crater Road, 1/2 mile on the right from Windsor Road, near the Vineyards). The Amish-operated Shady Hollow Greenhouse is at 528 Somers School Rd. Feel free to ask for directions and a card at the General Store.

The Amish Church is further down toward Windsor Crossroads, at 5669 Windsor Rd. It is partially hidden by trees along the highway.

Additionally, the nearest overnight accommodation is Madelyn’s in the Grove, a bed and breakfast in Union Grove (five rooms; madelyns.com or 800-948-4473).

Pinehurst
North Carolina is renowned for its golf, and much of the credit can go to a trio of small villages in the south-central area of the state, where more than 43 championship courses have clustered around Pinehurst, Southern Pines, and Aberdeen.

The villages are less than two hours from Winston-Salem, and the drive is easy. Head east on I-40 to Greensboro, then catch U.S. 220 South for about 50 miles until you reach N.C. 211. At that point, the land changes. The region is known as the Sandhills, thanks to its rolling terrain and sandy earth.

The unique environment is good for the local golf courses, all of which are rife with deep, sand-filled bunkers. Peach trees also thrive there during peach season, which runs from June to early October, when roadside produce stands brim with fruit. It’s a worthwhile snack en route to your destination.

Pinehurst is the first of the three villages along 211 and is by far the most famous. Developed by Boston soda fountain magnate James Walker Tufts in 1895, the town forever became a golf destination when Tufts hired Donald J. Ross as golf professional at the Pinehurst Resort in 1900. Ross proceeded to design several courses for the resort, including the famed Pinehurst No. 2, which hosted the 1999 and 2005 U.S. Opens.

Pinehurst was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996 and is essentially a network of small cottages and tiny streets - like something out of a Beatrix Potter tale - surrounding the grandiose Pinehurst Resort. The resort is a well-preserved icon of turn-of-the-century luxury, with a sprawling wraparound porch cooled by ceiling fans and natural breezes. For a quintessential Pinehurst experience, order a drink from the bar inside and relax on the porch in one of the rocking chairs.

Farther along 211, Southern Pines is a more typical small Southern town, its main street lined with charming shops and restaurants and a railroad line running right down the middle. Also conceived as a resort town when it was incorporated in 1887, Southern Pines is now a destination of choice for a little shopping and dining.

Nearly everything can be found on Broad Street. At Home boutique features decorative accessories, furniture, and other things for, naturally, the home. Across the street, Gap Creek Candle Company has a company store stocked with candles, pottery from Seagrove, locally handmade pine-needle plates and baskets, and paintings and prints from area artists.

For lunch, try Sweet Basil, a popular stop with the locals for soup, salad, and sandwiches. The grilled eggplant sandwich is a particular favorite. For dinner, check out Chef Warren’s, where Culinary Institute of America-trained Warren Lewis says the weekly menu often depends upon what’s fresh at the moment. Lewis regularly scours the local farmers market for seasonal produce and keeps close ties with his food suppliers. “My fish purveyor calls me up when he catches something,” he says. “In fact, he recently woke me up at six in the morning because he just caught two groupers.”

Southeast from Southern Pines on U.S. 15-501, Aberdeen offers the best look at the area’s pre-golf origins at the Malcolm Blue Farm. The 1825 farmhouse is one of the last examples of the 19th-century Scottish homes that once dotted the wilderness. The farm includes a grist mill, stable, corncrib, tobacco barn, water tower, and windmill.

If the drive back home seems a little too much at the end of the day, get a room at the Inn at Bryant House, one block east of U.S. 1 in Aberdeen. The 1913 home has been completely restored and is listed on the Historical Register.

By Chris Gigley

If you go:

• For information, contact the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau at homeofgolf.com or 910-692-3330.
• Pinehurst Resort - pinehurst.com or 910-295-6811
• At Home - 910-695-7277
• Gap Creek Candle Company - gapcreekcandles.com or 910-428-4423
• Sweet Basil - 910-693-1487
• Chef Warren’s - 910-692-5240
• Malcolm Blue Farm - malcolmbluefarm.com or 910-944-7685
• Inn at Bryant House - innatbryanthouse.com or 910-944-3300

Reynolda Road
One great thing about the Twin City is that you don’t have to go far to achieve the relaxing results of a day trip. If time - or the cost of gas - limits your ability to leave town, consider spending the day exploring a particularly notable area of Winston-Salem: Reynolda Road. Within a stretch of 2.2 miles, you’ll discover museums, shops, and restaurants that offer an opportunity to slip away and savor the simple days of summer.

Begin your morning at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, the highlight of the Reynolda Historic District. Don’t be afraid to look like a tourist; many locals have never taken the opportunity to visit this restored 1917 mansion that was the country estate of R.J. and Katharine Reynolds. “The Reynolda House really is a trip back in time,” explains Sharyn Turner, publications coordinator for the museum. “There’s something especially unique about viewing works of art in a home.”

Since day passes promise the freedom to come and go as you please, after a few hours in the museum, feel free to journey outdoors to the estate’s grand backyard. Adjacent to the mansion, the meticulously maintained Reynolda Gardens present stunning rose, vegetable, flower, and herb gardens, in addition to greenhouses and woodland walking trails.

Stop for lunch at simplyummy, a coffee shop and café located steps away in Reynolda Village. With a name that says it all, simplyummy is ideal for a quick locally grown bite to eat. Try their homemade soups with mini cheddar biscuits, and dine al fresco on the patio.

Once you’ve finished your meal, you can return to the house to continue your tour, or opt for a bit of retail therapy in charming Reynolda Village, a neighborhood of shops, restaurants, and office spaces that was once a full-service community supporting the 1,067-acre Reynolds estate.

Grab a visitor’s map if you’d like to plot out your favorite stores, or simply wander from cottage to cottage to find jewelry, designer fashions, and handcrafted gifts. Discover boutiques such as Belle Maison, which sells fine linens and sleepwear in a homey, yet chic, environment, and Monkee’s, a shoe, clothing, and accessory store housed in the farm’s original smokehouse. Owner Brenn Kennedy says she caters to a great mix of visitors and locals who value this mall-alternative for its unbeatable customer service.

The Village Outdoor Shop, another don’t-miss, sells a complete line of camping, hiking, climbing, and family outdoor gear, and is located in the original dairy barn. “There’s something distinctive about offering a tranquil setting for shopping,” explains Don Wright, who owns the shop with his wife, Glenna.

But don’t stop there; more is in store once you leave the Village. Hop in the car and travel south down Reynolda until you reach a cluster of shops near the Robinhood Road intersection. Check out Pink Mink for bath products, stationery, and home goods, Sweeties for mouth-watering treats, and MingleWood for garden goodies and gifts.

Be sure to leave plenty of time. As you make your way a little farther toward downtown, past the intersection of Northwest Boulevard, you’ll discover a trio of antiques stores definitely worth your stop: Elizabeth’s Antiques, The Invisible Rabbit, and Cookie’s Shabbytiques.

Then, when your car is full of the day’s deals, travel back to Reynolda Village to enjoy dinner at the original Village Tavern. Serving gourmet burgers and pastas, as well as fresh salads and an assortment of wines, the Tavern is just the right place to wind down and dine in classy comfort. Thankfully, when the time does come for you to ease back into reality, home will be just a few moments away.

By Lauren Rippey

If you go:

• Reynolda House Museum of American Art - reynoldahouse.org
  Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
  Admission: adults, $10; seniors, $9; AAA members $8.50; museum members, children 18 and under, students, and Wake Forest University employees with a valid ID, free.
• Reynolda Gardens - reynoldagardens.org Tour the gardens free of charge year-round during daylight hours. The greenhouse is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.