DESTINATION

Winston-Salem

Winston was founded in 1849. The tobacco and textile industries spurred rapid growth, and it eventually surpassed Salem. The two towns consolidated in 1913.

The city is home to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, a branch of the University of North Carolina. The Stevens Center, a renovated 1929 movie palace at 405 W. 4th St., is one of the school's performance centers; for event information phone (336) 721-1945.

Other institutions of higher learning are Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem State University. Founded in 1892 as the Slater Industrial Academy, the latter university's name was changed to Winston-Salem Teacher's College in 1925. It was the first African American institution in the country to award degrees in elementary education. Salem College was founded in 1772 in the Moravian village; the school's female students attend classes on a 64-acre campus within the Old Salem Museums & Gardens complex .

The biennial National Black Theatre Festival, held during the summer in odd-numbered years, features workshops, film showings, storytelling, poetry jams and theatrical performances; phone (336) 723-2266.

The city's park system includes 16 miles of greenways popular with walkers, joggers, inline skaters and cyclists; for more information phone (336) 727-2063.

Visitor Centers

Winston-Salem Visitor Center 200 Brookstown Ave. Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Phone:(336)728-4200 or (866)728-4200

Shopping

Old Salem Museums and Gardens offers numerous shopping opportunities. Several stores in the vicinity of Salem Square offer fine furniture and home furnishings with an 18th-century Moravian influence. T. Bagge-Merchant is in a building where shopkeeper Traugott Bagge once operated the town store. The Downtown Arts District, at Sixth and Trade streets, is a center for many cultural activities and features numerous working studios, galleries and shops.

Among the more than 170 stores at Hanes Mall, off I-40, are Belk, Dillard's and JCPenney. The Historic West End has long been a meeting place for dining, strolling and browsing the many antique and consignment shops. Reynolda Village, next to the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, is a collection of boutiques and upscale restaurants occupying the barn and cottages of the former Reynolds estate.