Quickly becoming a national leader in living history site innovations and transformations, Old Salem Museums & Gardens introduces the latest expansion of its visitor offerings: Muddy Creek Café at Old Salem. In addition to the interior café space, an outdoor stage and eating area will accommodate the many varied folk musicians that make their way to the Muddy Creek Café concerts. To strategically move beyond the traditional experiences of living history sites into a more full, rich, and varied visitor experience, Old Salem has been facilitating its “Activate Main Street” Initiative in ways that provide multiple levels of activities for its visitors in the historic district.  One of the goals of the initiative is to grow the experiences into after-hours events and increase its music offerings.

Muddy Creek Café, previously located in the sister Moravian community of Bethania, will move to the Old Salem Historic District with an anticipated opening of November 25, 2019.  Located in the lower level of T. Bagge Merchant at 626 South Main Street in Winston-Salem, the café will offer specialty gourmet sandwiches and hot grilled panini, along with soups, salads, desserts, bottled sodas, beer, and wine.

The Muddy Creek Cafe music venue will offer traditional, folk music events a year alongside their family-friendly food offerings. Thursday evening Open Mic Nights with Country Dan Collins of “The Winston-Salem Journal” are famous in the local entertainment scene and will continue at the new location in Old Salem.  The owners of Muddy Creek Café will also work with Old Salem to host frequent and larger music events throughout the year to include venues such as the Visitor Center, St. Phillips African Moravian Church, Historic Tavern Barn, and other outdoor spaces.

This latest addition to Old Salem’s offerings comes after the introduction of Brasstown Chocolates in the second floor of Winkler Bakery boutique spaces. Winkler Bakery has also undergone an interior re-freshening with an expanded retail experience, new fresh-baked options, and updated hands-on historic interpretation. Old Salem Museums & Gardens has also expanded its new “Handcrafted Salem 1766” hand-made product line to include pottery, textiles, leather goods, and other useful, beautifully crafted items that reflect the history and craftsmanship of the town of Salem.  Those goods are available for sale in T. Bagge Merchant.

 About Old Salem

Voted the 2019 #1 Tourist Attraction in North Carolina (AAA), Old Salem Museums & Gardens is a unique living history site with a tactile-driven, immersive visitor experience. Its museums—the Historic Town of Salem, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), and the Gardens at Old Salem—are quickly becoming nationally known for innovative and novel interpretive models and programs. Old Salem Museums & Gardens is located at 600 South Main Street in Winston-Salem. For more information call 336-721-7300 or visit oldsalem.org.