Shopping trip to Historic Downtown Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro

 Hello friends!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. Our daughter had the idea to spend the holiday up at our mountain house, so that's where we went. She's working remotely, so she drove us up Tuesday after work hours and we arrived to a very chilly house! It takes awhile for the house to warm up the first night, but that makes for great sleeping! Mr. DIY drove up Wednesday evening .

Our daughter took me shopping to a few places in the two cute downtown areas of  Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro. She and her friend stay at the house and venture out either up to Boone or down to the downtown shopping districts in Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro to go out to eat and shop, They have discovered some great places. She took me to a few of them and we stopped at unique place to eat on Black Friday. On our way to and from shopping we lost count of how many cars had Christmas trees tied to the roof of their cars. Thanksgiving weekend is a popular weekend for families to drive to the mountains and find their perfect Christmas tree at a local tree farm. We saw quite a few who had stopped to shop on their way home.

. 

Our first stop was The Vintage Home Studio in North Wilkesboro.  It's a super cute store and lucky for us, it was all decked out with Christmas items.

 

I could have spent hours in this shop browsing (and buying) . 

This sign was one of my favorites in the store. And those tea towels....

As I was putting together this blog post and looking at the photos, I was sorry I hadn't picked a few up when I was there. 

Thankfully, The Vintage Home Studio has a website...so guess what I did?... 

I went to the website.

I couldn't find a couple of the towels on the website despite looking under a couple of sections, I called Michelle Gann, the owner, who was very nice and helpful and I ordered what I needed.  If you see something in these photos that you want to order, be sure to look several different ways or try the search bar at the top right. Silly me, I could have tried that!

Long story shorter; the items were shipped the same day I ordered and I will get them soon. 

This display caught my eye and I couldn't resist getting the metal JOY sign. Be sure to stop by next time to see how it's being displayed in a Christmas vignette in our foyer. 

Whenever we're in North Wilkesboro we have to stop at Talia Espresso for refreshments. Talia's website says describes it as 

COFFEE. CULTURE. COMMUNITY. 

I love that!

A couple of years ago, Mr. DIY and I spent a fun evening getting a bite to eat and listening to a blue grass band that was playing. We always love stopping by. 

After Talia's, we went to an antique shop, which was a little tough for me (see my other blog for why). It was 2 pm when we finished the antique store, so we headed over to the Artisan Cafe, which was originally the Wilkesboro Post office and Courthouse. 

I was smitten with the grand Federal Architecture as soon as we walked in the door. 

The Artisan Cafe is also a wedding and event venue. 

I should have taken a photo of our food, but I had eaten most of it when the thought crossed my mind. You can, however view some of their delicious food on their Instagram page. 

We have definitely added the Artisan Cafe to the top of our list of favorite lunch eateries close to our mountain cottage.

The last place we stopped was about a mile back up the road to Midtown Market in North Wilkesboro. 
It's a nursery with local and handmade gift shop. Will most definitely make a point to visit in Spring.

Since Mr. DIY makes handmade soaps every Christmas to give away as gifts, you know he enjoyed seeing the photos of the colorful soap on display. 

These little dioramas caught my attention right away. Of course, looking at these photos, I'm regretting not buying one or two or all of them. Unfortunately, you can't order off the website.

I think the one with crown on the lamb with the star above his head is my favorite. (although the crown should be on a lion!)

This was the first time I've been shopping in a very long time...it's probably been around three years.  It was a fun day with my daughter visiting some unique and interesting shops and cafes. The next time you're in the area, make a stop in one or both of the historic downtown shopping districts of Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro. You'll be glad you did!

Pam