Shopping in Wilson

Theater of the American South celebrates Southern culture and history with a spring festival featuring a theatrical double-header, culinary demonstrations, speakers, and an antiques show. The Civil War in Song & Legend puts Broadway actor and 200-year-old gentleman Bill Schustik onstage to relive the turbulent 1860s by relating stories, personal memories of the events, and songs with intermittent youth-chorus and gospel-choir accompaniment. Doris Baizley’s Shiloh Rules portrays present-day Northern and Southern women involved in a reenactment of the famous battle as their personal feud escalates across the battlefield through events both dramatic and comedic. The antiques show proffers purchasable relics of past epochs in Southern history, providing relief for time-traveling antebellum ladies seeking their lost autograph books.

For over thirty years, Great American Cookies has been sharing a generations-old family chocolate chip cookie recipe with the crumb-hungry masses. Each 16" round cookie cake serves 8–16 people and is baked fresh before being hand decorated by a talented cookie artist to match any holiday or special occasion, with a design made of rich, creamy frosting. Garner inspiration from the more than 30 categories of cookie cake designs posted on the company's website, or have an original designer dessert crafted to your specifications, ready to make a dessert-table appearance at a themed event, or to be framed and admired alongside your cherished Jacques-Louis David portrait of a napoleon crossing the alps.

East Wake Furniture’s 10,000-square-foot showroom has dedicated 25 years to presenting name-brand home accouterments, including furniture by Serta, Ashley, and Broyhill. A trove of comfortable sofas don soft cushions that actively resist urges to eat television remotes ($499+), and a collection of lamps grants the gift of light to dark living rooms ($29+). Flatter well-written novels by allowing them to perch on a gorgeous end table ($99+) or elevate feet from ground-level status with a recliner ($399+). East Wake’s resourceful staffers receive their furniture directly from High Point manufacturers, eliminating the middleman’s annoying tendency to get prices wrong by garbling them in games of telephone. View recent room samples by clicking here.

Before stepping onto the ice or the baseball diamond, members of the Carolina Hurricanes and the Durham Bulls pay a visit to Drs. Michael Peters and Jason Price of Eye Care Associates, who have provided top-notch eyeglasses, contact lenses, and eye exams for nearly 35 years. The vision specialists help rid blurriness from pucks, balls, and signs held by adoring fans. When they’re not gazing into the eyes of athletes, they and their fellow doctors at a network of clinics stay busy correcting the vision of seniors, children, and adults. The company topped Indy Week's 2012 Readers’ Choice poll for best optometrists in the area and received a Standing Ovation award as the best eyecare center in the Triangle in 2012 from readers of Metro Magazine.

Wit’s End showcases a splendid selection of spectacular surprises for all manner of occasion. Wine lovers will find a bevy of bodacious wine bottles priced from $5 to $20, and art fiends will feel like art thieves when they pick up a piece from a local painter or alternative artisan. A supply of locally crafted jewelry decks out necks in style, and those born sans silver spoons can fill deserving face holes with an entire decorative measuring spoon set for only $20. Prepare for an upcoming day at the beach with a fun, fashionable Wit’s End tote bag ($15–$20), which can be branded with a free three-initial monogram to distinguish it from the tote-bag herds that populate the prairies. Stuff-happy gift seekers can also find holiday decorations, picture frames, and much more within Wit’s End’s charming confines.

Founded by the creators of Carolina Pottery in 2013, Home South offers affordable, southern-influenced décor to fill houses with style and charm. Browse the shop’s carefully curated merchandise, ranging from weather-friendly furniture for the patio to bottles of wine for the cupboard. In the outdoor cushions and pillows section, you’ll find textiles designed to withstand the elements. Embrace your inner craft-maker or interpretive dancer at the ribbons and floral department. There are colorful pots and pans alongside baking sheets and mixing bowls in the kitchenware department.