GREENSBORO, N.C. — In case you missed it, two North Carolina bakers won the Omni Grove Park Inn's National Gingerbread House Competition for 2023.
Bakers from over 22 states and Guatemala entered this year. The Grand Prize Winner is a duo from Fuquay Varina, NC. The Difficult Dessert Devotees won the bragging rights and the prize money as well. Their entry is called "Christmas at the Tongkonan". A Tongkonan is a traditional ancestral house for those in Indonesia.
When you get up close to the house, you can see the roof is made of pasta shells! The winning house is now being displayed in the glass case for all to see, but you can see all the entries when you walk through the Grove Park Inn through January 2, 2024.
Just recently, I went to the Inn to see all the entries for myself and to get pictures of the houses made by folks in North Carolina and from the Triad. All the pictures are included and you'll see the video as well.
From Winston-Salem, you'll see an entry called the Snow Queen. The team of bakers call themselves Deibler & Prior. The icy blue hues show off a queen in the center surrounded by magical animals.
Another from Winston-Salem was created by baker Shanta Faison. She called her creation, Christmas At The Goldleaf Hall. While her entry was in the adult division, we found a Gavin Faison entry in the child division as well called Roblox Christmas.
In the youth division, a Barbie Dream House made the Top 10. The bakers are a group from Sherill's Ford, NC.
A "house" from a Troutman baker caught our eye, it was titled Groot's 1st Christmas. Just down the highway, from Statesville, baker Wanda Myers created Cinderella's Castle and had Mickey Mouse in front of it.
An entry from Burlington looked like a birdhouse, the entry called Sugar Shack was created by Team Gingerhorse.
And from Thomasville, Brenda Wheatcraft made a multi-story hospital complete with a lifeflight helicopter on top.
According to the Omni Grove Park Inn website, there are various days to view the houses:
The Gingerbread Display is available for resort guests to view 24/7 and to non-resort guests Monday - Thursday anytime and Sundays after 4 p.m., through January 2, excluding holidays (Dec. 23-25, 30-31, and Jan. 1).