Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro, North Carolina is a two-hour drive from my home in Roanoke, Virginia and is the third largest city in North Carolina (270,000 people according to the 2010 US Census).

View of downtown Greensboro.

And again...

Fountain in Center City Park.

Artwork in City Center Park.

Greensboro was named for Major General Nathanael Greene, an officer in the American Revolutionary War and the city was built around a courthouse square.

  Statue of Greensboro's namesake.

Mural of Greensboro's namesake (or so I assume).

During the Industrial Revolution, Greensboro flourished.  It became the center of the southern textile industry.  Other industries like Vicks Chemical Company (known for Vicks Vapor Rub and NyQuil) and the Carolina Steel Corporation originated here, too.

As I walked around downtown Greensboro last week, I noticed many signs like this:

Some research revealed that Greensboro was also a center of the American Civil Rights Movement.  As alluded to on the sign above, four black college students sat down at a lunch counter at a Woolworth store (a segregated five-and-dime retail chain) in Greensboro on February 1st, 1960, and refused to leave when they were denied service.  Spurred on by their example, hundreds of others joined the sit-in, which lasted several months and ultimately led to desegregation of Woolworth and other retail chains.  The lunch counter is still in it's original location and is now part of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum which opened on February 1, 2010, fifty years after the sit-in began.

In addition to being a center of southern industry and the American Civil Rights Movement, Greensboro also has a thriving arts community, as testified by it's numerous theaters and cinemas.  Two are pictured, below.

The Triad Stage, a regional theatre in Greensboro.

The Carolina Theatre in Greensboro has a seating capacity of 2,200 and 14 exits to allow clearing of the theatre in under two minutes.

Greensboro maintains a "sister city" relationship with three cities (I didn't realize until this year that many American cities have an official "sister city" relationship with international cities) in order to foster friendship and cooperation.  The cities are:

-Yingkou, China

-Chisinau, Moldova

-Montbeliard, France

I spy...some random artwork.

Here is my list of 10 things to do for fun in Greensboro:

-The Bog Garden (1.06 mile elevated boardwalk through a wetland ecosystem)

-International Civil Rights Center and Museum (site of the infamous Greensboro sit-in)

-Center City Park (pictured above)

-Greensboro Arboretum

-Blandwood Mansion and Gardens (historic home of former North Carolina governor)

-The Natural Science Center of Greensboro

-Greensboro Coliseum Complex (athletic and cultural events)

-NewBridge Bank Park (baseball park, outdoor activities, concerts)

-The Greensboro Children's Museum

-Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe (largest water park in the Carolinas)

Overall, I thought that Greensboro would be a fun place to wile away a couple of days, and look forward to returning here some weekend in the next two years.