Cruising Greensboro NC

 As new Carolinians after being Californians for almost two decades, we are taking in the sights and smells of the southeastern United States one weekend at a time.

This time we drove about 100 miles north to the city of Greensboro NC, established as a result of the old cotton and tobacco economy just 50 years back.

Lee Jeans owner VF is among the brands still in the area.  Although a much smaller form of the erstwhile boom town when tobacco was king there is still marginal presence of ITG the company that represents brands like Salem, Kool which were cool once.

Today there is the UNC Greensboro campus just outside downtown followed by some manufacturing that supports the economy.  Volvo Trucks has a presence as do some other light industries.  There is also legacy retail money here. The founder of Tanger outlets a chain of outlet stores was from here and has bequeathed large sums to the city for its beautification.

We took advantage of such generosity that truly makes some of the well tended gardens and parks a sight to come and see.  Below some pictures from the trails scattered around the north part of town and a great lunch of pastrami and hashbrowns at the Green Valley Restaurant.

much like the sculpture we were on the fence about going west to Greenville again or exploring new town of Greensboro - the latter won

replica of an old grain mill

boardwalk in Bog Garden in Greensboro NC

Arboretum

thanks to an entrepreneur who settled in the area the restaurant at the O.Henry hotel has good fare to fill up at lunch

atop the hill is the downtown

Murals and decor inside the O.Henry where we dined 

All in all it is a nice small town in two hour driving distance from the major hubs of Raleigh and Charlotte NC and afford the visitor with enough material to fill a day enjoying the sights and relaxing in its many green spaces.