Greensboro Attractions and Resources

Coffee/ Bakeries / Arts / Music 

The Green Bean, downtown—coffee and treats, local and indie music on the weekends, wifi

Loaf Bakery, downtown-- European-style pastries and bread, wifi

Tate Street Coffee, near UNCG--- coffee and treats, jazz on Thursday nights, Saturday and Sunday mornings, occasional poetry or fiction readings, wifi

Spring Garden Bakery, near UNCG-- coffee and treats, wifi

Glenwood Coffee and Books, near UNCG—many used and new books and also readings, events, music, and club meetings

Geeksboro Cinema, on Lawndale—indie movies and some current t.v. shows, serves coffee and treats, wifi

Carousel Cinema, near downtown and Battleground -- major film releases, sometime foreign films

Grande Cinema, in Friendly Shopping Center -- major film releases

Greensboro Cultural Arts Center, downtown— art, music, drama, and dance classes for adults and children

Greenhill Gallery, downtown-- art museum in the Cultural Arts Center, local and national exhibits, openings, parties, and other events, gift shop

Weatherspoon Gallery -- UNCG art gallery, local and national exhibits, openings, parties, and national events, gift shop

Triad Stage, downtown—professional theater, national-level music events

Carolina Theater, downtown—community theater, national-level music events, films

UNCG Performing Arts – UNCG music, dance, and drama performances and national touring acts of all styles (classical, modern, contemporary)

Greensboro Symphony

The Blind Tiger, near UNCG—national-level touring and local music acts (rock, pop, funk, bluegrass, other..)

Sports and Exercise

YMCA, near downtown and UNCG-- track, basketball court, weight room, pools, exercise classes, sports leagues for children and adults

Triad Yoga Institute, near ALA – Many yoga classes from beginner to advanced, every day. Accessories provided.

Greensboro Parks and Recreation Athletics-- Sports leagues for children and adults

Events  and Organizations

Greensboro Farmer’s Market, near downtown—Saturday morning market

The City Market, downtown—food, crafts, drinks, and music event every third Thursday of each month

First Friday, downtown—arts walking tour, open studios and sometimes beverages and snacks every first Friday of each month

Tate Street Festival, September 27th

Piedmont Blues Preservation Society



Parks / Science and History Museums / Libraries

Greensboro Science Center, Lawndale -- Science museum, zoo, aquarium

Country Park, Lawndale -- Bike and walking path, lake and paddle boats, dog park, picnic shelters, next to the Natural Science Center

Guilford Courthouse Park-- walking and bike trail, historical monuments and events

Bur-Mill Park-- walking and bike path, golf course and driving range

Greensboro Historical Museum, downtown -- exhibits about the city of Greensboro and the state of North Carolina

Civil Rights Museum, downtown-- museum honoring the Civil Rights Movement

Fisher Park, downtown -- quiet park with benches and playground

Lake Daniel Park, near UNCG -- bike trail, basketball court, tennis court, playground, picnic tables

College Park, near UNCG-- small, quiet park with playground and benches

Greensboro Public Library - books, dvds, children's area, events and reading programs

UNCG Library - major research library

Publications

Greensboro News & Record-- Greensboro city newspaper

Go Triad – the Greensboro News & Record’s entertainment and events section

Triad City Beat -  Greensboro's alternative newspaper

Yes! Weekly—independent local news publication, including entertainment and events

Greensboro Review-- Greensboro's historic literary magazine


Shopping

Friendly Shopping Center -- major stores such as Barnes & Noble, REI, Sears, Belks, Banana Republic, GAP, Old Navy, Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, and also smaller stores like The Olive Press, The Extra Ingredient, Petland, as well as restaurants, such as Brava Italiana, Tex and Shirley's, and Ben & Jerry's

Harris Teeter -- large, convenient grocery store in Friendly Shopping Center and on Lawndale, among other places

Whole Foods, Friendly Ave -- large organic grocery store in Friendly Shopping Center with many specialty health foods and items

The Bestway, near UNCG -- small, quality, family-owned grocery store with large beer selection

Deep Roots Market, downtown -- small, organic grocery store

Design Archives Emporium , downtown -- original local crafts and vintage clothing

Four Seasons Mall, High Point Road -- major stores

Tanger Outlet, Mebane -- major outlet stores

Restaurants


Downtown: Cafe Europa, Grey's Tavern, Natty Greene's, McCoul's, Thai Pan, The Iron Hen, The Corner Slice, Liberty Oak, Dame's Chicken and Waffles

UNCG:  Thai Garden, India Palace, Boba House, New York Pizza, Fishbones,  Lindley Park Filling Station, Emma Key's, Sticks and Stones, Jack's Corner, Old Town, Josephine's

Battleground / Westover /Lawndale:  
Taste of Thai, Saffron, Pastabilities, Cleopatra's, Lucky 32, 1618 Wine Lounge, Southern Lights

Market Street: Nazareth, Dasarang, Mythos

Writing and Professional Center

We have a new service for all our full-time students, The Writing and Professional Center!
Go here for more details.

Exquisite Corpse & Student Profile

Two of our students played the Exquisite Corpse game, where each student writes a sentence or two of a story, and then they trade. The game was invented by French Surrealists during the early twentieth century.

 

One of the Exquisite Corpse writers is Daisy, who says:

"Hi! My name is Yi Dai, but you also can call Daisy. I’m from Chongqing, China. My hometown is a small city that is located in southwest of China, but we are known for mountains, the Yangzi River, spicy food and beautiful girls. I have been with ALA for half a year. In ALA, I had more opportunities to practice English skills, and also to meet more new friends from different countries. I have lived in Greensboro for almost three years, and I love this small town. People are friendly here, they smile to you on the street and they are willing to help other people. I went to a lot of places around Greensboro, and I believe there are more interesting places that I should explore. Soon, I plan to start my PhD program in computer science. I focus on wireless information security and cloud computation. In fact, after I finish my study plan, I prefer to work for banks or online stores. These companies have to update their protections frequently to protect their business secrets and consumers’ account information. However, in the near future, I plan to finish my Master’s Degree and find a job that can help me gain more experience and practice what I have learned."

Women's Hospital of Greensboro

One of our women's classes visited the Women's Hospital. They took a guided tour of the hospital with Cheryl Pratt RN from the Perinatal Education. They also attended a one hour class of advice for women about what to expect on the day of their children's births and things they can do to prepare for that day. At the end of the visit, Cheryl gave our students a book and a CD to keep and watch at home.

"The field trip to the Women's Hospital was exciting and helpful for me. I liked the delivery room. The room is very comfortable for women."   
                                                  - Bibi
                                          

"It was interesting and I liked it, and this gave us confidence in the hospital, because everything was clean."                                   
                      -Mona

"I liked the trip to the Women's Hospital because I'm pregnant, and it was very important to me. I saw the delivery room and I learned a lot about the labor."
                                                                                           -Shroug

The Natural Science Center

American Language Academy took a trip to the Natural Science Center of Greensboro. The museum hosts a fine collection of exhibits that cover many areas of natural sciences, including astronomy, geology, paleontology, human and animal biology, and meteorology. It also has a zoo that includes gibbons, wallabies, meerkats, and tigers, among other animals. Our students and faculty had a great time exploring the museum and meeting the tigers.

Civil Rights in Greensboro

On February 1^st in 1960, four African-American students from what is now NC A&T State University were refused service at the F.W. Woolworth Co. in downtown Greensboro, because the lunch counter was racially segregated. Despite the restaurant's request that they leave, they remained in their seats, in non-violent protest.

More students joined the cause each day, in North Carolina and the surrounding states, and within three months sit-ins had spread to at least 55 cities. The students had taken inspiration from Rosa Parks, who began the Civil Rights Movement by refusing to give up her seat in a Montgomery bus in 1955.

A few years later, in 1963, Martin Luther King would deliver his "I have a Dream" speech during the march in Washington D.C. Over the next few years, African-Americans would gain equal rights, through legislation such as the Equal Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965.

The Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History in Washington displays a section of the  original lunch counter, and the original building is now open as the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. 

A Special Term

There’s something special about the word “special.” We often use it to describe things we love, such as memories, gifts, foods, crafts, people, and locations.

 The word is related to “species” in that refers to something “individual, particular,” the meaning of the origin Latin word, speciālis. 

 

They both also relate to the Latin verb, speculārī, “to spy out, watch, examine, observe, and spect-āre, “to look at.” The Latin word evolved into a now out-of-use English word, “spect,” which was used in 16^th century descriptions of navigation, meaning “to look or face in a specified direction.”

That’s where we get the words “expect,” “speculate,” and “spectacle,” which means, “a specially prepared or arranged display of a more or less public nature (esp. one on a large scale), forming an impressive or interesting show or entertainment for those viewing it.” The evolution of the “spec” words is a natural one—to look at something is to determine that is particular in itself, individual and distinct. Derivatives of the Latin word were in use in Old French in addition to Middle English, and also some of the Scandinavian languages.