Greensboro, North Carolina

Southwards we did travel, through the great state of North Carolina. A little about my history: my first professional/college graduate/real world job was with Lincoln Financial in a professional development rotational program. They placed me in Greensboro for my first position. I was blessed to work with some wonderful people there, on the 10th floor of the Jefferson Pilot building:

It was a good place to work but it was 5 hours from my beloved Shelley. Of course that didn't keep us apart - many a weekend was spent traversing 95 from Gaithersburg, MD to Greensboro, NC. It's a long trip. Especially on July 4 weekend. But it was well worth it. It made surprises difficult but I still managed to pull a few off.

There were some enjoyable moments to the long year we spent long distance dating. We found fun places to hang out in vain attempts to stretch out the weekend hours.

So on our anniversary trip, we planned to swing by a few of our favorite Greensboro hotspots. If you ever find yourself down there, we cannot recommend these enough.

First, in the middle of the UNC Greensboro campus is the lovely hippie-magnet: Tate Street Coffee shop. Complete with homemade (excuse me, organic) art and equally creative coffee mixes that were delicious.

Apparently we were there for the 18 year anniversary. We have spent hours playing cards, sipping funky lattes, trying very hard not to laugh and point at the various clothing combinations on fellow patrons (ok that was just me, not Shelley), and listening to live music.

I also have to recommend another hippie hotspot. Also strangely decorated, this place has some delicious pizza. And an impressive beer selection. It's a chain so you may have experienced them elsewhere. Behold, Mellow Mushroom (the mushroom part may have been code for something, or just a pizza topping, I'm not sure):


Next stop: the largest private residence in America.