Greensboro Daily Photo

Where is Spring?

The S.H. Kress & Company building was constructed in downtown Greensboro in 1930 and was a department store for 40 years.  The chain's founder Samuel Kress took pride in his buildings and tried to make them architectural gifts to the communities in which they were built. Our Kress building is no exception. The art deco architecture sparkles today. While the department store is long gone, the building houses a night club on one side and an event center on the other. Information about the architecture can be found here and information about the event center, known as Kress Terrace, here.

Today's post does not feature the building but the brilliant art display in the front window. After the wintry days we've had lately, we just fell in love with the BURST of color and with the message, Where is Spring? Here is a display in the same window that we shared last year. Thank you Kress Terrace for these arranging these wonderful works of community art. Finally, we're sharing this photo with the great group of photographers at Weekend Reflection.

 

Irving Park Plaza Meets All-Brite Signs

Spring spruce up has begun! Here we see All-Brite Signs of Randleman painting the signs for Irving Park Plaza. We knew we were in the south taking this picture because, the man in the bucket waived and smiled and NOBODY came up to us asking why we were taking pictures! Not only friendliness but also professionalism exuded from this crew. 

Developed in 1911, Irving Park is one of Greensboro's oldest neighborhoods and the houses there hold their value today. The hallmark of shopping in Irving Park is family owned businesses. The plaza and a nearby plaza offer everything from sewing machine repair to art galleries to a children's shoe store.  This is our contribution to Sky Watch Friday. While the sky is gray, the evergreen tree reminds us that nature may be dormant but it is alive and well!

 

Junior League's Antebellum Beauty

The Junior League of Greensboro got its start is the mid-1920's as the inspiration of Kathleen Price (Mrs. Joseph M. Bryan) and nine members of her book club. The organization emphasizes volunteerism, leadership and community service in its members. Here is a photo of their Greensboro Headquarters, located at 3101 West Friendly Avenue. If you are a history buff and love shows like HGTV's "If these walls could talk," you will love the detective work that went into dating the age of this house to the mid-1800's. During renovation, saw marks, square nails, roofline, and other clues lead to the dating of the house to before the Civil War. Read more here.

We LOVE the fact that the Junior League values its history and archives information on their website. The organization is a great example to all of us. From Scarlett O'Hara to Eva Peron, that balcony is just waiting for a strong woman to impart a powerful message.

 

Area Modern Home & Lighting

Area Modern Home and Lighting is a showroom in downtown Greensboro on Elm Street. Since 2000, they have been showing and producing furniture locally. Owner and designer Mark Hewett trained in the United Kingdom and has worked on several continents. His store sits directly across the street from the former Fordham's Pharmacy and just north of Coe's Grocery. Area Modern showcases the best of 21st century Greensboro, Fordham's dates to 1898 and closed about the time Area Modern opened. Coe's is about a century old and, as best we can tell, is still going strong. Thankfully, Downtown Greensboro is an interesting mixture of businesses. Through GDP, we're learning so much about our city. We'll have to visit Area Modern when we look for a new couch this spring!

We're looking at our city in a whole new way now that we've been participating in weekend reflections.

 

Holliday's Hardware House

The corner of Spring Garden Street and Holliday Drive is awfully quiet these days. Gone are the Red Wing Shoes, the shoe polish in every color imaginable, the key cutting machine, the aluminum tubs, the sleds, and the red wagons. Oh yes, since 1956 sleds and red wagons lined the sidewalk. Radio flyers in every size; traditional and round sleds. Even more absent are the great conversations and personal service by the Crum/Holliday family. Truly, Holliday's Hardware House was the "Cheers" Bar of home repair. All that is left of the once thriving mom-and-pop hardware store is the signage, including the family's name on the dead-end street marker.

The good news is that, by early March, Adelaide's Corner Cottage, currently located just east of UNCG, will slide down Spring Garden Street and relocate here. Adelaide is one of the nicest proprietors you will ever meet, in her less-than-a-year in business, she has amassed a wealth of loyal customers. Adelaide has an eye for the artsy, cottage-y, chic collectibles and manages to sell them at a reasonable price. If you have to lose one family business, it is nice to know that it is being replaced by another.

We're sharing this shot of the wire, sign, and cloud-filled sky with the Sky Watch Friday Crowd!  

 

324 South Elm

Here we see a new five-story building under construction at 324 South Elm Street. The property was an empty lot for several years. We are happy to see new construction downtown; perhaps it is an indication that the local economy is improving. Some of the names on the construction site signage include: Lindbrook Development Services, Landmark Builders, Triad Design Group, Bradley & Ball Architects, ESC LLP Carolinas. We can't wait to see finished building and to learn more about it! 

 

South Elm Pottery & Gallery

With these hands, Jim Gutesll works his magic. From the window of South Elm Street Pottery & Gallery, we snapped this view of Jim mentoring a young girl into the art of throwing a vessel. His, the master's hands ever so steady and confident; hers, eager, yet tentative, this is apprenticeship at its best. Jim is sometimes known as the Godfather of pottery in Greensboro for founding the Triad Area Spring  Pottery Festival at the Yanceyville Farmers' Market. Jim works relentlessly to make people aware of the wonderful North Carolina pottery available "North of Seagrove."

If you can brave the snow this weekend, walk by by Jim's studio on South Elm Street, just south of the railroad tracks, and watch a great potter at work. Even better, stop in and buy LOCAL! Taking this photo through the window, for Weekly Reflections, was more fun than watching TV-- any day! Here's to you Jim!

 

Leon's Style Salons

Nothing beats a good hair stylist. Here we see Robin working her magic at Leon's Style Salon on Friendly Avenue. Leon's has several salons throughout Greensboro, including a beauty school. Not only do they give great cuts at a great price, they are committed to showing original contemporary works of art. Artwork at the local salons features local artists from photographers to sculptors. The round mirrors add such drama to this salon with all of the original artwork on the wall. 

 

Chick-fil-A

Those of you who come for Sacred Sunday are in the right place. Every Sunday, we publish a photo intended to cause viewers to reflect on their spirituality. Chick-fil-A is featured today because all 1,480 stores are closed on Sunday so that workers can respect the Sabbath and be home with their families. One might think that one day a week of lost revenue would hurt the company; however, Chick-fil-A is in its 42nd consecutive year of positive sales growth. Still a privately-owned family business, Chick-fil-A is planning 78 new locations and renovations on 86 existing stores. The owners, the Cathys of Georgia, are devout Christians and express this devotion not only at home and in press releases but also every Sunday at every store.

The store in this photo (taken yesterday) is at the corner of Battleground Avenue and New Garden Road. 

 

FedEx Greensboro

Varooom...... FedEx Greensboro is a reality. Here is a photo of the New FedEx Mid-Atlantic Air Hub, operating at our Piedmont Triad International Airport. With the capacity to sort up to 24,000 packages an hour, it is the company's fifth major U.S. Cargo hub. So, even if you haven't visited Greensboro, NC, maybe your packages have!

We wanted to share this grey-albeit-sky for Sky Watch Friday today since the new 9,000 ft. runway, built as part of the deal for Federal Express selecting Greensboro for its southeast sorting hub, quietly opened on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010.

 

Burn, Burn, Burn....

Burn, burn, burn! The other week, when we drove  past this GIANT flaming torch, we set about trying to figure out its purpose. The best we can tell, the torch is burn off from one of the oil pipelines on West Market Street. Colonial, Magellan, and Plantation Pipeline Companies (and perhaps others) are located located near this burning flame. If our research is correct, these torches are a safety measure. They ignite when the pipeline has a leak that might pollute streams or cause other problems locally. The pipeline contents igniter and fuel burning flames are the lesser of the two evils: uncontrolled pollution vs. controlled pollution. Here is our less-controversial pipeline picture  from last year. 

Finally, this post will be shared with ABC Wednesday. "B" is for burn, burn, burn. 

 

WRANGLER

For today, Monday, the beginning of the work week, we feature the Wrangler Building on Elm Street. Wrangler, and parent company VF Corporation, are headquartered in Greensboro. The Wrangler name, known for authentic western jeans, was introduced to the consumer in 1947; however, the company's seed was planted in 1897 when Mr. CC Hudson relocated to Greensboro. Mr. Hudson arrived from Tennessee, seeking his fortune in our emerging textile town. His first job here was sewing buttons on overalls, earning 25 cents a day. 

In 1904, Hudson opened Hudson Overall Company above Coe Brothers Grocery on Elm Street. The company expanded and became Blue Bell Overall Company. Big Ben Manufacturing Company purchased Blue Bell in 1926. The merged companies remained in Greensboro. Blue Bell continued to merge, acquire and grow; eventually evolving into Wrangler. A great timeline with photos of this important piece of history is provided on Wrangler's website, here. Hopefully, Greensboro social studies teachers share this timeline with their students. For over a century, the textile industry has been an important part of our city's history and Wrangler has been a part of Greensboro's history since the 1940's.

 

Indu Convenient Store & Fanta City

Indu Convenient Store is located at the Fanta City, the Triad's International Shopping Center at 4925 West Market Street. Fanta City is a large complex for ethnic goods, foods and activities from saris to Colombian coffee, bubble tea and rice to Tae Kwon Do. Approximately 3 years old, Fanta City is one-stop-shopping for many different ethnic groups. The complex is truly a pan-global conglomeration of cultures. Additionally, Fanta City is a place to gather with family and friends and holds many different meetings and events. The red roof, arched doorways, and light stucco walls remind us more of Florida or California than Greensboro. 

We will feature other photos of Fanta City at a later time. Today, we chose this outdated calender at Indu Convenient Store to share with our Weekend Reflections friends and our friends over at Camera Critters (see the parrots?). The cars in the reflection were waiting patiently for Indu Convenient Store to open the day we were there! If you are from elsewhere, likely, you will feel a little nostalgia when walking through Fanta City!

 

Art at Harper's Restaurant

Harper's Restaurant in Friendly Center is part of a chain of 10 restaurants all located in the Carolinas. They describe themselves as "polished casual." Has Harper's coined a term or have you heard it before? The diners in the photo above do, indeed, look polished casual! As feasible, Harper's uses regional food and monitors their carbon footprint. In short, the food is great and their recycling efforts encouraging.

We decided to feature this photo today because the artwork at Harper's reminds us so much of Haitian art. Haitian artists love to paint bright, bold "slice of life" scenes. Since 1974, Bill Bollendorf at his Pittsburgh Galerie Macondo has been selling Haitian art, dealing directly with artists in Haiti. Since 1977, Boris and Ruth Kravitz have been going to Haiti to bring great art to the world via their Haitian Art Company in Key West. Peruse both online galleries and you will get an idea of the scenes that will be painted depicting the horrors of The Earthquake of 2010. It is just a matter of time. Haitian artists will tell quite a story with canvas!

 

Bank of North Carolina & Hardin's Florist Supply

Bank of North Carolina is a great name for a bank. In 1991, the bank opened with significant financial backing of five men: Groome Fulton, Bob Burleson, Lenny Peters, Lloyd Higgins, and Carl Hoffman. Here we see one of the sixteen branches, specifically, the one on Elm Street in Downtown Greensboro. Our State bird is a cardinal so the logo is befitting for a bank named for the State. We got tickled when the Hardin's Wholesale Florist Supply truck pulled up, creating a sort of flower garden for the cardinal to admire!

Hardin's Wholesale Florist Supply is another homegrown North Carolina business. Hardin's is a third generation North Carolina business that traces its roots to 1934 when Myrtle Hardin began making flower arrangements out of flowers grown in her yard. By 1940, the Hardins opened a retail shop and, over the years, the business has grown to a state-of-the-art 100,000 square foot headquarters in Liberty, NC with an inventory of over 14,000 items. We wonder if the florist was delivering flowers to the bank or making a deposit! We'll never know. However, we do know that both businesses are great examples of what North Carolinians can do when we put our minds to it!

We're sharing this one with Ruby Tuesday.

 

iPod, You Pod, We All Pod

The Apple Computer Store at Friendly Center is quite the destination. People of all ages love to hang out here. For teens, no trip to Friendly Center is complete without going to the Apple Store, taking your picture, and showing your Facebook world who is hanging out with whom. Since February 2009, we in Greensboro no longer need to drive to Southpoint Mall in Durham to buy, try out, and learn about 21st century technology.

Technology has the power to bring us together and to pull us apart. Here's to our knowing when to use these rainbow gizmos and when to  communicate the old fashioned way-- by knocking on doors for a good dose of person-to-person. Today, we're sharing this photo with the Weekend Reflection Group.

Antique Market Place

The Antique Market Place is a great place to visit if you are looking for somewhere to spend time inside and escape the unusually cold winter we are experiencing in Greensboro. Actually, it is a fun place to shop regardless of the weather! Prior to 2001, the Antique Market Place was located downtown on Elm Street. Now, they are located near the airport and I-40 in a building with over 45,000 square feet of antiques and collectibles. We love to spend time there learning about bygone eras and hunting for antique glass, furniture, old postcards, and things that we don't know we need until we see them! 

 

Grand Prix GSO

Grand Prix Greensboro, located near the airport at 302 Gallimore Dairy Road, is open to the public and is loads of fun. Young and old alike can strap on safety gear and race around the indoor track. Grand Prix Kart Racing makes even a mom and pop like us feel like we are NASCAR material. In the photo above, a red flag has been waived because a driver is stuck. As you can see, the other karts, all wait patiently until the path is clear. The fastest lap during our 8-minute session was 23 seconds. Unfortunately, that was not our time! Karting is a great activity, especially in bad weather. We may just book our next birthday party there! 

Happy New Year 2010 for those of you signing on today. This is post #366 and we'll make every effort to bring you a new photo of Greensboro every day in 2010! We've managed to post every day since we began last January 2nd-- even through power outages, funerals, and vacations! As always, WILL WORK FOR COMMENTS!!!

 

Lee Street Gas Station

As far as we could tell, this little gas station in UNCG's backyard is without a sign to tell us its name. Likely, it is one of those places that has been in Greensboro for decades. Patrons know its name. The two orange chairs to the right of the fire hydrant look like a cozy place to sit and recount your adventures. 

It is hard to believe that year's end is upon us. We hope you've had a good 2009 and that 2010 will be even better. We've gotta run. Time to find photos to close out the year and ring in the new on Greensboro Daily Photo.

 

North Carolina Fraser Fir Trees

With all of the rain, 2009 is a great year for Christmas trees. They are plump, green, and healthy. Here we see two men wrapping a live tree and just about to hoist it on the truck. This was taken at Fred & Dot Wagoner Christmas Trees at the New Garden Location. The Wagoners have been selling Christmas trees in Greensboro since 1969. In an article a few years ago, they discuss the fact that people are buying their trees earlier and that they usually clear their lot by about December 20th. So if you still want a live tree, time is of the essence!

We hope to link this photo to Ruby Tuesday. Red is EASY to find this time of year!

            

Green Bean, Again

We don't usually feature an establishment twice in a year; however, this photo of the Green Bean Coffee Shop just stole our hearts. It was taken on First Friday when downtown was alive with strollers and shoppers. We love the way the walls have been repainted. Everything looks so fresh.

 Today is Saturday, and if you are looking for a place to go for a great coffee or chai latte, the Green Bean on Elm Street is a great option in Greensboro. Usually Ann serves us and she is delightful;  oh can Ms. Ann make a fabulous beverage. Tonight, Physics of Meaning plays at 8 pm so, don't stay home alone when you can get out and listen to good music!

 

Buffalo's Bar and Grill

Buffalo's Bar and Grill opened in the above location on Battleground Avenue in 1990. Now, this former gas station, repurposed as Buffalo's, is once again empty. Buffalo's Bar and Grill, continues to thrive just down the road on Battleground Avenue: Same food, same menu, same pub-like atmosphere. What is missing in the new location, however, is this brushed aluminum façade and the wrap-around windows. This façade has vintage character and is thoroughly photogenic. At night, it reflects light in an eerie spaceship way. Could that be New Mexican tumbleweed rolling across the foreground?  By day, it shines like a battleship in dry dock. Now, we have to wait and hope someone breathes new life into this building.

 In the meantime, see you at at the new location on Monday for 50-cent wing night. Tuesday is all you can eat wings $11.99; however, we're prefer not to binge and go for the bargain price!

 

Another View From Sapp Road

All this week, we are featuring scenes on or near Wendover Avenue, Greensboro's mostly 6-lane east-west expressway. The thoroughfare begins in the east at Burlington Road (US 70) and continues to Eastchester Drive (US 68) in the western end of the county. Here we are just off of Wendover Avenue where rural Sapp Road meets the retail shops of West Wendover and Bridford Parkway. The building in the photo is the Southern end of the Babies R Us Building. 

To appreciate today's Skywatch Friday post, you need to look at yesterday's post and realize that my feet were planted in the same spot when taking both photographs. Yesterday's was (literally and figuratively) a southern view and today's view is pointing north.

 

T is for Trucks & Transportation

For the rest of the week, we will be featuring Wendover Avenue. As important as this highway is to the city, we admit that it has been neglected on our GDP blog! 

In the early 1950's Wendover Avenue didn't exist. Residents of Eastern Greensboro used Bessemer Avenue to come to town. Folks in the western end of the county took sleepy, country roads (like Sapp Road) home. In 1956-1957 construction began and, quickly, Wendover Avenue cut through neighborhoods and corner stores to make way for travel to into town. Suddenly, children at 1st - 12th grade Bessemer School had to cross Wendover to get home. Today, Wendover stretches from one end of the county to the other and is an ocean of retail. Most Greensboro residents don't remember a time when Wendover Avenue wasn't developed.

Today, as your drive away from town on Wendover, Carmax (featured above) starts the several mile stretch of new and used vehicles available for sale. However, Wendover hasn't been completely engulfed by retail, big-box stores. Stop back by Greensboro Daily Photo the rest of the week and you'll see some other faces of West Wendover. We are sharing this photo with the rest of the world via ABC Wednesday; the featured letter is "T." "T" is for "truck" and "transportation."

 

Sno-White Cleaners

For December's City Daily Photo December theme, Waiting, we feature Sno-White Cleaners, located at 511 S. Elam Avenue. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Sno-White Cleaners is a Greensboro institution that has a reputation for being a top-of-the-line dry cleaner. When people mention complicated dry cleaning situations, or needing to clean garments made of costly, fine fabrics, locals quickly comment, "Take it to Sno-White.. it may cost more or be a little bit out of your way, but it's worth WAITING to take your garment there."

According to the Better Business Bureau, the shop opened in February 1959. Thirty four years later, in 1993, Sno-White received a NC OWR Grant to improve its operations and to reduce its emissions into the atmosphere. In the business profile, printed in the grant's final report, it was stated that for the then-newly installed dryers, solvent usage reduction was estimated at 75%. At that time, Lindley Smith was managing the business that had been started by his father, a man who "taught dry cleaning at NC State A & T Univ in Greensboro."

In our world of Greensboro and for the MY WORLD meme, Sno-White (NOT a Disney character) is going strong and, with her touches of red in the window, is also worthy of the Ruby Tuesday meme.
 

Greensboro Country Club Farm Course

After a major redesign and renovation, the Farm Course of the Greensboro Country Club has officially reopened. Here we see golfers out on [re]opening day the other week. The new course is beautiful and said to be amply challenging. Even if you do not belong to GCC, if you are a golfer, Greensboro has plenty of options for golfing-- at all price points!

 

Black Friday

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is much anticipated by retailers. Today marks the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season and the day retailers just may turn a profit for the year. The above photo is a scene from Four Seasons Town Center, our local indoor shopping mall. If you like chain stores, the convenience of parking your car once, and walking free from the elements, this is the place to be! 

We love the Willy-Wonkaesque view of our mall's elevator as it looks like it will magically pass through the glass ceiling and fly out into our Skywatch Friday sky!

 

Ali Vincent-- Biggest Loser

The 2008, fifth-season winner of The Biggest Loser, Ali Vincent, tirelessly greeted fans and signed autographs last night at Barnes and Noble in Friendly Center. Our Barnes and Noble works diligently to bring authors and to host community events. In this case, Ali was selling copies of her book, Believe It, Be It, right and left, and the public had a chance to meet this inspirational person. Ali lost 112 pounds and has managed to keep her weight off. Her book is subtitled, The Biggest Loser Won Me Back My Life.

Our photo doesn't do Alo justice, her dress was really an energetic pink and when she smiled, her beautiful white teeth lit up the room. Still, we were happy to have been part of this event. If we were really journalists (and not just a mom and pop blog), we would ask Ali, a Mormon from Mesa Arizona, if she knows Stephanie Nielson, also a Mormon with ties to Arizona, and if she had the opportunity to meet Greensboro author and fellow Mormon, Orson Scott Card.

Salvation Army Select

On Friday, November 13th, The Salvation Army opened an upscale thrift-shop in the Lake Jeanette neighborhood of Greensboro. Several months in the making, students from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro collaborated with the Salvation Army on the design of the Salvation Army Select Store. One of the students' many artful touches is the trail of red shoes leading shoppers across the length of the strip mall to the entrance. Both man in the background and the one in the reflection on the right are following their wives into the store. The attractive boutique does not have the usual cluttered look of a thrift shop and the goods are name brands, clean, and neatly organized. Weather you are a shopper or looking for a place to donate gently-used clothing (for men, women, and children) do visit this collaborative venture that gives back to the community. To bring more worldwide visibility to this post, we are linking to Ruby Tuesday, in celebration of the "ruby slippers!"

Since 1865, the Salvation Army has been saving souls, one donation at a time.

Lucky 32

Lucky 32 Restaurant has been a Greensboro institution for twenty years. Here we see the painting of downtown Greensboro in the entrance hallway. Every time we sit on the bench just below the glass bricks on the left, we notice some new detail in this painting. Featured prominently is the Jefferson Pilot, now Lincoln Financial, Building. Lucky 32, located at 1421 Westover Terrace, always has an interesting menu, centered around Southern foods.

So Glad We're Here

This is a photo of the Anthropologie clothing store at Friendly center. In case you didn't notice, behind the word "glad," is a map of North Carolina. How nice to have a retailer express something so positive. We're happy to be here too. Let us know what you're up to this weekend. 

We just linked to the Weekend Reflections meme! 

High Point Furniture

If you have ever shopped for furniture in High Point, likely, you have seen this giant chest of drawers at Furnitureland South. It is at least four stories high. As you walk under it, you realize you are in the furniture capital of the world. This 40-year-old company, one of many industry-related venues in the area, represents over 500 companies in over a million square feet of space.

There is another great giant piece of furniture on Hamilton Street. If you ever make it to Greensboro, head a few miles Southwest and and visit this furniture mecca. People who sell and buy furniture here realize the value on the local commitment to the industry. Especially during furniture market weeks, we all put our hearts and energy into this important industry. Even though the sky is a little bleak in this photo, we are posting this on Sky Watch Friday because the blog gets so many visitors from around the world on skywatch days. Thanks for looking!

Airstream Campers in NC

This weekend, we found ourselves at Out-of-Doors Mart photographing AIRSTREAM Campers. Here you see a few of the brushed aluminum beauties against a rainy North Carolina sky and brilliant orange maple leaves. According to their website, Out-of-Doors Mart has been selling and servicing Airstreams for 40 years-- longer than any other dealer in the world! 

Many people who own Airstreams become members of the Wally Bynum Caravan Club. Wally Bynum is the man who developed the prototype for today's Airstream. These campers hold their value well and attract a lot of attention whenever they pull in somewhere. On the road travel with a camper becomes quite an addiction for some. Groups like the Airstream clubs and caravans provide an instant, mobile, social network! For a little history on the Airstream, go here or here.

You can see by the wet ground that we were dodging rainstorms and are sharing this photo with our Watery Wednesday friends! If anyone has a great Airstream story, please share!

Cycling Around Greensboro

Cycling is a growing sport in Greensboro. We are expanding our greenways and are starting to see bicycle lanes around town, especially around UNC Greensboro. Here is a group of cyclists just after advocating for their space on the highways at a meeting regarding widening Horse Pen Creek Road. The cyclists as well as Fox 8 News have been following this process. 

We decided to feature this photo today because, this past weekend, cyclist David Sherman was killed in a hit and run accident. A silver Dodge Durango hit David while he was cycling on North Church Street. The sport is growing so quickly, motorists have got to get used to sharing the road. Cyclists and motorists need to work together to keep the roads safe for all! 

This photo is our contribution to Ruby Tuesday, a meme that celebrates the color red. 

Battleground Tire Inc.

Battleground Tire Inc. has been a full-service auto repair shop, serving Greensboro since 1960. When the business first opened 49 years ago, its location at 3112 Battleground Avenue, at the corner of Pisgah Church Road, seemed a million miles away from down town. 

We offer this photo for Sky Watch Friday as we really like the way the blue and yellow building looks against the cloudy blue sky. The power lines accentuate the linear facade of the building! Finally, the font on the sign, Battleground Tire, is a feast for typographers!

Head Hunter's Salon, Ltd.

Headhunter's Salon, located at 2612 Lawndale Drive has been renovated over the last year or so. Same talented people involved in serving the public and same terrific service. However, Michelle is now the owner and she put a 21st century touch on the decorating and has added original artwork on the premises. Not to fear, Carlton still works there. He just doesn't have to pay the bills anymore! You can barely see him off to the right. We didn't want to violate a customer's privacy so we didn't include them in the picture. We could have spent all day there enjoying the conversations with young and old alike. People tell interesting stories to their stylists!

The artwork is fabulous and the expertise on hair products makes it worth your while to stop, even if you don't need your hair done. We bought a hair straightener and some other products and one person in our party got a great haircut! It felt like we were in the middle of a scene from the "Steel Magnolias" movie with all of the intergenerational chatter and humor.

Madison Park Cafe

The Madison Park Cafe has been serving great French cuisine since 2008-- at least in its present iteration. Proprietors Paul and Joan Shepherd owned The Madison Park on Dolley Madison Road for ten years until it was destroyed by fire. After several ventures in-between, they are back with this fabulous eatery on Westover Terrace. The food is divine and the service attentive without being overbearing. We had frogs' legs and chateaubriand, both cooked to perfection.

On Friday night, the restaurant was full. Paul was walking around attending to details and talking to customers, many of whom he knew on a first-name basis. One couple commented to friends at another table, "We've been sitting here for hours," and another person commented "I love this place." The couple next to us overheard our discussing the selection of Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympic Games and we all started talking. 

We can't help but think of a Julia Child quote when reflecting on all the years the Shepherds have dedicated to cooking fine, fresh food, "Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it." So, if you are looking for a place to eat or to go for coffee and dessert, head on over.

At Grove & Portland, The Beat Goes On

This music venue is located at the corner of Grove and Portland in the Glenwood neighborhood. Glenwood is making a real effort towards gentrification. As you can see, the building is beautifully painted with a snazzy banner of musical notes and instruments framing a plywood window and a bedsheet-curtain. This neighborhood is starting to spark to life on the weekends. Optimistically, wikimapia says about Glenwood, "A historic and very diverse lower-middle class to middle class neighbourhood in the southwest corner of Greensboro. It has seen some tough times in the years, but through local community efforts, the neighbourhood is to be expecting a revitalization. This will be like Greensboro's downtown."  Wikimapia, we sure hope you are right! If you follow that site, you can see a google map of the actual neighborhood-- very 21st century!

Yum Yum Ice Cream-- Since 1907

Yum Yum Ice Cream in its first incarnation was sold from a cart beginning in 1909 in downtown Greensboro. An early Greensboro postcard features the ice cream cart in front of the Courthouse. In the 1920's, the business was moved to a free-standing building at the corner of Forest and Spring Garden Streets. Since the location was at the western limit of the city, the owner called the business West End Ice Cream. Around that time, he introduced the ice cream flavor Yum-Yum, a flavor that is believed to have included grapes, raisins, a grain. At any rate, people began saying, "Let's go get some of that Yum-Yum ice cream."  The name stuck and became the official name for the store.

The shop is actually an ice cream factory with the product made in a back room, the old-fashioned way with vintage 1920's equipment. They have had the same ice-cream maker for 25 years now.  He is very picky about the source of his ingredients as well as quality and consistency. The proof is in the taste of the ice cream. Currently, they feature 18 flavors at $2.00 a scoop. The store is, perhaps, equally famous for its tasty, bright red hot dogs which start at $1.00 for a basic dog and cost $1.60 for one "all the way." Yum Yum is surrounded on all four sides by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Let's hope the university remains a good neighbor and allows this century-old business to continue in this prime location. 

We don't usually do a Tuesday meme; however, today we're posting on Ruby Tuesday! Visit there if red is your color!

Village Tavern

Village Tavern, located at 1903 Westridge Road at Battleground Avenue, is a Greensboro institution. Although there are locations in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, and Colorado, Village Tavern has that small town, one-location feel. You sort of expect Ted Danson and the whole Cheers crew to walk past while you are having dinner, to clap for you when you walk into the bar. They have great specials, affordable fixed-price, multiple-course meals, award winning brunches, great food, and reasonable prices. The above photo shows the happy hustle and bustle of the main dining room, especially cozy on a cold or rainy day. 

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