There are some weekends when you feel like getting away from the area but just for a short day trip. Greensboro is definitely a great option. It’s between 1-1:30 hours from the Triangle and has a bunch of things to do. I will focus on our typical trip with the kids: The Science Museum and the incredible Hillbilly Hideaway restaurant.
The Science Museum
Greensboro’s science museum is a very cool place. It offers both indoor and outdoor experiences, so if you catch a rainy or hot day, there is a solution to make sure you do not waste the drive all the way up there for nothing.
The indoor part is divided into the aquarium, a dinosaur exhibit, and a play area. Each one is fun and interactive. The Aquarium has a section where you can pet stingrays, watch lionfish from inside their tank, see sharks from a close distance, and don’t forget the penguins (Nili’s favorite animal!)
The Dinosaurs part is also very interactive with very cool audio-video/ 3D displays, big dinosaur figures in scary positions, and a visual display that puts you in the center of an area where the dinos keep walking around you (the kids love that!)
The play area is mostly for younger kids. They can navigate a ship, a submarine and play the drums. They also have a closed section for babies.
Before going outside I will mention that they have a nice cafeteria with a nice selection of food for both adults and kids. However, if you are hungry and want the good stuff, I highly recommend skipping to the next section of this blog (Hillbilly Hideaway restaurant).
The Outdoor part has a bunch of animal displays- from monkeys to a hippo and huge turtles. It also includes a walk through their veterinary clinics, a ropes course, and a treehouse for the kids to play in. We came over in July and it was pretty hot and humid so we ran through this part of the museum pretty quickly, but the kids really enjoyed it.
Then we got hungry so decided to wrapp it up and go for lunch.
Hillbilly Hideaway Restaurant
Our story with this place begins a couple of years ago. It was on our way back from a vacation in Asheville. Our friend who came to visit from the Bay Area told us about this place and asked to stop and eat there. Apparently, one of her friends who used to live in that area told her that she should not miss this place if she is in the area. So we did.
Hillbilly Hideaway is pretty off route if you’re just going to Greensboro. It’s actually about a 25-minute drive from there. Out in the middle of nowhere, you stop in front of a large cabin. From the outside, it seems just like any other house in the area, but the second you walk in it feels like you have sunk into this time machine and gone back a few decades. The place is family-owned through and through. The walls are decorated with pretty much anything they could put their hands on like traffic lights, old pictures, and even a half swinging horse toy.
There is no menu. All they ask you is how many people and the age of the kids (Kids under the age of 3 do not pay)? Then, they just bring everything to the table- the entire meal. You have fried chicken, meatloaf, coleslaw, biscuit, cornbread, cream corn, apple sauce, mash potatoes (and gravy), cooked beans, and sauteed green beans. That’s all. But you can always ask for more if you want to. And it’s all very very good! We just devoured everything and then asked for seconds.
After that, the waitress came over with a cart full of their delicious cakes. We took all of the options they had (6) to share and enjoyed every bite!
All in all, that’s our go-to place when we are in the area, definitely worth the trip and experience.