Guilford College in Greensboros NC: Places in Walking Distance Near Guilford's Campus

Being away at school and not having a car can be a bummer. Since Guilford College isn't located in the midst of a big city, it can be even harder. But there are actually a good number of local businesses within walking distance.

1) Harris Teeter: for anyone who's not familiar with Harris Teeter, it's the local grocery store. From Guilford, it's about a 5-10 minute walk. If you're standing on campus facing Friendly Avenue, you'll want to cross College Road, which is perpendicular to Friendly, then cross Friendly. Harris Teeter will be diagonally to your right.

2) CVS: The CVS by campus is open 24 hours, and is near the Harris Teeter. Your best bet is to walk like you're going to Teeter, then take the little road to the left of Teeter straight back and CVS will show up on your left.

3) Quizno's: Quizno's is a sub restaurant that specializes in toasted subs (and did way before Subway ever got the idea). If you walk like you're going to CVS (above) it will be in the same lot as CVS, so you'll take a left but Quizno's will be on your right.

4) Friendly Hills Apartments: For car-less off campus living, Friendly Hills is great because it's cheap and close to campus. It's also prettily wooded. So whether you have friends there or you want to live there or you just want to check it out, you can get there by following the road that goes past Harris Teeter (mentioned above) and go straight instead of bearing left.

5) Wachovia: Most Guilford students bank with Wachovia, which is conveniently located across from Guilford. If you stand on the corner of campus that faces the Friendly/College intersection, you should be able to see Wachovia at the corner of Friendly and College (on the right).

6) Yoga Cafe: The Yoga Cafe is a yoga studio--but don't be confused by the name, they don't also serve food. They do have a tea bar, however, and a nice room with tables if you ever need a quiet place to sit and study. They have a student night, where you can get into a flow class for 5 bucks. Otherwise, the student rate is $9 per class. They also have massage therapy, tai chi, and a detoxifying footbath called the Ion Cleanse. If you're facing Friendly from campus, cross the street and look for Milner drive, a small road perpendicular to Friendly. Yoga Cafe is a small, brightly colored building and will be shortly ahead on your left.

6) Amigo's: Amigo's is a yummy Mexican restaurant with great margaritas. They're open from 11am to 10pm every day. To walk there, walk like you're going to Yoga Cafe (directions above), but keep walking straight once you've passed it. Eventually, you'll end up in a big parking lot that is bordered by a bunch of businesses; Amigo's will be straight in front of you.

7) Tara Thai: If you prefer Thai food to Mexican, try Tara Thai. The food is delicious, the inside is calm, quiet, and nicely decorated, and they have great lunch specials. Tara Thai is located close to Amigo's; it's actually just around the corner. When you reach the main parking lot where Amigo's is located, follow the parking lot around to your left and you'll reach Tara Thai.

8) A & S Natural Health: If you're a health food nut, this little store located to the right of Tara Thai is worth checking out. It's not big enough to be a grocery store, but it has a variety of different healthy, all-natural foods and supplements.

9) Jam's Deli: Jam's is across Friendly, you can see it from the road. They have good food that's cheap, and quick, friendly service.

10) Elizabeth's: Elizabeth's is an Italian restaraunt located in Quaker Village, which is a set of stores directly across from campus. Just cross Friendly and on the other side of Milner (the small side street Yoga Cafe is on) you'll find Quaker Village. From there, Elizabeth's should be pretty easy to find; it faces forward (Friendly) and is fairly centrally located in the shopping center.

11) Starbucks: If you're a coffe person, I would recommend trying the Greenleaf, the coffee cooperative on Guilford's campus located in the basement of Mary Hobbs. But if you gotta have your Starbucks, you can find it at Quaker Village. It's to the right of Elizabeth's and easy enough to find.

12) Scoops: Scoops is a small ice cream and smoothie place in Quaker Village. It's to the left of Elizabeth's in a strip of stores that are perpendicular to Friendly Avenue. There are only a few tables, but there are places to sit outside all around Quaker Village. Their smoothies are expensive but good, and they often have coupons for them. You can get one add-in for free per smoothie, and the add-ins include bee pollen, soy lecithin, and protein (and I think one more that I'm forgetting).

13) BB's: BB's is an independent music store that sells new and used CDs, DVDs, and a few other stuff. They have listening stations where you can listen to whatever you're interested in. It's a small store, but they've got a lot of different stuff. They're also found in Quaker Village; there's a sidewalk to the left of Elizabetheth's that leads back to BB's and a few other stores.

14) Breakers: Breakers is a bar/pool hall in Quaker Village, back the sidewalk path on the left (before BB's). I think you either need to be a member or be with a member to get in, but membership isn't that expensive. And Breakers is the closest bar within walking distance of campus, so it's worth it. It's also, as I mentioned. a pool hall, so even if you can't get a drink, you can play pool and listen to jukebox music, and it's open late.

15) Friendly Urgent Care: Hopefully you won't need it, but Friendly Urgent Care is an emergency (and non-emergency) health facility where you can see a doctor for illnesses, injuries, and vaccinations (they have the new cervical cancer vaccination there). After crossing Friendly, take a left. You'll eventually come across it.

16) New Garden Friends Meeting: If you're interested in attending Quaker Meeting, NGFM is a great place. It's a fairly small, very liberal, open minded, welcoming community of people. Even if you're not a Quaker and you're just interested, it's a great place to go to check it all out. They also have a free meditation group that meets every Monday night at 8pm, and various other activities. If you take the exit nearest the library on campus, you can cross over College Road and you'll be right there.

So that's just a sampling of places that are very close to campus. There's also a Blockbuster within walking distance, but that is generally a one and half to two hour trip, there and back. And there's an off campus library that you can supposedly get to from the Guilford Woods, but I've never gotten there that way so you'd have to ask someone who's been for directions. But just explore, and look around. You'll find other stuff within walking distance that's worth checking out.