Greensboro, 66
Greensboro, NC
Nobody’s waiting for a travel company to weigh in on current events. But at the same time, it feels frivolous to do what we normally do, and send you off on a weekend escape that’s purely escapist.
We won’t really editorialize about what’s happening in the world now, but the news is unavoidably going to influence what we plan and the kinds of experiences we’re thinking about.
So for our next Overnight, we’re doing something different and honestly a little impromptu. We’re headed to Greensboro, North Carolina, on the 66th anniversary of the historic Woolworth sit-ins, to explore a place where peaceful, fearless protest changed the world.
As always, your stay, meal and local experience are all bookable in one click.
Sat. Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2026
This overnight no longer has availability.
All proceeds from this Overnight will go to Greensboro’s International Civil Rights Center & Museum and the local businesses mentioned in this story.
Why here?
The sit-ins of Greensboro in 1960 are not the perfect comparison for events of today. Or even a good one maybe.
The injustices of then and now are different things; the fights, the objectives and the people affected are specific and nuanced. And we’re absolutely not qualified historians of protest movements or anything else.
Read on or
But it seems like an especially good time to revisit the incredible demonstration of courage and conscience, made 66 years go, by David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, and Joseph McNeil, four Black students at North Carolina A&T University.
They defied injustice in the most literal sense. They took up residence at a segregated Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, and simply refused to move until things changed.
”They’ll soon give up, leave, and be forgotten,” said a store supervisor at the time.
They did not, would not, and won’t be.
The Greensboro Four, and the outpouring of other women and men who bravely installed themselves at places of segregation in their own towns, engaged in a valiant and radical kind of citizenship. We all hope we can find it in ourselves when the times call for it.
So go to Greensboro. Stay in the Magnolia House, which once lodged James Baldwin and Jackie Robinson when other hotels wouldn’t. Experience the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, and see the modest length of lunch counter that hosted a peaceful revolution 66 years ago.
This weekend in Greensboro, discover…
The stay.
The Historic Magnolia House
The Magnolia House is a 5,000-square-foot Victorian that served Green Book motel during Jim Crow days (meaning it welcomed Black travelers) and the hotel describes itself best:
”The Historic Magnolia House in Greensboro was a popular destination for African American travelers who were not allowed to share the same accommodations as Caucasians…many African Americans of renown stayed here, including James Brown, Ray Charles, Ruth Brown, Ike and Tina Turner, Joe Tex, Carter G. Woodson, and Jackie Robinson."
As the National Trust for Historic Places puts it:
”Of the more than 250 Green Book sites, the Magnolia House is one of very few that continue to operate within their historic context. Embedded within its walls are memories of James Brown playing in the street with neighborhood children, Joe Tex signing autographs on the front porch… James Baldwin, Sam Cooke, Jackie Robinson, and more.”
You’ll be in the Baldwin Room. You can read more about the Green Book here.
You’ve got reservations for two on Saturday night.
The day.
Woolworth Building + International Civil Rights Center & Museum
The museum, which now occupies the site of the historic Woolworth and lunch counter, serves as a far-ranging exploration of the Civil Rights movement and is dedicated to advancing human rights around the globe.
The Greensboro sit-ins “renewed the Civil Rights Movement as a whole, challenging the Americans to make good on promises of personal equality and civic inclusion enunciated in the Constitution,” says the museum, which commemorates “visionary advocacy of full citizenship and social justice.”
The original Woolworth lunch counter and stools from 1960 are on display here.
Guided tour for two, Saturday at 2pm
The find.
Scuppernong Books
A fiercely independent Greensboro bookstore that’s refreshingly iconoclastic, and curates a great shelf.
“What we stand for,” says the store, “has been obvious: freedom to read, opposition to censorship, support for marginalized individuals and communities, and a commitment to a respectful kindness that recognizes that no human is more worthy of decency and respect than any other.”
There’s an in-store cafe, they host a slew of literary events, and they have their own small press too.
We’re including a $25 credit to put toward any purchase here.
The food.
Brunch at The Magnoila House
We usually drop in a pre-paid dinner in this spot, but here we’re going brunch. The weekly Sunday brunch at your hotel is remarkable, sophisticated and soul-food inspired.
Drop in at 10am for a pimento cheese crostini, the Jackie Robinson-inspired fish and grits (‘Catch 42’) or something else very good.
Pre-paid, just arrive.
The tucked away.
David Richmond, Frank McCain, Ezell Blair, and Joseph McNeil
’February One’
’February One’ is a sculpture to see. And you can see it this Sunday, Feb. 1, on the historic date it’s named for (marking the first day of the Woolworth sit-in in 1960).
There are four sculptures actually, in bronze, by NC Native James Barnhill, and they honor the A&T students who started it all.
It’s beautiful and affecting, with a real gravity to it.
.
The evening mood.
North Carolina A&T, Campus at Dusk
North Carolina A&T University is the largest HBCU in the country, and it has a long history of student activism.
The Greensboro sit-ins were conceived right here, by Ezell Blair (later known as Jibreel Khazan) and Joseph McNeil, two freshmen in a dorm room. The original residence building — Scott Hall — is no longer standing, but there’s a replica of the room in the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.
A&T’s campus was later occupied by the National Guard during demonstrations in 1969. One student was killed, and the Guard later opened fire on the same Scott Hall that had housed Blair and McNeill.
A section of the building’s wall, bullet holes and all, is preserved by a reflecting pool on the site of the old dormitory.
One-night stay for two at The Historic Magnolia House on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. The Baldwin Room.
Two tickets for a guided group tour of the historic Woolworth lunch counter and the rest of the exhibits at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.
Sunday brunch at your hotel.
A $25 credit at Scuppernong Books.
Book it all in a click.
This overnight no longer has availability.
All proceeds from this Overnight will go to Greensboro’s International Civil Rights Center & Museum along with the local businesses mentioned in this story,
See here for a full list of photo credits for this story.