Every small to medium-sized town in America seems to be touted as a "mean town" with its burgeoning food scene, and Greensboro is no exception. Like many cities of its size, you will experience this long weekend with great food, great people, good music, a great city and great beers and wines.

If you prefer to enjoy the sun on the lake, there are many great hiking and cycling trails in the watershed, as well as a great golf course. But even if the bike lanes are clogged with visitors, Greensboro still offers great destinations to do the same.

Greensboro has a beautiful historic downtown and many of its gems, but it is not the first midsize city in the South to offer this kind of amenities - an escape to a small place full of life.

The centrepiece is the old lunch break, which, with the exception of a few stools supplied to the Smithsonian plant, still stands. The counter is still there, but Woolworth's, which housed it, is now home to the North Carolina Museum of Natural History and the Greensboro Historical Society.

The museum is not an uncomfortably designed space, where you are guided by poets and other artists who explain in haunting language how the United States has treated people of color. It's not even about art so much as education, with deliberately cramped spaces designed to simulate the only coloured areas.

The path goes around the lake, where the water peeps out of the trees as it winds through its gentle altitude gain. Even if you are not normally an active holiday-maker, you can get lost in the majestic magnolias and pines during a morning walk, accompanied by nothing but the sound of birds and the splashing of water.

I had some of the best falafel I've tasted in Israel at this family-run, fast-paced, casual eatery in Charlotte. I felt stuck in a suburban hotel when the gourmet flatbreads and tuna tartare led me to bacon - meatloaf.

Greensboro is also home to the Woolworth's Lunch Counter, where four black students began serving the lunch counter in the 1960s. Sticks and Stones serves perhaps the best pizza in the state, and everything is tossed over the ceiling and covered with wood - fried chiles. You'll find these Mediterranean-inspired tacos stuffed with Pulled Pork and Macs - and cheese - at this fast-casual restaurant in downtown Greensboro.

The so-called "blue denim" restaurant in downtown Greensboro is the culinary star of the city, serving everything from oysters to young oysters in half - and everything in between. The Greenville Inn & Suites, the most unique and modern hotel in the city, features an on-site restaurant, bar and spa.

At the local level, the Welfare Reform Project (WFLP), which provides training for workers and employment services, recently launched a new program to connect more residents to the city's growing green economy. There are also Greensboro Public Schools and Greenville Community College District, which together employ more than 6,000 people and educate more than 47,000 students a year.

Indeed, only last year, the city received a federal grant that allowed it to tackle a challenge that offers cash rewards to groups and individuals who develop the best plans to promote economic growth. The city has a vibrant downtown area, known for its restaurants, shops, restaurants and retail, as well as a thriving arts and cultural scene. For example, a $1 million grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) supports community members who are working to create and grow sustainable businesses.

Surrounded by downtown, the Appalachian Trail is the perfect way to explore the country's location. Although it is not a destination for hard outdoor fans, hiking is easy here and the trails, though not as steep as in other parts of North Carolina, are easy.

Elm Street features the old brick facades in nostalgic black-and-white photos, as well as the buildings that now house the North Carolina Museum of Natural History, the Greensboro Public Library and other historic buildings. The city has stuck with it because it continues to learn from each other's mistakes and offers visitors more every year. This is what it has done with the opening of the Greenville Arts Center, which will have its headquarters next year with a performing arts center, a museum, an amphitheater and a theater.

We walked down Elm Street, stopped at 1618, a bistro and wine bar, and sat down at the bar. We started chatting to the bearded bartender while we waited for our chorizo rice bowl and truffle fries.

His name is Max Barwick and he is the sort who sees you when you look at the menu, asks what you like and then the bartender makes you a complete one. He humbly told us that he'd won the New Orleans Cocktail Classique for a drink called Bitter Party One. We asked him about the price, but he returned with a mezcal - jalapeno - lime concoction, which we tasted as if he had read our thoughts. It is a boutique property that looks like an old converted bank and is located in what the bank now calls its home.