5 Greensboro, North Carolina Faves, With Author Jennine Capó Crucet

Jennine Capó Crucet is an author intrinsically connected to Miami, mostly because of her lauded debut book How to Leave Hialeah. But over the course of various novels, she's received awards and notices ranging from the International Latino Book Award to being named a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice for Make Your Home Among Strangers, which have helped her career branch out considerably.

Also, she now lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, so that probably helps a bit.

Now, her fourth book, Say Hello to My Little Friend, is about to be released by Simon & Schuster in bookstores. Described as Sacrifice meets Moby Dick, it won’t help Crucet beat the Miami-loving allegations (since it’s set there), but it does widen the scope of the types of novels the already incredibly talented and feted author has received.

In advance of the release, and a national book tour that will take her from Florida to New York, Texas, and then back to North Carolina, we checked in with Crucet about some of her favorite places to visit in her current hometown of Greensboro.

Headed to Greensboro, perhaps to see Crucet at her tour-capping event at the Greensboro Bound Lit Festival on May 18? Here are five places you definitely want to visit while there.

Say Hello to My Little Friend hits bookstores everywhere on March 5, 2024.

1. Enjoy breakfast or lunch at the French-inspired Chez Genèse

“It’s sort of a running joke around town that no one knows exactly how to pronounce the name of this place. Don’t worry about that, just go and order the breakfast pizza no matter what time you are eating there.”

Find Out More: https://www.chezgenese.com/

2. Take a stroll through the Greensboro Arboretum

“This place is gorgeous and transformative because of all its trees and flowers, but it also boasts some of Greensboro’s best dog sightings. It’s in my neighborhood, and it’s totally free to enter, so I get to spend my writing breaks wandering around the gardens and telling every dog I encounter that I love them.”

Find Out More: https://greensborobeautiful.org/gardens/arboretum/

3. Spend an afternoon exploring the random treasures at Reconsidered Goods

“This store, which is technically a nonprofit geared toward creative reuse (read: keeping stuff out of landfills) has everything — from bins of vinyl records to bins of creepy doll parts. You can buy leather by the pound!”

Find Out More: https://www.reconsideredgoods.org/

4. Go to a Greensboro Grasshoppers game

“This minor league baseball franchise has not one but TWO mascots: Guilford the Grasshopper and Guilly the Pirate Grasshopper (he’s like, Guilford’s nautical cousin or something). At some point in each game a very smart and well-trained dog replaces the human assigned to retrieving the bat. Minor league baseball is the best!”

Find Out More: https://www.milb.com/greensboro

5. Eat an incredible dinner at Machete

“This restaurant is where my family and I have celebrated everything from surviving another school year to my book contract. The food, the cocktails, and the ambience are all elegant without an ounce of snobbery, and the hospitality of their incredible staff is a legit part of what’s made Greensboro really feel like home.”

Find Out More: https://machetegso.com/