Jami McLaughlin (jmclaughlin)
Posts by Jami McLaughlin (jmclaughlin):
Discover History Downtown
Did you know that the #1 most visited attraction in the area is located downtown? The Airborne and Special Operations Museum is a 59,000 square-foot museum featuring three theatres including a motion simulator and a 5,000 square-foot, five-story high open lobby area. Exhibits explore airborne and special operations history with colorful and impressive displays. Admission to the museum is free although donations are accepted. The museum is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Along with the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, we have five other museums in the district including Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry Armory and Museum, Fascinate-U Children’s Museum, the Fayetteville Area Transportation Museum, the Firefighters’ Museum and the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex, which includes the museum galleries, Arsenal Park and the 1897 Poe House. All have lower priced admissions, if not free, and offer a wealth of knowledge for you and your family. Take a day to spend in one of these grand halls of artifacts, photographs and displays and learn about where you live and the people who live around you.
Find Your Creative Outlet in Downtown Fayetteville
It’s cold outside! With temperatures dropping like they have been lately, it’s time to raise the heat in the house with a new hobby to set ablaze your passion for creativity and downtown is the place to get started. We have such an array of creative outlets that you would be hard pressed not to find something that did not peak your interest from jewelry making and quilting to cupcake decorating and painting, there is something for everyone.
For all of our jewelry makers, Strung out on Beads (101 Hay Street) offers classes on making necklaces, earrings and the like and carries a wide selection of beads and clasps. The store, Beads and Botanicals (112 Anderson Street), also has sells beads that can be worked into your handmade piece of jewelry. Their selection is handblown and created by the artists/owners in-house.
Right next store to Beads and Botanicals, is Quilt n Tiques (122 Anderson Street), which for all of the quilters out there know is one of the best stores to find that perfect piece of fabric or the instrument to finish your masterpiece.
At Greg’s (122 Maxwell Street), painting pottery is the name of the game and you can pick one of your favorite dishes to personalize with every color imaginable. Also, at Greg’s are four-week adult pottery classes where you can learn to throw pottery with a professional instructor. As for what to put on the dish or in your new pottery, try having your child’s birthday party at The Cupcake Gallery (107 Person Street). Not only will your child and all of their guests get to eat fun cupcakes, but they will get to decorate them beforehand!
What about getting into a new book? Try one of the two book clubs that meet at The City Center Gallery and Books (112 Hay Street). Men and women met every 2nd Tuesday at 10 a.m. and a group of young women meet every 4th Thursday at 7 p.m. And, of course, if you have a penchant for art, we have several artists and galleries downtown that can help you find your niche including Cape Fear Studios, Greg’s and the Arts Council of Fayetteville.
There are new experiences waiting to be had or old ones that need to be rediscovered while looking at the creative clusters in downtown so after you have cleaned your house top to bottom twice, bundle up, venture out and explore!
Keeping Fit in Downtown Fayetteville
One of the top New Year’s resolutions that everyone makes is to lose weight and get healthier. Now that we are into February, how many have made it? Have you shirked the gym and started ordering dessert again? Downtown has many places to help keep you fit and have fun while doing it.
Located at 436 West Russell Street, the Climbing Place is North Carolina’s largest indoor rock climbing center with 40,000 climbing holds, 60 top ropes, a 300 foot gym traverse and a retail store for climbing and backpacking needs. If you have never climbed before, they offer indoor and outdoor climbing instruction to help you work towards your goal of getting to the top. Your workout will have you breaking a sweat while learning to climb up and repel down the rock walls.
How about a little exercise that leads to competition? The All-American Fencing Academy at 207 B Donaldson Street provides the only Olympic fencing instruction in the Fayetteville and Fort Bragg area and its students compete regionally and nationally. It instructs and trains recreational and competitive fencers from ages 7 to adult and new beginner classes start on the first week of each month.
If a more soothing workout is what you are looking for in order to get in shape, try Om Yoga Studio at 232 Hay Street or the new Embrace Yoga Studio at 145 Franklin Street. Whether you need to improve flexibility, tone your muscles or lessen stress in your life, both yoga studios practice hatha yoga techiques and offer classes from the beginner to the advanced levels.
If you require a more traditional workout; however, need a personal trainer, The Fitness Studio at 501 West Russell Street might be for you. The fitness coaches at The Fitness Center design your individual workout plan to include nutrition counseling and fitness monitoring as well as training and conditioning. Sessions are one-on-one and last an hour.
If you’d like a little kick, then try the Elite Training Center at 129 Hay Street, which uses martial arts as a method towards physical fitness. A premier training facility, classes include Ninjutsu, A.C.T. (Women’s Self-Defense), cardio kickboxing and more. The Elite Training Center also offers the popular CrossFit Method, which is a strength and conditional movement focusing on functional moments and core strength.
And, of course, we also have many walking trails in the district such as through Linear Park. Watch for the occasional 5K race or walk for a cause that occurs through the district from time to time. You can help support your favorite charity while also maintaining your New Year’s resolution to get fit and stay that way. If have found you have run out of steam, don’t give up, you can try something new downtown!
Celebrate the New Year downtown!
Atlanta has their peach, Raleigh has an acorn and now we can watch as our beloved Fayetteville Dogwood helps us bring in the New Year. A new tradition that will hopefully continue for years to come, this is yet another reason that Fayetteville has it all!
Make your plans now to celebrate the New Year in Downtown Fayetteville with the new “Party in the Park,” brought to you by the folks behind our award winning Dogwood Festival. This festive event will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Festival Park and will feature bands such as Hot Sauce and Nantucket, which are definite crowd pleasers. Other activities include a wing and chili cook-off, a live feed from Times Square on large screens and even an early countdown event for children. A fireworks display will accompany our long awaited Dogwood Drop! Admission to this event is free.
For more information, please visit www.faydogwoodfestival.com.