shopping
Go Antiquing Downtown!
One person’s attic is another person’s treasure. You never know what you will find or what special piece will have you reminiscing about your family until you join the treasure hunt downtown in a full-fledged antique search for one-of-a-kind collectables. All are in walking distance of one another, but you may want to drive a large truck or SUV to pack up your new dear to your heart riches at the end of the day. Tea sets, quilts, vintage clothing and jewelry and furniture are a few of the items that you can find on your trek through the district and here is where to find them:
- The Antique and Gift Mall is located at 123 Hay Street and is a good stop for furniture and decorative items for your home. Also, those hard to find lamps and lampshades are easy to find here as well as an excellent assortment of ornaments and figurines.
- J&D Antiques at 242 Hay Street has a wide selection of furniture and other collectables. Make sure to look in the jewelry cases for exceptional custom jewelry and pay attention to the shelves on the wall for various patterned dishes.
- Yankee Antiques and Reproductions is tucked away on Burgess Street, just behind J&D Antiques. This warm and inviting store features beautiful furniture and knick knacks as well as homemade candles and soaps.
- The Cotton Exchange at 226 Donaldson Street is somewhere you can spend an entire afternoon. There is something in every nook and cranny in this 7000 square foot antiques mall with more than 20 vendors sharing their unique collections and wares and on 4th Fridays, there are free rides around downtown on the Cotton Exchange Express so do not miss the train!
- The Livery, another collection of independent vendors set up like the Cotton Exchange, is located at 147 Maxwell Street and has a fantastic selection of art work, furniture, quilts and much more. Inventory is constantly changing so check back often to see the new pieces offered.
After you have finished your antiquing adventure, share a lunch at McDuff’s Tea Room and Emporium at 114 Gillespie Street. With tea served in old-fashioned cups, old fashioned recipes and a showroom with tea sets to purchase, this is the perfect locale to finish the day. And, of course, that is not your cup of tea; there are a variety of restaurants and other shops around to suit any interest. This is Downtown Fayetteville, after all!
Spring Lake, Fayetteville’s neighbor to the north
At Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau we represent all the 10 communities that encompass Cumberland County. Lots and lots is written about Fayetteville - so I’d like to dedicate my next few blogs to writing a little bit about the other nine municipalities.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to tour Spring Lake with the volunteer staff at the Fayetteville Area CVB. We toured several beautiful churches, went to the site of the Sandhills Farmers Market, saw the Anderson Creek development and golf course - and even saw Spring Lake itself. (Which I shamefully admit, I didn’t know existed!)
One of the churches we visited, Bethel AME Zion Church, was first started in 1873 as a mission called Little Ark. Jack Murchison built a Bush Shelter to preach to the neighboring plantations. A few years later, a Presbyterian minister preached at Little Ark and established it as a Presbyterian church. Subsequently, a Methodist minister from Fayetteville arrived and converted them to Methodism, which later became a part of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church movement.
We visited several other churches including Spring Lake Memorial Missionary Baptist Church, and Williams Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, which was founded in 1903. All the sanctuaries were beautiful; and I was impressed by the passion of the folks who gave us the tour of their churches.
Near the Bethel AME Zion Church is the site of the Sandhills Farmers Market. As Sandhills Family Heritage Association President Ammie Jenkins says “There’s more to the Sandhills Farmers Market than just vegetables.” Special events and workshops are held throughout the summer. The market is open every Saturday from June to September.
If golf is your thing, Anderson Creek Golf Course is said to be one of the best in the state. The course, the first in NC designed by Davis Love II was named the top new course in North Carolina in 2001.
The Clay Target Center is one of the largest skeet and trap shooting facilities in the country. Managed by Fort Bragg MWR, and located in Spring Lake, the Clay Target Center is open to both the military and civilian population. The Clay Target Center hosts a number of regional and national events each year.
On my tour, I also learned that Spring Lake and Fort Bragg have one of the largest populations of the Red-cockaded Woodpecker in the country. This is the only bird that creates its own nest inside the middle of a living tree - and the longleaf pines are a perfect home for these endangered birds.
Spring Lake also has six hotels; lots of places to shop, tons of restaurants and a number of special events throughout the year.
Since I’m sure I haven’t covered everything about Spring Lake, I gathered some links where you can learn more:
Plank Roads & other historical tidbits
Sandhills Family Heritage Association