You've come a long way, baby!

Every time I would get new issue of the AAA travel magazine, we would talk about the possibility of a trip to the Airborne and Special Forces Museum in Fayetteville, NC. It was on that list of things that you want to do but somehow never get around to doing. Then, we did!

We made plans for a road trip over the Memorial Day holiday to finally get down there. Fayetteville had always gotten a bad rap. Pawn shops, used car lots and bad tattoos were the things that most people associated with the town. Asking a friend who is from that area for recommendations, I was hearing that we could find lots of other things too! I did a little extra research first because I knew that we would have to eat! We were ready to go!

 

First things first! The museum is definitely worth the trip! There was so much to see! The displays were engaging and the stories were fascinating. The soldiers were so life-like that sometimes you felt like they were sneaking up on you!

As you wind around through the facility, it is easy to lose yourself in the times and events of the last seventy years of military history. There was also a simulator that took you along with the troops. Riding motorcycles, flying through the air, bouncing around in the desert, and skiing through mountains, it was quite a ride!

After the museum, we decided to see more of what Fayetteville had to offer. There has been a major renovation effort going on in the downtown area and you could tell! We made our way down there to check it out! There were new stores, bakeries, and a wonderful coffeehouse.

The Rude Awakening Coffee House was a wonderful discovery! Mike and I both found it to be a funky little hangout and the hidden courtyard in the back was particularly cool. And what to order? Everything looked so good! I chose the Mexican spiced cocoa and it was delicious!

From there, we made our way to dinner! My friend had recommended Chris's Steakhouse and we were ready to check it out! Described as a "good old American" steakhouse, we were treated to a very traditional and very satisfying steakhouse dinner!

Reasonably priced and offering excellent cuts of beef, Chris's Steakhouse took me back to an old-style Saturday night steak dinner.

It was the kind of place that was nice enough for a special occasion but comfortable enough that most of the patrons appeared to be regulars. The service was outstanding and helped make this a very enjoyable dining experience.

After dinner, we went back to downtown for another visit. Our timing on these trips seems to be especially good because it was our very good fortune that all the gallery openings were going on that night. We spent some time walking around enjoying the art offerings and getting in some excellent people watching! We went to Fayetteville for the day and we liked it!