We did a lot of driving around stopping here and there, with a stop at a Walmart that was all grocery items, which I didn't know existed!
Most of the visits were misses except one but I was able to find another Partridge Family item for Rachel- with two bonuses.
Our last stop in Fayetteville before the stadium was The Shops at 213 Hay Street and I found an assortment of old basketball programs all in a plastic bag for five dollars.
I'm not sure that I would have bought them individually but all for five bucks, well, I couldn't resist.
They included a 1951 program from the University of Chicago, a 1955 program for a game between California and Santa Clara, and media guides from the early seventies from Duquesne and Texas.
There also was a Partridge Family album among a box of albums lying on the floor, and while I look for Partridge albums for Rachel, they are easier to find than single 45s such as I found for her in Mount Airy.
However, when I picked the album up to examine it, a Partridge Christmas card fell out and that clinched the purchase for Rachel's collection but when I placed the card back into the album cover, another item was there, a book cover of David Cassidy.
Now for younger readers (and Cherie did have to explain just what a book cover was and how it was used as Rachel had no idea), a book cover is what was used in school to "cover" textbooks for your use for the school year in order to save some of the wear and tear that textbooks would receive and therefore protect them to be used for many years rather than one or two.
Our afternoon food choice was Smithfield's BBQ in Laurinburg, North Carolina.
Yes, named after the famous ham company located in North Carolina, Smithfield's has forty locations, most in North Carolina with a few in South Carolina, and I had stopped at one when I went to Jacksonville with Ryan in 2022.
I like the vinegar-based sauce that Smithfield uses and the cashier was very helpful with their various sauces she even said "I can tell you all aren't from around here from the way you talk!"
The sauce was used on both my sandwich of pulled chicken and cole slaw and if you see a Smithfield's, give them a try.
I've heard for years about the struggles of Fayetteville and their city from multiple persons and minor league baseball had been there before with the South Atlantic League's Fayetteville Generals and the renamed Cape Fear Crocs from 1987-2000.
The franchise wasn't one of the stronger teams as far as attendance and they were purchased and moved to New Jersey as the Lakewood Blue Claws but the decision was made for (ahem) a downtown ballpark that will help revitalize... You know the rest.
The Woodpeckers were created in 2019 playing in the Carolina League for the previous two seasons as the Buies Creek Astros while Segra Field was being built.
After the canceled Covid season of 2020 and MLB taking over the minors, the Woodpeckers were moved to the SAL for 2021 and Segra Field once again completed North Carolina for seeing every affiliated stadium for my list.
The good news for Fayetteville is that they have built a very nice stadium and one that I preferred on a facility basis over Kannapolis, which I had visited the night before.
The sightlines are terrific, the concourse is very wide, and the team shop is large, filled with various items, I liked it better than Kannapolis, which had a far smaller shop with limited offerings compared to the Woodpeckers.
The employees were incredibly helpful at various points inside the park and should there have been a need, security was available yet not obtrusive either.
The crowd was very small, even for a Wednesday, and I wonder if the Woodpecker's attendance isn't hasn't reached its peak already.
I wish I could say the same for outside the park.
I've never been to a city its size ( 208,000) with the number of let's say undesirables around the city and the ballpark and once you move a block from the ballpark, it gets even worse.
The parking is distant from the stadium and honestly, I wasn't thrilled leaving it where it was parked.
A large building that seemed to be part of the renewal project looked mostly vacant to me (this could be due to the time and that I only saw the building from one view) and other than a small roundabout near our parking area, I didn't see anything else that was developing.
What appears to be a cautionary tale for Hagerstown for their new stadium opening next year is the results in Fayetteville from admittedly a one-day sample, and one that would be interesting to keep an eye on in the future.
The drive home would see lots of late-night traffic on the always wonderful I-95 due to construction and end the baseball road trip season with a whimper but despite its small size, I enjoyed my trips as always.
Next year is already in the planning with trips to New England to Portland, Maine, and Manchester New Hampshire and Tennessee to visit our friend Corey White for the Tennessee Smokies' final season in Sevierville before their return to their former home (with a new stadium) in Knoxville.
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