Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/109301
Best Place to Commune With Nature Cape Fear Botanical Garden Best Local Festival Dogwood Festival 536 N. Eastern Blvd., Fayetteville 910.486.0221 www.capefearbg.org Liberty Point Building 145 Person St., Fayetteville 910.323.1934 www.faydogwoodfestival.com The Cape Fear Botanical Garden is to Fayetteville-Cumberland County what Central Park is to New Yorkers. It is a quiet oasis for city dwellers to stop and take a breath, take in the beauty of ancient stands of trees, listen to the running of the Cape Fear River as it rushes by and enjoy the beauty of a unique collection of beautiful flowers and plants. Granted, unlike our New York City brothers and sisters, most of us have yards with greenery that we can enjoy. But it���s just not the same. It���s nice to take a step away and just commune with nature. And that���s something the Cape Fear Botanical Garden continues to offer our community. It���s a little off the beaten path ��� just off I-95 ��� but that���s part of its beauty. It takes you by surprise. So it���s no surprise that our readers have again voted the Cape Fear Botanical Garden as Fayetteville���s Best Place to Commune With Nature. If you���ve never taken the time to visit, here���s what you are missing: miles of walking trails, a variety of beautiful themed gardens and plenty of serene nooks and crannies to take a quiet moment and find your zen. If you have a green thumb or are looking to cultivate one, you can take a number of classes ��� and your children can, too. You can also volunteer and spend quiet days in this oasis. If you are looking for an elegant place to have a wedding or a party, they can help you with that, too, at the Wyatt Visitors Pavilion Complex. And this year, the garden staff has pulled out all of the stops, offering a number of unique exhibits from big bugs to comical frogs, as well as theater in the garden and a Spring and Fall music series. Celebrating its 30th year in 2012, the Dogwood Festival continues to wow the community and make waves across the nation, garnering honors as one of the country���s best festivals. While national recognition is great, the folks at the Dogwood Festival take the local accolades to heart because that means they are serving the needs of the people for whom it was designed. So winning the Best Local Festival is probably the best affirmation that they are doing things right. Held in the Spring each year, for the past 30 years, the festival has grown far beyond its founders��� wildest expectations. The event draws tens of thousands of people every year, and gets bigger and better every year, including not one, not two but three performances by national-level entertainers from a variety of genres: country, rock, alternative and hip-hop. Of course, local performers also have a home at the festival, with several stages scattered throughout the downtown area featuring live entertainment. Throughout the weekend, the promenade is lined with vendors selling everything from hotdogs and funnel cake to gyros and pizza ��� and don���t forget those really big cups of lemonade. The carnival rides are a great treat for the little ones, too. But the party doesn���t stop there. In the Summer, the festival brings the community Fayetteville After Five and in the Fall, a Historic Haunted Hayride. The Dogwood Festival knows its audience, and with their vote, our readers are telling them: Good Job! B&B Catering ------- and Event Planning -------- Thank you Fayetteville for your loyalty for the past 23 years! ��� B&B Catering would like to announce the Movable Feast��� offering the same world class quality of food and attention to detail that B&B offers with 40% off the cost of a full service catered event. Call 910.497.1621 to book your feast ���t for a king! www.BNBCatering.com 697 Bethel Baptist Church Rd. ��� Spring Lake, NC 910.497.8228 pannhoff@embarqmail.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM SEPTEMBER 12-18, 2012 BEST OF FAYETTEVILLE 3