Explore themed driving trails in Fayetteville, NC, from adventure to history

Explore themed driving trails in Fayetteville, NC

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — The site of Babe’s Ruth first professional home run and a hotel visited by the Marquis de Lafayette are two of the many historic attractions on a dozen themed trails in and around Fayetteville, N.C.

Ruth hit a 135-yard homerun in March 1914 at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds while playing an exhibition game with the Baltimore Orioles. A plaque marks the site on Gillespie Street. It’s part of Fayetteville’s “All-American Adventure” trail, which also includes the Cape Fear Botanical Garden, the Fayetteville Motor Speedway, riding stables, sport centers, batting cages and a skate park.

Fayetteville was named for Lafayette, a French military leader who served under George Washington in the American Revolution. The city claims to be the first in America named for him, in 1783, and the only namesake city that he visited. Stops on Fayetteville’s “Lafayette Tour” include the Lafayette Hotel, where he was feted on his two-day stopover in 1825, and the home where he stayed, now known as the State Banking House.

Other trail themes include African-American heritage and the Civil War. For more information, go to visitfayettevillenc.com.