Two Lane Adventures: Day 8 & 9 of 166 Days of RV Adventures in the Summer of 2026

On Thursday May 14th, we departed Fayetteville RV Resort enroute to Petersburg Virginia. Fayetteville RV Resort is actually in Wade, North Carolina. Wade was settled around the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, it was named for businessman N.G. Wade and chartered in 1913. The town has its own Town Hall and the Wade Community Fire Department.

Smithfield was a "big" town we went through. Smithfield is home to the Ava Gardner Museum, Wild Bill's Western Town named Shadowhawk, and is situated along the Neuse River. If you are there at the right time of the year, you can enjoy the annual Ham & Yam Festival.

Ava Gardner was born in Smithfield and she became one of Hollywood's most iconic actresses during the Golden Age of film. Thomas Banks purchased the Brogden Teacherage building, the house where Ava lived from ages 2 to 13. Following Thomas Banks' death in 1989, Lorraine Banks donated the museum's collection to the town of Smithfield. In 1999, the museum purchased its current home, a renovated 6,400 square foot building in downtown Smithfield.

Following the occupation of Goldsboro, Sherman continued his march through North Carolina as he set his sights on Raleigh. While on the march from Goldsboro to Raleigh, Sherman and his men camped near Smithfield. Troops did only a little burning to the town but did ransack community buildings and the courthouse. While in camp on the evening of April 12, 1865, Sherman received word of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Sherman wired his congratulations to General Grant in Virginia and conveyed his belief that Lee’s terms of surrender were “magnanimous and liberal.”

Outside Smithfield you can stop and smell the poppies along 301 N. Too bad, they seem to be past their prime!

In Selma North Carolina there is the Stancil Oil Company Country Store. What a great representation of old time gas pumps! One of Selma's most famous residents was Lunsford Richardson, who was born in 1854 on a farm near Selma. He rose to fame as the inventor of Vicks Vapo-Rub. So, that means Vicks Vapor-Rub was also invented here!

We crossed the North Carolina and Virginia State line. We are in the State "for lovers." All through Virginia, you can find all kinds of "LOVE" signs!

We arrived at South 40 RV Resort, our home for the next four nights.

We enjoyed dinner with old and new friends at Bob & Tammy's house. We have not seen Bob & Gretchen in a while! We did see Barbara before we left Florida. It was a great night of catching up with friends in a relaxing environment!

On Friday May 15th, we had a quiet morning and met the folks from last night, with a few other friends added in for lunch at Nanny's BBQ. Talk about good "home cookin'" that is what this place offered! The place was whistle clean, staff very friendly, and the fried chicken was to die for. All the sides and fixing were delicious, too. My favorites were cabbage, yams and beans! But I did enjoy one small piece of fried chicken! This place is still a must stop here, when in Petersburg.

The wedding rehearsal & dinner were that evening too. The wedding is being held at the Country Club of Petersburg. The rehearsal dinner was at Roma Ristorante Italiano. We got to experience authentic Sicilian style cuisine, pizza and other Italian specialties. I think Bob knows everyone in this town! We enjoyed our meal in a private room and the owner came in to make sure everything was good.