Memories of Wilmington

This week I've been sharing photos and memories from our East Coast vacation in June of 2012. Here are the links to Washington, D.C., Virginia Beach, and The Outer Banks. I also posted about Southport, NC a while back, which we passed through right after Wilmington, NC. 

Wilmington was the charming town where we stayed after the Outer Banks. It was on the way from Virginia Beach to Myrtle Beach (our last stop), and there was just too much charm to pass by. Trent had been there before, I hadn't. So he knew some of the best places to do and things to see. We were only there a couple of days, but Trent and I still both loved North Carolina and would love to go back.

Just what made this town so charming?

Wilmington is a historic river town. The downtown area by the river is gorgeous, and there are even these horse-drawn carriage tours that take you around the town. We didn't ride one, but it seems like a good time.

I was also pretty much in love with the trees lining the streets. All of the greenery and the Spanish Moss just screams, historic Southern town to me.

I also quickly discovered that in Wilmington, by the river was definitely the place to be. This boardwalk runs down quite a ways, with cute little restaurants along the way.

We had lunch outside at one of those restaurants, in fact, although I can't remember the name.

One of the unique things about this town, is that it's known as the Hollywood of the East coast. Like the nearby town of Southport, NC, which we also stopped at on this trip, several TV shows and movies have been filmed in the area, including One Tree Hill and Dawson's Creek, and Nicholas Sparks movies like A Walk to Remember. This street kind of seems like a historic Hollywood to me:

Though I've never seen the show, I think I've read that the fountain below has appeared in Dawson's Creek...

We also cruised through the residential areas of Wilmington, which were just as charming as downtown. And if the house below looks familiar, that's because it was Jamie's (Mandy Moore's character) house in A Walk to Remember, which is one of my favorite movies. Major cool points.

Our hotel was also really nice and charming, and this was our view:

The river. The docks. The trees. So completely Wilmington.

We ate dinner at Fat Tony's Pub downtown. Trent had been here before, and had to go back. It was a really cool atmosphere with good beer and food!

And the sunset on the river from our hotel window...amazing!

How could you not love this city? Another plus was that the town of Wrightsville Beach is close by - just a short drive away, and it's right on the ocean.

(Map from here)

We made a trip out to the beach one afternoon. It was lovely - once again pure sand and water. Hot but breezy. Pretty much perfect.

This was definitely a beach/ ocean vacation, considering we visited several beaches on this whole trip - Virginia Beach, the beaches of the Outer Banks, Wrightsville Beach, and Myrtle Beach. This one might have been my favorite, though. It wasn't too busy, there were tons of shells and sea birds, and it was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever experienced.

Trent tried his hand at boogy boarding, and I just read and caught me some sun, as usual!

I'll end my Wilmington / Wrightsville post with one of the coolest looking piers I've ever seen. I love this photo:



No people, nothing touristy, just pure ocean, sand, waves, sky, and beach. It is something I loved about the North Carolina coastline. I'm so excited to go to Texas and see how it compares! 4 days...

My next post will end the East Coast vacation flashback posts, and I'll share our Myrtle Beach experience with you all. I've shared a little about it before but never went into any detail. I will say, it was just a tad more touristy there. ;)