Day 2
Day 1 in Wilmington, and I think I almost got blown away! I guess wind is one thing you can count on when visiting an ocean front city, plus, not having any mountains to break it or shield us from it doesn’t help either. However, it is a really pretty city. The friend that I was visiting had booked holidays during the time I was there, but had to work for a couple days before her vacation began. So, while she was at work, I walked around her neighbourhood. I was surprised to see alligator warning signs. I had no idea there were alligators here! There definitely aren’t alligators where I’m from! When Cristina got off work, we went for a drive around the city, looking around at the different houses and buildings. We walked around some of the neighbourhoods, some of the streets being brick, but moss being lined with trees, some palm and some not.
For dinner we went to K-38 Baja Grill for dollar tacos, which is a Wednesday night thing. Once done, we decided to go to the beach. We headed for Wrightsville Beach, which was the closest to the city. On our way there, we passed a gated community called the Landfall, which is where the local celebrities live or lived- i.e. The One Tree Hill cast and the Dawson’s Creek cast. Of course it’s not open to the public, so we couldn’t get it.
Wrightsville Beach was beautiful. It was windy, so it was full of surfers and parasailers. The sand was white and soft, and very clean. Although it was cloudy and very windy, I decided to try the water. It wasn’t too cold, but I misjudged the size and speed of the waves, and ended up getting soaked up to the knees, even though I only went in ankle deep.
Day 1 turned out to be a great day. The population of Wilmington is between 85,000-90,000 people and has a very small town feel. However it is quite spread out with quite a few highways in it. The Cape Fear River runs through it, and has a beautiful river walk along it. If you’re a fan of One Tree Hill or Dawson’s Creek, you would recognize it immediately. Many of the buildings around town are quite old looking, however, have been very well maintained. Some of these buildings have also been seen on TV, too. The city has a lot of restaurants, and all the big chain stores, but also little shops along the way that are hidden treasures. The people were very friendly, and hearing the Southern ‘twang’ and all the y’all’s was a hoot. The views around the city and all the water, including the Cape Fear River, were lovely. The only hard thing to get used to was the humidity. I had quite a hard time breathing. All in all, though, it was a great introduction to this nice city.
