The Friendliest Town on the East Coast

Wilmington, North Carolina

Back when I first lived in Tallahassee, my job allowed me to travel the state of Florida and visit resorts. I would plan conferences for the association and arrange travel plans. I especially loved visiting the location ahead of time and choosing the restaurants and acitivities for the university student govenment members and state legislature. One of my dreams is to have some sort of publication that allows me to travel, make recommendations, and tell the peoples' stories that live there or help others travel well.

I suggest you always do the research before you travel. Then hopefully you will hit some of the best spots with great reviews on your visit. Then ask the locals when you get there. Locals always know.

Mark and I chose Wilmington for our tenth anniversary because neither one of us had ever spent time there. I found there to be so much history there. I definitely recommend a tour being one of the first things you do when you get there. It will give you your bearings and help you map out what you want to do during your stay. There are horse drawn carriage tours and ghost tours available in the historic district where we stayed.

HOTEL - ARRIVE Wilmington

I chose ARRIVE because of their great reviews. You can read more about it here.

From the time we stepped foot on the sidewalk everyone was so friendly, the staff at the hotel, people walking by or sitting at outside tables at the restaurants that lined the streets, anyone we passed. It was a little unreal. Complete strangers would ask us if we knew where we were going to dinner and if we would like some ideas.

Our hotel was two blocks from Cape Fear river. The River Walk has a variety of great food and shopping. We were only in Wilmington for 3 nights. I would love to go back because there are so many recommended places that we did not have time to see and food we did not get to try.

TOUR - Springbrook Farms offers horse drawn carriage tours in downtown historic Wilmington. They are a farm that rescues horses and then trains them for their tour jobs. Then when it is time, they get to retire on the farm. You can find them in front of Kilwins Chocolate and Ice Cream Shop.

Prince & Jake

COFFEE -

Hidden Grounds Coffee

I have been a barista on and off since I graduated from highschool. Coffee shops are one of the first things that I locate when traveling. Hidden Grounds Coffee was just a few steps away from our hotel. I loved it! It is a must.

I also had an iced cortado at Bespoke Coffee on Princess street which was excellent.

I never got to the Blue Cup Roastery or Bitty & Beau's Coffee which were on my list.

FOOD -

Seabird

We were walking around looking for breakfast one morning and saw that the Seabird was open. It is known for its oysters and it was on our list of restaurants to try. Boy, am I so glad we did! Seabird will definitely have its own article to come so keep your eyes open.

The George

The first night when we arrived we walked down to the River Walk. There is a restaurant there on the Cape Fear river called The George. We were seated inside right away and had a very nice waiter named Kase. I had a Caesar salad to start and the filet mignon with garlic mashed potatos and sauteed spinach. It was perfectly cooked. Everything was yummy.

Indochine - "A Far East Cafe"

Everyone recommended Indochine that had been there before or lived in Wilmington. So we could not miss it. Definitely go early. You will have to wait. The outside is lovely and so is the inside. The outside seating is individual tables in little open huts with trees, bamboo, and lanterns as a canopy. There is a koi pond, extra seating, an outdoor bar, and a gift shop.

Seaview Crab Company

Coming from Florida where Mark lived in the Keys and my first husband was a fisherman, Mark and I love fresh seafood. You cannot find it here in the mountains. Mark found great reviews of the Seaview Crab Company. We ordered a variety of dishes to take with us for a picnic on Wrightsville Beach. The fried grouper and aioli sauce were the best!

There are so many places we did not have time to see and so much food to enjoy. Some of the restaurants that were recommended that we did not get to were:

Yosake - sushi

Tarentilli's - Italian

Three10 - seafood

True Blue, Butcher & Table - steak

Rumcow - tapas

Caprice Bistro - French

Brasserie Du Soleil at Wrightsville beach - French

Blue Waterfront Grill at Wrightsville beach - seafood

Bourbon Street - chicken sandwich

Copper Penny - onion rings

Cork & Fork

the half - sandwiches

Britt's Donut Shop at Carolina beach

Drift Coffee & Kitchen

Benny's Big Time Pizzeria

Blueberry’s Grill

Activities for next time:

Bellamy Museum

Ghost Walk

Riverwalk Rentals - kayaking

Airlie Gardens

NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher

Good Hops Brewery & Disc Golf course

Carolina beach pier

Old Books on Front street

the Cargo District

In the comments below, let me know some of your favorite spots in Wilmington! I definitely cannot wait to go back.