I had a chance to visit the lovely city of Wilmington, North Carolina this MLK weekend. It was a short evening's drive away and well worth the after work travel. Upon arrival at my now favorite Hampton Inn and Suites, my travel buddy and I were greeted by the friendly front desk receptionist or guest concierge depending on your degree of political correctness. Apparently, reserving the room online secured an awesome deal at the newly erected facility. We got the room for $20 less than what he could offer and even got an upgrade to a suite!
Score 1 for Wilmington!
The next day we decided to visit the historic downtown area which had streets lined with local coffee shops (a fave), brew pubs, antique stores, restaurants and of course, nightclubs. The University of North Carolina has a campus at Wilmington which as we discovered, provided plenty of patronage to said nightclubs.
We visited the Southport area by Ferry which was a pleasant experience if you've never enjoyed a Ferry. We also visited the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher which provided an interesting look into the aquatic life of the area. The service we received from everyone to include our hotel staff to our waiters, waitresses and cab drivers was a prime example of true southern hospitality.
Wilmington has a rich history which you can read here and here. I was intrigued to learn as much about it as I did. If you're ever in North Carolina, you should definitely pay this place a visit! Enjoy the food, beaches and growing downtown district (which is also pet friendly).
If anything, you can go and tell all your friends that you visited Michael Jordan's hometown and the city that is 2,554 miles from Barstow, California (true story, saw the sign on I-40)!
4 comments:
I have a female friend who lives in Charlotte North Carolina and she's always advising me that North Carolina offers something which she doesn't see in too many other places - the big city life/small city feel. She once went out her way to get me to live there, but I have never taken the time to so much a visit.
Wish I could though.
And I'd love to visit the city where Michael Jordan began his legend. Sounds like you and your companion had a great time. There's nothing like southern hospitality is there?
Don,
You really should take a trip down to the Carolinas! It's beautiful and your friend was spot on about the big city life/small city feel. They just do it right in the South! lol : ) It made me miss home (Florida). We had a great time.
I've been to Wilmington a couple of times myself, it's a pretty place.
The last time I went I made it a point to go on a tour of the Battleship North Carolina, it's amazing to see that kind of history so up close.
@Reggie...I may have to check that out next time I go. I really enjoyed it down there.
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