A Weekend in Wilmington

One of the things I love about North Carolina is that one weekend you can drive up to the mountains and the next to the beach - especially if you are centrally located like we are in Charlotte. We did just that recently and for our coastal adventure, we went to Wilmington. Wilmington is a just over a three hour drive from Charlotte via 74. It was sometimes interstate, sometimes highway and sometimes stop and go through small towns but not a whole lot in between. I did enjoy seeing the landscape change from the hills around Charlotte to flat land and sandy dirt that was so similar to my beloved Florida. If you aren’t within driving distance you can fly into the Wilmington Airport. United, Delta and American all fly there from Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and NYC.

We went for my birthday weekend and left on a Thursday in the late afternoon and were at our downtown Airbnb by 7:30pm. We chose to stay downtown as opposed to out by the beach so we could be walking distance to all the restaurants and bars. Our Airbnb was in the historic district in one of Wilmington’s mansions. This particular one was broken up into 4 apartments with free parking right next to the home. The apartment had a living room and kitchen/dining area on the first floor with the bedroom on the second floor and everything you needed for the weekend. We were a block from the river and within a mile of all the restaurants and shops in downtown. Our arrival dinner was at a restaurant we’d seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives called Fork & Cork. It’s a small place with very little seating but we snagged two open seats at the bar. They are known for their burgers - which we each got - but also their duck wings (what we had seen on the show!) as an appetizer along with some local beers. All of the food was amazing and came in generous portions. The service was excellent as well.

Friday we had breakfast at the Airbnb - which is one of the reasons I like staying in them. You can have a lot of comforts of home when you travel so we had breakfast and coffee without having to leave the apartment - which also saves money. It was then time to head to the beach! Wrightsville Beach is the closest beach to Wilmington. There are multiple parking options but be sure to get their early or you’ll be driving around searching for a space. The parking spot was a short distance to the walkway to the beach. The beaches are wide with plenty of space to spread out with a couple piers along the way. There were several surfers in the water and plenty of shells to examine. I was able to spend a couple hours there before a fast and furious summer storm rolled in.

Wrightsville Beach is a 20 minute drive from downtown Wilmington

After my morning at the beach, we walked downtown for lunch to Rooster & The Crow inside Chandler’s Wharf. The menu changes frequently but they have a mix of southern cuisine and seafood so expect Shrimp & Grits, fried green tomatoes and things with pimento cheese. They also had a decent local beer list. Friday evening was spent taking a sunset river cruise with Wilmington Water Tours which we really enjoyed. Since it was summer and sunset was late, we killed some time with a pre-cruise drink at The Fortunate Glass, a wine bar downtown. They serve food alongside their very extensive wine list. Wilmington Water Tours has daytime nature tours and evening sunset tours with the weekend outings including live music. They also have snacks and a full bar. We made our reservations online that day for $30 each. The trip was easy going and quite scenic along the Cape Fear River- made even more so by the dozens of pelicans dive bombing in to the river. We were on the left side of the boat so when we turned around we had a perfect view of a spectacular sunset. After we disembarked we went to find some dinner and ended up at Anne Bonny’s Bar & Grill. It was close by and on a barge on the river. I had a really good crab cake washed down with a dangerously good frozen drink called a Dreamsicle.

Sunset during a Cape Fear River Cruise with Wilmington Water Tours

Saturday was time to visit some breweries for my birthday. To fuel up we drove away from downtown for breakfast to yet another Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives spot, Cast Iron Kitchen - and it was well worth the drive. I ordered the special which was a pulled pork benedict on grit cakes with a shishito pepper hollandaise sauce. My husband went with the chicken and waffles which had amazing fig bacon jam and honey bourbon syrup.

Our first brewery stop was The Sour Barn. It was in the same area as Cast Iron Kitchen and another spot worth the drive if you are into sours. Even if you aren’t, they have other beers too as they are a part of Broomtail Craft Brewery. They have a decent sized indoor tap room and a beer garden out back. They have snacks and occasionally food trucks but you are welcome to bring in your own food as well. The Sour Barn has plenty of their own beers but they also have a cooler full of single cans and bottles that you can drink on site full of sours from all over North and South Carolina. If you go on your birthday be sure to share that information with them as I got a free pint glass for mine! Our second brewery stop was back in downtown Wilmington, about a mile from our Airbnb called Flytrap Brewing. Flytrap Brewing is named for the Venus Fly Trap. I spent my entire life not knowing until this day that they are native only to one area in the entire world - about a 60 mile radius around Wilmington itself. The brewery had a small aquarium that they were growing in and they were so much smaller than I expected. Especially after growing up watching Little Shop of Horrors 😂However, we didn’t go to Flytrap to see them, we went because of their beer list. They have your standard IPA’s, blondes and red but an extensive list of seasonal saisons and goses with flavors like raspberry, blood orange, peach and guava. Fruit beers have come quite a long way in the past several years and while I used to turn my nose up at them, I love almost all of them now. Flytrap doesn’t serve food but will have food trucks in the evenings.

After our brewery hopping we relaxed at the Airbnb before we walked downtown for my birthday dinner. After talking to some locals at the Sour Barn I picked Pinpoint Restaurant because I wanted some seafood. We made reservations online through Open Table but once we got there it didn’t seem that it was totally necessary. The menu changes regularly but we had oysters for an appetizer and, once they found that it was my birthday, we got a free roasted pepper appetizer! For my entree I had the local grouper, my husband ordered the pork chop. It was more expensive than other restaurants over the course of the weekend but a good option for a celebration.

On Sunday it was time to depart so after breakfast and packing up, we left the Airbnb - but didn’t head straight home. The coast of North Carolina is known for its lighthouses so we drove about 45 minutes south to Caswell Beach in which you can find Oak Island Lighthouse. There is parking available right next to it but there is also a larger lot a bit past it. They occasionally run tours to go up in it but you can park and walk around the outside of it for free. It was not as picturesque as Cape Hatteras but it was still fun to see. If you have more time you can also take the nearby ferry to Bald Head Island and see the Old Baldy Lighthouse. Our drive home from Caswell Beach was just over 3 hours, the same as it was from Wilmington. With as much as we did, there is still so much more to see in the area (like the Battleship North Carolina) so we know we will return!

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