Thursday, July 10, 2008

North Carolina vacation 2 - Onward to Wilmington

So after the joys of Raleigh we drove to Wilmington on the North Carolina Coast.

Very nice place, historic and charming, with very nice people (there is something to the ideal of the Southern Gentleman - and many in Raleigh and Wilmington more than lived up to the ideal.

Of course this being the 4th of July weekend as soon as we arrived and checked into the hotel (a nice one, with the very last non-smoking room available), we first hit the beach.

The Leah had never seen the Ocean, and Abby didn't really remember the time she saw it as a 2 year old, and they were intimidated by the crashing of the waves.

We came back on the morning of the 4th and the beach was packed.


After the beach we went into town and toured around, seein the many original historic homes there, as Wilmington was lucky in that it was unscathered during the Civil War and the local residents have preserved the exterior looks of the hisotric houses:

We took a horse-drawn carriage tour of Wilmington's historic downtown, and having a horse drawn tour was a real treat for the kids. The horses are rescue horses and treated very well and they seem to enjoy their current occupation.


We walked around the historic downtown, including walking buy the home of James Whistler of Whistler's Mother fame, and then took a boat ride around the harbor.


The great ship on the other side of the harbor caught my eye:

But its the subject of the next day and our next post.

No comments: