Hopeless RoamAntics: Wilmington, NC (10/6-10/13/2023)

We had never been to Wilmington, NC. It was always a coastal place that we had wanted to visit but just never got around to it...until now. The drive from Richmond, VA was all highway again. The roads were pretty light on traffic with only a few stop lights along the way. Ruth got the best gas mileage she ever had on this leg of our trip. We rolled in to the Wilmington KOA in early afternoon and after some slight tree trimming we backed in to our site.

Mike had found the Wilmington Cross City Trail while researching the area. We loaded up our bikes and headed to James E.L. Wade park to start our ride. It was a lovely day and perfect for a ride. We road about 11 miles one way of the 15.5 mile trail. The trail was a mix of some sidewalk, dedicated paved bike path and some roadway bike lanes. There were several busy crossings, but all had crossing lights. The path wound through a couple of parks with ponds and through the University of NC @ Wilmington campus. Overall it was a very enjoyable ride and I would recommend it.

Over the weekend, was the Wilmington Riverfest. We rode our bikes on Saturday, but we did drive down to downtown Wilmington on Sunday to experience it. The festival covered about a 3 block long stretch of Front Street. The food vendors and music were corralled in a parking lot at the end of the vendor tents. We stopped and listed to some music briefly and walked the strip. It seemed well attended but we were not motivated to stay very long. We also walked along the expansive waterfront of the Cape Fear River while in the Historic Wilmington downtown.

With such lovely weather we took a drive out to Wrightsville Beach to the small, but diversified farmer's market. We stopped for a waterfront lunch at the Blue Water Grill. Both the food and the ambiance was excellent. We then drove the beach from end to end. It was during the week and off season so the traffic was non-existent. However with the concentration of homes on this barrier island you could picture the hoards of people who flock to here during season. Our day was quiet and enjoyable.

We also toured the Battleship North Carolina docked on the Cape Fear River. We spent about 2.5 hours touring and reading about life aboard this ship while it served in World War 2 and beyond. We climbed up and down the various decks and from bow to stern. It was easy to get lost in time inside this monstrous grey beast.

On our last good weather night before the forecasted rain, we pulled out the pizza oven and a bottle of wine and enjoyed homemade pizza by the glampfire.