Pippi's Southern Surprise, Wilmington, NC

 May 17-21        Wilmington KOA Holiday, Wilmington, NC

Our drive to Wilmington wasn’t terribly memorable except for M & D having to go to three filling stations 122 miles south of Wilmington before they found gas. Fortunately, it was the Shell across the street from the other two that had regular only. 

So far we are giving the worst highway awards to NC. Ugh! It’s so bumpy that I’m having a hard time sleeping. Along the way, we have seen advertisements for a Rachel Carson Coastal Estuarine Preserve reached by water only from Beaufort, NC An aquarium is in the area too; both places I know my folks would like. 

The Cape Fear River appears to ramble like a snake through the countryside as we get closer to Wilmington. Who knew? 

It turns out the Wilmington KOA is really nice with loads of amenities for me and M & D. I especially like the dog park behind our site. 

After our dinner at SA (Sleeping Around, our trailer’s name) using the KOA’s nice Weber grill, we went for a nice walk around this place. Talked to some people from NH and they told us to go down by Carolina Beach and take the ferry to Southport. The young man, a mortgage broker said lots of retirees who retired to FL are moving to NC because it’s not so hot in the summers. They nicknamed them “half backs”. LOL

Got up with mom today, we found a Nature Trail in this park and a big empty fenced in open area that mom let me run and chase critters again. Heaven! The adults had yummy coffee, chai latte tea, and scones at Casablanca. We walked through another nature path on the KOA site to reach it. Lovely! I keep seeing these brilliant blue birds with brown chests. Very small and pretty. Mom said it appears to be an Eastern Bluebird.

According to Google: “Wilmington is a port city in North Carolina. It’s known as a gateway to Cape Fear Coast beaches like Wrightsville, with its strong surf, and Carolina, with its long boardwalk. (M & D spent a couple days at Wrightsville beach with Moondance.) Part of downtown’s Historic District, the Riverwalk is lined with restaurants, galleries and shops. It runs along the Cape Fear River, where the Battleship North Carolina is moored. (M & D visited this battleship when dad returned from Vietnam in 1973)

As M & D drove down Market St towards historic downtown Wilmington, many of the houses had a distinct New England look. Lots of brick or wood sided ones in the Federal style complete with front pillars on their front porches. They were disappointed that the longer trolley tours weren’t running since they covered more area. 

However, the horse drawn carriage tour that they took used rescued French Percheron bred by the Amish. We had Pete & Mike leading us with Billy talking and driving. They started this French Percheron rescue 35 years ago. Sometimes these horses can’t team together which is a problem and the reason the Amish have to sell them. Ironically, these horses need to work or they will eat themselves to death; which caused them to start the carriage company as part of the rescue. They don’t retire the horses until around 20 years old because by then their metabolism has changed and they can finally relax. Their carriage horses live longer than the Amish work ones since they change them out often. Billy, our driver is suppose to be retired, but he loves these horses. 

USS NC Battleship, is the most decorated WWII warship and the Number One Tourist Attraction here. It was saved from the scrapyards by the Wilmington school children sending in their collected coins and campaigning for it not being scrapped. Dad told me they visited it 48 years ago, when he returned from Vietnam

Many warehouses were situated along the river to distribute the farms produce and wares to boats that could more readily transport them, since good roads were rare...

Sears sold their Craftsman houses in 1929 for $750 in anticipation for the Depression; figuring that the new home owners would need to buy the Sears toolkit also. You can find different versions of these houses all around the US.

In the 1970-80’s all the downtown Victorians were dumped as homeowners flocked to the suburbs, but not now. What was going for $16,000  or less  is going for 1 -2 million or more.

This downtown historical area is a simply stunning, quiet downtown residential area with beautiful gardens. Within the historic district everything must retain the historic look, even new builds. Lots of movies filmed here because of the period buildings and homes.

These two identical homes were built by a father for his two daughters who couldn't get along. They were thrilled until they realized that they were side by side.

If you look inside you can see this cavernous space which once held carriages and horses in town for the day. Now, it is an event center for weddings and other such events.

My adorable granddaughters, Clara May, 1.25+ and Elise Charlotte, 4.75+ years old...I have to show photos of them occasionally because I miss them so...

We have the best friends!!! Thanks to Covid, we didn't get to see them much this winter, in Florida; but Dee and Greg Armhein drove an hour each way to see and have dinner with us...What a treat!!! Many Thanks to them for their time!!!

They all had drinks on our KOA patio. Greg played ball with me which was a BIG mistake, since I kept bugging him until we all went to dinner at the Cape Fear Seafood Company, a couple miles away from here. We had a lovely time there! 

 Dee and Greg had stuffed flounder that they enjoyed immensely: as did mom and dad, their Mahi Mahi Saltimbocca...Mom came through and snuck me bites of fish and spinach...Delightful! 

Mom and I found the KOA Nature Trail this morning and a large open fenced in area beside it for storage of picnic tables, sand, mulch and such...since no one was around, she let me, be me; and run...I was in Heaven!!!

It’s kind of overcast with possible showers so we decided to head to Fort Fisher State Park  “Until the last few months of the Civil War, Fort Fisher kept North Carolina's port of Wilmington open to blockade-runners supplying necessary goods to Confederate armies inland. By 1865, the supply line through Wilmington was the last remaining supply route open to Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. When Ft. Fisher fell after a massive Federal amphibious assault on January 15, 1865, its defeat helped seal the fate of the Confederacy.” There are a number of books written about this important conflict referring to Fort Fisher as the Gibraltar of the South. Dad said he didn’t know anything about this particular Civil War amphibious battle. 

The Fort is large with a road splitting it in two sections making it a bit hard to visualize without the site map. We all got quite the workout walking around it.

While dad went into watch the Fort Fisher Historic movie, mom and I walked the park’s earthen works. OMG! It was huge and eerily beautiful thanks to all the green, lush grass, wildflowers, live oaks with various views of the Cape Fear River on one side. Since it was a point, the other side was the Atlantic Ocean. Even though mom isn’t the history buff dad is, the signs had loads of informative info and actual eyewitness accounts. For me, it looked and smelled good! 

This fort's location was very isolated; resulting in loneliness and boredom, so 

fishing and gardening were encouraged since it added to their food supply.

 The disadvantage of this fort's defense plan...the Bloody Gate...

Talking about incredible economic details...

We boarded the Fort Fisher Ferry for the 35 minute ride to Southport. The non stop winds kept us cool as the temps climbed. One of our KOA NH neighbors suggested this trip because it’s such a cute town. 

They were right, it reminded M & D of Cape May, NJ in its quaintness with more reasonable size Craftsman style and Victorian cottages, B & B inns and homes. 

The waterfront was charming with lots of benches, swings, and drinking fountains for people and dogs. Darling shops and restaurants were within a couple block walk. Just a super laid back town... hanging out on the swings and benches watching other people and the boat traffic seemed to be the order of the day...

Obviously, a very small school system and graduating class here...look at their posters along the waterfront. So sweet!!! 

Mom and dad had a very late lunch at Oliver's. As always, mom shared a bit of her fancy, scmanzy, grilled chicken, berries, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, salad with a apple cider/hazelnut vinaigrette ...it also included Mom’s new favorite veggie, Peruvian “Sweety Drop” peppers that have a sugar-like sweetness in her opinion...but when she Googled them, they can be hot as well. Dad loved his crab cake, bacon sandwich with hush puppies too.

Look closely and you will find a photo of these tiny peppers in the next photo. They are the size of your tiny fingernail and looked like teardrops, cute and flavorful...she didn't share those..

This old school motel was one of the few that we saw here...mostly B n B's

We all had a lovely 49th Anniversary breakfast at Brunches in an upscale suburb of Wilmington. Delightful!

After playing with me for a bit, M & D went to the Bellamy Mansion in the historic downtown.  

“Designed by architect James F. Post for the wealthy physician and merchant Dr. John D. Bellamy, the 10,000-square-foot, twenty-two room mansion was constructed primarily by skilled, enslaved workers and local, free black artisans between 1859 and 1861.

The mansion does not boast a pure architectural style, but shares elements of Greek Revival, Neoclassical, and Italianate styles. Twenty-five foot tall Corinthian columns bring an onlooker’s eye up to the ornate wood trim work that includes dental molding and an egg and dart motif. Every aspect of the mansion’s design was deliberate. 

From placing the kitchen on the east side of the home so it 

received the first light of day 

to placing a belvedere at the 

very top that acted as early 

air conditioning, James F. Post 

and his assistant architect 

Rufus Bunnell 

left nothing to chance.”

 If you are interested, these informative panels tell details of urban slaves lives that M & D hadn't seen discussed before...Mom loved this mansion drawing too

        

This particular mansion has little in the way of the furnishing...we are guessing in part due to a large fire that massively added to the overall renovation cost. The spacious room sizes, tall windows, doors and ceilings and thick walls helped to keep it much cooler. Mike was up in the Belvedere which even with AC was doing it’s job of pulling the heat up there. 

Looking down to the slave quarters, laundry and two privys for help and the family.

The stable is connected to the Slave Quarters, but both buildings had rooms for the help, both slaves and free...

The basement floor held the kitchen, ironing room, butler's room, and family informal dining room.The kids rooms were located on the top floor. 

As you can see, the bottom and top floors are furnished with period furnishings. 

The bedrooms  and hallway on the second level served as a changing art gallery which was a nice treat!

The front of the mansion fronted the major street, Market. 

In the next set of photos you see the formal parlors on the first floor. This house was lived in by the family from the 1860's until Ellen's, one of the daughter's death in 1946.

The windows and venting were very clever, but obviously dangerous as well

The mature magnolias and other foliage and fauna surrounding this mansion were magnificent 

The back of this mansion opened into what would have been the work areas...

As with all cities we visited, there is much left to see...more restored plantations and mansions, The  New Hanover County NC Cooperative Extension and Arboretum and the  Airlie Gardens, not to mention all the fabulous museums, boutiques and gift shops abound. .

Clara May, 15 mos. learning to walk...she loves everyone's shoes but her own

Since it was our anniversary and we have another long drive to Williamsburg, VA tomorrow we came home to Pippi, reading, swimming and relaxing before heading out for a casual, early dinner tonight at the Fork and Cork and a final walk around the Riverwalk with Pip.  The restaurant really lived up to all its great reviews. The only item we didn’t leave leftovers was their fantastic Scottish Egg. The egg was soft boiled as opposed to hard. Super Delicious! Their food portions were so generous that we definitely have another fantastic meal tomorrow night! Yeah! They had an incredible draft beer selection too!!! I’d return in a heartbeat if we are ever back here. 

Pippi curled up next to our bed in Sleeping Around...she loves to keep her nose warm.