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| The river in Downtown Wilmington, N.C. |
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| You can take carriage rides! |
Wilmington, N.C. used to be a place the husband and I visited often. We lived in Jacksonville, N.C. (the husband is a U.S. Marine) and because there isn’t much to enjoy there, we would often find ourselves exploring Wilmington and enjoying the sights.
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| Me and the husband! |
We would go on a weeknight for dinner or on a weekend for a full day of shopping and fun.
Ever since we moved to Myrtle Beach, however, our trips there haven’t been as numerous.
We still enjoy Wilmington and I personally would like to spend more time there.
On our most recent trip to the Port City, we enjoyed the “touristy” sites of the Downtown area and shopping.
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| The boardwalk |
There are many different restaurants in Wilmington to try from chains to local joints.
The Downtown area has so many local places that it would take many months (by only making one-day weekend trips to Wilmington) for us to try them all.
The Riverwalk in Downtown Wilmington offers visitors and locals the perfect place to spend a sunny day. There are horse-drawn carriage rides, local shops to pop into, plenty of picture opportunities with all of the scenery and, my favorite, an ice cream shop to enjoy after dinner.
One good place to shop is the Cotton Exchange on Front Street.
Our favorite Downtown restaurant was a French place called Caprice Bistro at 10 Market St.
This little restaurant offers quality french food at good prices. I had the Coq au Vin (chicken with wine) and it was absolutely amazing. The chicken was cooked perfectly. The husband had the Cassoulet special. He said he enjoyed it very much and would definitely order it again.
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| A delicious French restaurant |
Another favorite restaurant located outside the downtown area is India Mahal at 4610 Maple Ave. The husband and I LOVE Indian food and this little place in a strip mall has some of the best around at a good price. There are other Indian restaurants in the area as well that are just as tasty, but we have been going here for many years and love it. My favorite is the Chicken Korma while my husband enjoys the Lamb Saag. If you haven’t had Indian food before, you are totally missing out. It is delicious.
In addition to the fun Downtown, Wilmington offers a number of shopping areas for us shopaholics.
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| Downtown Wilmington |
My favorite is the Mayfaire Town Center. For those familiar with the Market Common area in Myrtle Beach, the Mayfaire Town Center is just like that. Its great chain shops are mixed with local shops, eateries, coffee shops, a movie theater and Barnes and Noble.
Every trip to Wilmington, we find a new treasure. We once found an old bookstore that had amazing books you can’t find anywhere else. There is also on old book store in the Downtown area called, what else but, Old Books on Front.
If you are staying along the Grand Strand for more than a week and want to see what is within driving distance, I would highly recommend Wilmington. It is an easy hour and a half drive on U.S. 17. The Port City will give you a different look of the East Coast and offer you a little something different than your stay along the Grand Strand will give you.
Enjoy and safe travels!
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