Wilmington NC

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As we were mapping out our route to Florida earlier this year, we had decided on stops in both Wilmington NC and Myrtle Beach SC. Both of these locations were ones we haven’t visited before and thought it would be nice to explore these cities along the Atlantic Coast. We knew there are Elks Lodges in both locations with the possibility of staying at either one of them. The lodge in Myrtle Beach sounded like it only had one RV spot with 15 amp electric while the one in Wilmington has 7 RV spots with 30 amp, water and a dump station on site.

We opted to reserve a campsite at Myrtle Beach State Park to ensure we have a spot but we allotted 6 nights in Wilmington and hoped that there would be availability when we arrived. It was just under 140 miles almost straight down Interstate 40 until it ends. We pull into the camping area behind the lodge and find there were at least 2 spots open. We chatted with one of the guys already staying there to get the scoop and then positioned ourselves in an open site. When the lodge opened, we head in to register and pay our $25 per night donation. That evening we strategized which of the many things in the area we wanted to see and do in order to have a game plan.

The next day, we set off for a bike ride. Our goal was Wrightsville Beach. There is the Cross-City Trail that covers a lot of Wilmington and would get us close to our destination. We needed to ride surface streets for about a mile north of the lodge before we intersect the trail but the. It was relatively smooth sailing. It isn’t a peaceful ride since we are usually right next to busy streets, but at least it is a dedicated bike path instead of a bike lane shared with vehicles.

It is about a 7 mile ride onto the islands that makes up Wrightsville Beach. Being the first week of November, the 4 mile long island that is the heart of the touristy area of town is practically deserted. We bike to the northern end of the island and the southern end grabbing a couple of geocaches and completing an Adventure Lab.

View of the Intercoastal Waterway

Heading Over Bridge into Wrightsville Beach

We Made It

We find a small grocery store with a deli and get a sub for lunch. It was a very nice day weather wise and pretty easy bicycling. I can only imagine how packed this place must get in the summer months. The ride back across town to the lodge was uneventful and we ended up with nearly 21 miles and had a great day.

Ocean View

Dock in Wrightsville Beach

Beautiful Oceanfront Home

Rocking Chair Views

The following day we took it a bit easier. We planned on going to a couple of parks for some short walks and then head to a restaurant Chris had scoped out for her birthday dinner. We start out the day at Airlie Gardens on the east side of Wilmington. This 67 acre park was originally developed in the 1880’s as a much larger private estate. Today the county owns the property and charges a modest $10 fee to wander the grounds.

Christmas Lights at Airlie Gardens

Honeybee Heart

The place is in the process of being transformed for their holiday light display but that doesn’t seem to prevent us from exploring most of the grounds. It is neat to get back into the south where there is lots of Spanish Moss hanging from the live oak trees.

Spanish Moss Overhead

Electric Flowers

Artwork Blends into Garden

Part of the gardens is along Bradley Creek. A pier just out into the creek which allows for a nice view of the nearby marinas. Since we are only 2 miles from the ocean, we can definitely see the influence of the tides on the water levels.

Marina Across Bradley Creek

Shadows on the Pier

Live Oak Branch Frames Water

We work our way around the gardens on the various pathways. A large pond has a group of turtles sunning themselves on a log just off the shoreline. There were also about 10 big turtles around the grounds painted in rather bright colors. Apparently they are having some sort of benefit auction with local artists hand painting the ceramic turtles.

Real Turtle Crowd Log

Decorative Turtle

Changing Colors

At the far end of the gardens is the Spring Garden and the Lebanon Chapel and Cemetery.

Fountain

Cemetery Entrance

Lebanon Chapel

Since it is early November, I wasn’t expecting a ton of flowers to be in bloom, but there were still a few plants that had some late season flowers. The camellias had some nice blooms to enjoy.

Camellia

Frog Reads All About It

Pond View

The butterfly house was technically open,  it it was being used for a holiday light display so no butterflies were present. There was one other unique building that constructed in 2004. The Bottle Chapel is made of a few hundred glass bottles of various colors. A couple of trees and a huge butterfly were part of the design. The sunlight was shining just right to highlight the colors. I bet this looks remarkable at night during the holiday light show.

Butterfly House

Bottle Chapel from Outside

Butterfly Seen Inside Bottle Chapel

It was still pretty early so we headed west across the Cape Fear River to the Brunswick Nature Park. This location would get us into a different county and there was an Adventure Lab and a few geocaches in the park. It was a pretty park with lots of trails but we discovered that the 5 stages of the lab cache was scattered all around the trails and would take quite some time and effort to complete. We knew we had a bit of a drive to get to the restaurant Chris had picked out so we bailed on finishing the lab cache and headed back across the river.

Boat Ramp at Town Creek

On the way to dinner we stopped at Strickland’s Surplus store. We wandered around the store but the real reason to stop here was to look for the geocache hidden on the F11 fighter jet parked out front. It took some effort to spot and get to the well hidden ammo can strapped inside the landing gear area. Dinner was at a place called Fish Bites. Chris was in the mood for shrimp and I was sure I could find something there I would like. It was a good birthday dinner.

Fighter Jet Holds Geocache