Wilmington

(I'm just journaling this to share some information with friends and family about where we call home. I love all these things I am learning about it!)

I have been wanting to go the farmer's market downtown on the Cape Fear river forever and we were finally able to go this morning. Downtown is literally 3 miles from our home we but we rarely go! That's what is so cool about Leland - it's so 'country' I feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere sometimes - but then 3 miles away is Wilmington downtown! and 15 miles driving is the beach!

Raymond is teething so bad (his 4 molars are all breaking at the same time!) so we were glad to get out of the house even in this North Carolina heat! There were so many other strollers and doggies to look at so Raymond was happy and I was happy that we could get out! We didn't buy anything although I was extremely tempted to get some of the homegrown herbs, and vegetables and even paintings! But we did see some friends from Brandon's home town that sell roses and they gave us 8 BEAUTIFUL roses that they grow for free! And here they are on the dining room table with placemats I got from grandma that we hadn't used yet!! :)

I really love Wilmington. I've been here since 2001 when I came for school and they have made soo many great improvements in the past years. It is so much more community oriented and just so much more to do! There's always something going on!

I love how they describe it on the Wilmington.net site (here's another site I liked http://www.northcarolinatravels.com/wilmington/ )

This charming port city is located in the southeastern corner of North Carolina between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean. Although not just a tourist town, Wilmington has become a popular destination because of its moderate, four-season climate, historic preservation district, annual events such as Riverfest and the Azalea Festival, and numerous championship golf courses. In addition, nearby Wrightsville Beach is a Mecca for sailors, surfers, sunbathers, beachcombers and seafood lovers.


The city has more than 97,000 residents (67% rise in population in 10 years) and is home to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. It is also home to a regional visual and performing arts center, a regional medical center and to Screen Gems Studios - North Carolina, one of the largest motion picture and television studios outside of Hollywood.Wilmington, the county seat of New Hanover County, was incorporated in 1739 and was originally situated on seven hills located on the east side of the Cape Fear River. It was named in honor of Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, who was a patron of North Carolina’s Governor at the time. To this day, visitors are reminded of its rich history by the grand old homes and tree-lined boulevards making Wilmington one of the most beautiful small cities in the south.


It's just an awesome city - so diverse with so much history. I'm actually reading a book about the Civil War right now and it talks about Wilmington a lot and about Ft. Fischer a lot. Wilmington is on the Cape Fear River and Ft. Fischer is on the Cape Fear near the Atlantic Ocean - basically where the river connects to the Atlantic Ocean. I LOVE history and look forward to digging more into the history of Wilmington. I know there's a lot of history of pirating - BlackBeard, etc. I'll get reading and write more soon!

We live about a mile from the Brunswick River which is a tributary to the Cape Fear -- here's Brandon & Raymond looking out at that river on one of our family days last week:

(Here's a picture of the USS North Carolina from our walk at the Farmer's Market today and then the bridge we go over all the time. Wilmington's on the left side of the bridge - Leland is on the right. We moved across the bridge to Leland in May of this year! That bridge is on almost every episode of Dawson's Creek I swear haha....... I love that it took us 3 minutes to get downtown -- we don't go nearly as often as we should!!)

I loved it when I first came here because it had the ocean (which was a key factor for me when choosing a college - had to be near the ocean)... but it still had the downtown/business/historic area too - it's not too big, not too small. It is sort of by itself in the SouthEast corner of the state away from the other big North Carolina cities. I love it! As well as the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where I went to school, the beaches (Wrightsville Beach being my favorite), and downtown on the Cape Fear River --- it also has one of the best film studios on the east coast, Screen Gem Studios. It's most famous for being the home of Dawson's Creek - they taped all the episodes here in Wilmington and surrounding cities. http://www.geocities.com/dcghosts/filmlocations.htm





And along with Dawson's Creek and now One Tree Hill... here are some of the movies filmed in Wilmington (most popular in bold):



Bolden! - wrapping productions soon
Nights in Rodanthe - coming out soon! A Nicholas Sparks novel
The Marc Pease Experience
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever
Three Words and a Star
Twisted
Hounddog
The Beautiful Ordinary
The List
Dead Heist
White Men Can't Dance
Idlewild
Forgiven
RedMeansGo
Dirt Nap
Southern Belles
Loggerheads
20 Funerals
The Last Summer
A Touch of Fate
The Angel Doll
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
New Best Friend
A Walk to Remember
The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys
Black Knight
Domestic Disturbance
Summer Catch
Kyoko
Longshadow
Bruno
Takedown
28 Days
The Pavillion
Morgan's Ferry
Waterproof
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
Muppets from Space
Virus
A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries
Enchanted
Black Dog
Shadrach
The Cutoff
Dreams and Wishes
Off-Season
The Night Flier
The Jackal
Bloodmoon
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Lolita
This World, Then the Fireworks
Traveller
The Grave
Horry Story
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday
My Teacher's Wife
Empire Records
Fall Time
Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
Stateside
The Road to Wellville
Radioland Murders
It Runs in the Family
The Crow
Chasers
The Hudsucker Proxy
Houshold Saints
Super Mario Bros.
Amos and Andrew
Alan & Naomi
The Butcher's Wife
Rambling Rose
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret of the Ooze
Sleeping with the Enemy
Billy Bathgate
29th Street
Tune in Tomorrow
The Exorcist III
Betsy's Wedding
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Loose Cannons
Everybody Wins
Little Monsters
Weekend at Bernie's
Collision Course
Cyborg
Dream a Little Dream
Dracula's Widow
Track 29
Traxx
Date with an Angel
Hiding Out
Weeds
The Squeeze
From the Hip
The Bedroom Window
No Mercy
King Kong Lives
Crimes of the Heart
Trick or Treat
Manhunter
Blue Velvet
Raw Deal
Silver Bullet
Marie
Year of the Dragon
Cat's Eye
Firestarter


Some of my other favorite things in Wilmington besides the beach, downtown and filming areas are:

• oak trees! (my favorite road in Wilmington is a road covered in oak trees that opens up to overlook the waterway -just gorgeous - Airlie Road - in a lot of Dawson's Creek episodes too) I LOVE oak trees - there is something so romantic about them.


• The annual Azalea Festival --- pictures below - I LOVE the azalea's and love the belles in their dresses and garden hats and gentleman from the Citadel - a piece of history revived every year!


• Airlie Gardens - just gorgeous and again lots of history
• I just love the history in general - the old southern plantations around the city... and even the buildings and houses right in downtown -- I have to take a picture of 3rd street - with all the oak trees, huge porches, sidewalks - I love it! I would LOVE to go back in history 100 - 150 years ago but ONLy for a day!