I realize at the rate I'm going, most of my posts could be tagged "Throw Back Thursday", but for now I will just embrace these chances when I do get to write. This post is about a long, kid-free weekend this past October when Tom and I went to Wilmington, NC for our friends' wedding. My parents kindly agreed to watch the girls (thank you!!!), so we drove to Iowa Thursday night, got them settled in and drove home to pack for our trip. We took an early flight out of O'Hare on Friday and then had a 3+ hour layover in Philly. It was a planned layover, but one I didn't think I would enjoy as much as I did. Honest! The terminal we were in had a lot to offer. We got coffee, I bought some new shirts at Gap, make-up at The Body Shop, a book - an actual book that I finished by Sunday - took a long walk and we even had a nice lunch. Soon it was time to board the plane for Wilmington and when we landed the weather was perfect. We hopped in the hotel shuttle and I have to admit, the theme song to Dawson's Creek started going through my head - it was filmed there and yes I watched all six seasons. And for those of you who are now humming the theme song - you're welcome!
 |
| Philly Airport - our vacation in a vacation |
After checking in at
Riverview Suites in the historic downtown Wilmington, we hung out on the balcony of our room. We had a great view of the Cape Fear River,
Battleship North Carolina and the set up for
Riverfest. Since 1979, Riverfest has been local favorite with live music, plenty of food, lots of arts and crafts and I noticed a lot of people dressed as pirates. We had a rehearsal dinner to attend that night, but we left early to check out the festival. A band had already started playing right next to our building, so we grabbed a couple beers and enjoyed the music. Then we strolled along the river walk to the rehearsal dinner where we toasted the happy couple and had some delicious and authentic North Carolina barbeque. After the rehearsal dinner we decided to stop for a nightcap and walked around until we found
Front Street Brewery - the brew outstanding beer and make the best fried pickles I have ever had.
 |
| A view from our room - Riverfest was right below us |
 |
| The view from our room - the battleship |
 |
| At Front Street Brewery |
The next morning Tom checked out breakfast spots on Yelp and he found
9 Bakery and Lounge. The place was busy, so we happily sat at the bar. The highlight of our meal were the fresh donuts at the end. Magnificent! Aside from a boat ride, we didn't have a lot planned for the rest of the day. On our walk I did spy a cute store and scored a new dress. I couldn't resist! We looked at all the options for boat rides and settled on a little hour cruise that had a pirate theme. Although we couldn't really hear what the tour guide was saying, we did enjoy the ride and relaxing in the sun.
 |
| Wilmington, NC |
Lunch was next and we went to
The Pilot House. It's right on the water and of course we had to sit outside where we soaked up the sun, enjoyed a cool beverage and the fresh fish. We also had some unintentional entertainment from a group of teenagers and a photographer taking what we think were senior pictures. They were really hamming it up. Tiny top hats and all.
The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around Riverfest and picking up a few souvenirs at
The Cotton Exchange, a group of 24 local shops all situated in eight historic buildings. Soon it was time to get ready for the wedding, which we could walk to. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was held at the
Bellamy Mansion Museum where we were free to explore. It was fun to imagine what it would have been like to live there. At the reception was winding down, the sky exploded with fireworks from Riverfest and it was the perfect way to end the night.
 |
| All dressed up and ready to celebrate! |
|
|
The next day was spent getting home. A delay in Wilmington meant that after running through the Charlotte airport, we missed our flight. Let's just say that layover was not as enjoyable at Friday's, but at the end of the day we were back home with our girls and that's all that really matters. Not to mention we had a fabulous time in Wilmington!
