Exploring Downtown Wilmington & Wrightsville Beach

A few weekends ago, Alex and I took a day trip to the coast to explore Downtown Wilmington. In the six years we've lived in North Carolina, neither of us had ever been to the famous port city, so we thought it'd be fun to escape quarantine and spend a sunny Saturday exploring the area. Though we didn't make our way into many of the shops, restaurants, and tourist points that people rave about online (thanks COVID), we still had an exciting day outside and made note of all the things we wanted to come back and see when things start to feel a little more normal again. Here's hoping that comes sooner rather than later as I’m beginning to miss travel and all the wonderful feelings that accompany visiting a new place for the first time.

After making our coffee to-go, Alex and I jumped in the car and drove 1 hour and 45 minutes into Downtown Wilmington to our first stop of the day: the Riverwalk. As we arrived Downtown, we found some metered parking close to where we needed to be, dropped in a couple hours' worth of quarters, and set off to explore the boardwalk. It was the first Saturday of the 2020 fall season and I was trying to feel all the fall vibes, dressed in an Old Navy flannel over a neutral colored t-shirt with leggings and combat boots. Truth be told, it was WAY too hot for fall cozies — the afternoon temperature crept into the mid-90s with the coastal humidity, so my clothing selection was not practical whatsoever. By the time we walked five minutes from the car to the Riverwalk, I was already sweating. There weren't many people out and about, so we took a few photos and I immediately shed the flannel and tied it around my waist for the rest of the walk. Fall in North Carolina can be so volatile sometimes!

Walking along the Riverwalk, Alex and I enjoyed one another's company and shared lots of good conversation and good laughs as we always do when we spend time with each other. Though he’s the one who encouraged me to wear a flannel in the first place, Alex made a mockery of me for my wardrobe choices the entire first part of our walk. It was a bad decision, I agree. Alex and I always joke, “Well, well, well… if it isn’t the consequence of my own actions…” Fits perfectly even in this scenario.

There were many parts of the Riverwalk that were closed off due to construction, so we didn’t have the ability to walk all the way from one start point to the other (I read about the construction online so I wasn’t disappointed or surprised there were impassable spots along the route). As we approached the part of the Riverwalk where there was too much construction to continue to navigate around, we took a detour and crossed the street to visit the nearby Cotton Exchange. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many of the small businesses occupying space in the building were either closed or pretty much empty, a sad reality we’ve come to see a lot in 2020. Between the heat and having to wear a mask, I wasn't in the mood for shopping, so Alex and I opted for a couple scoops of ice cream instead. We sat at a little outdoor table and ate our ice cream while listening to a female musician sing a live cover of Keith Urban's song "Somewhere In My Car". After finishing our sweet treat, we set off to explore the other side of the Riverwalk.

Along the second half of our Riverwalk adventure, we passed by several restaurants and small outdoor venues overlooking the Cape Fear River and saw lots of cute and quaint setups for what looked to be wedding dinner venues. Everything looked so pretty and perfectly put together; the atmosphere was peaceful with minimal foot traffic and lots of good bridge views and big boats and yachts coming and going. There wasn’t as much construction on this part of the Riverwalk, so our views were better and more unobstructed.

At the end point of the Riverwalk, we decided to walk just a half mile more to a local brewery along the river. Alex opted for a Hefeweizen while I chose a Kolsch. We sat in the back area of the brewery right in front of a lovely painting of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, the bridge you see in the distance along the entire course of the Riverwalk. The beers were really good too, but we only had time for one each as we had to drive back home.

To add just a little more excitement before concluding our day trip, Alex and I popped over to Wrightsville Beach, which sits 20 minutes from Downtown Wilmington. As we drove up over the big drawbridge (which by the way I’m terrified of driving over), we came into Wrightsville Beach inter-coastal. It can be a pain to find parking at Wrightsville Beach, so Alex and I laughed in irony when the first parking spot we came across was for Public Access 24, aka the place we got engaged almost three months ago. You can read about that here.

There’s something so satisfying about walking along the beach. We admired surfers and beachgoers alike as we paced along the shore. The sand was not burn-your-toes hot and the water felt really nice and warm, even for late September.

Throughout our beach walk, I snapped a bunch of pictures on my Canon DSLR, many of which I was really proud of as I looked back through the photo log later on. Have you ever taken a really nice candid photo of someone and wished you could find their information to share the photos you took of them? I took a few of those along our walk — one of a family standing at the edge of the water, one of a little girl lying in the sand laughing as the waves crashed the shore and covered her up, and one of a surfer walking by on his quest to ride some waves in the ocean. Sometimes I wonder how many candid photos other people have of me too. Anyone else? Candid photos are always some of my favorites.

Before turning back and calling it a day, Alex and I walked to the pier about a half mile down. I love the aesthetic of ocean piers — just a big giant piece of wood that extends deep into the depths of the ocean. Sometimes I like to walk atop the pier to see all the fishermen, other times I like to hangout underneath and watch the waves come in. As we had no money with us and minimal time remaining anyways, we chose to go under the pier and I watched in envy as one guy setup a hammock between two of the pier posts; it looked like the best little setup one could find on the whole beach.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, the ocean is one of my ultimate favorite places. Between the peacefulness, the salt air breeze, and the sound of the water crashing in and pulling back out with the undertow, a trip to the oceanfront is the ultimate form of relaxation and stress relief for me. I love the way the ocean clears my mind and helps me feel recharged and rejuvenated and ready to take on any problem with a fresh perspective. I feel eternally grateful to live so close to the beautiful North Carolina beaches. Our quick trip to Wrightsville Beach sealed the envelope on a great day trip to the Wilmington area and brought back lots of special memories from our engagement day.

Have you ever been to the Downtown Wilmington or Wrightsville Beach areas?

Enjoy!

JB