Tell us about Wilmington, N.C.

Jenny is an avid plantation and old homes visitor and is interested in visiting Wilmington.

What compelling reason is there to go there and visit? What put Wilmington on the map and what is its claim to fame? Is it worthwhile to spend a couple hundred bucks on avgas to go there for a couple of days?

Thanks guys/gals,

Mansion tour

Pierre,

My niece Jayne and her husband Tobin flew their RV7 down to Wilmington last week from the Norfolk area and did the Bellamy mansion tour. Here's a link for more info: http://www.bellamymansion.org/

Maybe they will see your post and give you some more info.

BB-55

If you're a history buff the battleship North Carolina is anchored there as a museum. Access to all the spaces is pretty untrestricted and it's fun to tour.

If your wife is interested in old mansions and if you've never visited before, be sure to check out Berry College -- specifically the Martha Berry house. Also the Chieftain's Museum is nearby. This was the home of Major Ridge who was one of the signatories to the Treaty of New Echota which led to the Trail of Tears.

This would be an easy day trip in and out of RMG for you guys. They have rental cars at the FBO for a very reasonable price.

Ahh Wilmington. Nice town. I met my wife our freshman year at UNCW back in the early 90s. She lived there for nearly 15 years. I spent a few years there myself (we live in NJ now). The downtown area is great, especially if you appreciate historic homes. They have hundreds of homes protected within the historic district. The town has imposed rather strict restrictions in an effort to keep the houses as period correct as they can. Some have joking called it the hysterical district. Within it is a very pleasant downtown business area at the waterfront(Cape Fear river).

Wilmington international airport is just a few miles beyond the north end of town, near the movie/tv studios. 727s and the like typically share the place with mid sized commuters and biz jets. There are some GA planes around so you wouldn't be totally alone among the big boys. There are no other real options in town other than the small fly in community about 5 miles south, but it has a strict homeowners association that requires "approval" in advance before being allowed to land. Basically you need to be an invited guest. The battleship SS North Carolina is a fun tour if your into that kind of thing. It's just a short watertaxi across the Cape Fear river from the downtown area.

A few ideas:

http://www.kilwins.com/ Awesome home made ice cream and sweets! downtown.

http://www.deluxenc.com/ Our favorite resturaunt. It's in the downtown historic area in a fairly narrow quaint old building. The food is great. A bit pricey, but well worth it last time I checked. Wilmington has no shortage of good food. That's for sure.

http://www.cameronartmuseum.com/ If your into art musuems, it's not bad at all.

http://www.cfrboats.com/ The local riverboat tour boat if you want a riverfront history lesson.

http://www.bellamymansion.org/visit-bellamy-mansion.htm Certainly worth the visit.

http://www.screengemsstudios.com/nc/tours.html Wilmington has one of the largest movie/TV studios in the country.

http://www.wilmington.net/wilmington-attractions-tours.php Some general things to do.

Wilminton's Wrightsville Beach and intercoastal waterway area is a nice oceanfront area with some great seafood resturaunts.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?h...&hnear=Wilmington,+NC&cid=1720622801869350827 Causway cafe, A great very casual place for breakfast.


Let me know if you have any specific questions.

George

As usual, VAFers come through...

...and all the knowledge base here is akin to an encyclopedia!

Thanks a lot!!

As far as what put Wilmington on the map: below is a far better explanation than I could possibly muster.

http://www.wilmington.net/wilmington_history.php

http://www.wilmington.net/wilmington-attractions.php

We both miss Wilmington, and we have considered moving back there at some point. If there was a nice sized fly in community nearby (the wife wasn't impressed by the little one south of town), we'd probably already be back there.

My wife suggested the Salt Works for breakfast/lunch. Good southern food, and I'll bet 10 bucks that your sweet tea glass will never reach half empty, go ahead and try to stay ahead of them:

Salt Works II
4.5 star rating Reviews (1)
4001 Wrightsville Ave, Wilmington, NC 28403
(910) 392-1241

She will shower you with suggestions if you give her half a chance, just let me know.



George

Pierre...

You will love a visit to Wilmington, my home town for a few years. As you know, I live 45 miles south in Ocean Isle Beach, but still use Wilmington as my "go to town destination.
Just a few facts...
Wilmington has one of the largest "Old Town" districts in the country, encompassing nearly 57 city blocks. Thats big big big for a town the size of ours.
We are the nations third largest feature film destination, behind Hollywood and New York. Many films you have seen, and TV shows you watch were filmed here.
Get a tour of EUE Tri Star pictures studios. There is lots of movie magic here!!
Also the home of many Movie stars and TV personalities, we make them feel like regular folks. The recently deceased Dennis Hopper said it was the only place in the country he could live a normal life. He lived here for 30 years. That says a lot about our community. Others, include Andy Griffith, Valerie Betinelli, Huey Lewis,and John Travolta and his missus Kelly Preston. JT used to visit my old EAA chapter 297 at at Stag Airpark. I also lived 5 houses down from a home he built, but have never had the pleasure of meeting him.

Stag Airpark, and the guys and gals of chapter 297 will show you what EAA is all about. Great folks, and some very interesting projects have come out of this very neat community. The first customer built Sonex from Tony Spicer has graced magazine covers, and a scratch built Ryan that truly amazed me. There are a couple of amazing helicopters too. Nice grass strip too.

A very good town to dine in. I have heard a rumor that there are more restaurant licences per capita issued in Wilmington than in NYC. I am not real sure about that, but it's hard to get a bad meal. The previously mentioned Saltworks is a favorite of mine. Best pizza south of NYC at Elizabeths. It's the real deal, and cheap too!!

Our beaches are some of the best on the East Coast. Seems like a big secret. Wrightsville, basically in the city, and further south, Ocean Isle, and Sunset beach offer a real quiet vacation. Metal detecting is good on our beaches as they face to the South. You can watch the sunset over the Beach here on the East Coast. Affordable, clean and pleasantly under commercialized.

Fort Fischer Aquarium is just awesome. Not as big as some, but has a very interesting presentation.

Ingraham planetarium in Sunset is a good relax. See the stars. Great place to take a nap too.

Battleship North Carolina. Not to be missed. Makes me feel a little like you were there.

Orton Plantation and Gardens offers a glimpse into the past. 17th century rice plantation, and impressive gardens.

I could go on and on, but it's worth a visit anytime. A great example of an ancient low country southern city full of interesting things to see and do.

Hope to see you soon,
Chris

Pierre...

You will love a visit to Wilmington, my home town for a few years. As you know, I live 45 miles south in Ocean Isle Beach, but still use Wilmington as my "go to town destination.
Just a few facts...
Wilmington has one of the largest "Old Town" districts in the country, encompassing nearly 57 city blocks. Thats big big big for a town the size of ours.
We are the nations third largest feature film destination, behind Hollywood and New York. Many films you have seen, and TV shows you watch were filmed here.
Get a tour of EUE Tri Star pictures studios. There is lots of movie magic here!!
Also the home of many Movie stars and TV personalities, we make them feel like regular folks. The recently deceased Dennis Hopper said it was the only place in the country he could live a normal life. He lived here for 30 years. That says a lot about our community. Others, include Andy Griffith, Valerie Betinelli, Huey Lewis,and John Travolta and his missus Kelly Preston. JT used to visit my old EAA chapter 297 at at Stag Airpark. I also lived 5 houses down from a home he built, but have never had the pleasure of meeting him.

Stag Airpark, and the guys and gals of chapter 297 will show you what EAA is all about. Great folks, and some very interesting projects have come out of this very neat community. The first customer built Sonex from Tony Spicer has graced magazine covers, and a scratch built Ryan that truly amazed me. There are a couple of amazing helicopters too. Nice grass strip too.

A very good town to dine in. I have heard a rumor that there are more restaurant licences per capita issued in Wilmington than in NYC. I am not real sure about that, but it's hard to get a bad meal. The previously mentioned Saltworks is a favorite of mine. Best pizza south of NYC at Elizabeths. It's the real deal, and cheap too!!

Our beaches are some of the best on the East Coast. Seems like a big secret. Wrightsville, basically in the city, and further south, Ocean Isle, and Sunset beach offer a real quiet vacation. Metal detecting is good on our beaches as they face to the South. You can watch the sunset over the Beach here on the East Coast. Affordable, clean and pleasantly under commercialized.

Fort Fischer Aquarium is just awesome. Not as big as some, but has a very interesting presentation.

Ingraham planetarium in Sunset is a good relax. See the stars. Great place to take a nap too.

Battleship North Carolina. Not to be missed. Makes me feel a little like you were there.

Orton Plantation and Gardens offers a glimpse into the past. 17th century rice plantation, and impressive gardens.

I could go on and on, but it's worth a visit anytime. A great example of an ancient low country southern city full of interesting things to see and do.

Hope to see you soon,
Chris

Jenny read all the replies....

....and asked me to thank all you guys.

Best,

Pierre,

Late post, but we were just there this past Saturday as Mike pointed out. I won't repeat everything already mentioned, however wanted to add that the FBO we chose was Aero Services North. This was based off of comments on Airnav.com. I highly recommend them. Very friendly, let us use the courtesy car even though we didn't buy gas and did not charge us any kind of fee although I think they were supposed too. Gas is high, but apparently a function of city taxes rather than FBOs choice. Apparently there are two "Aero Services" FBOs on the field so make sure you ask for "North". The 3rd FBO is Air Wilmington, probably a great FBO if you're flying a jet and buying a 1000+ gallons.