Day: May 14, 2024

North Carolina Baby Visit Day #2 “Let’s Get Outside!”

by reissmd, posted in Wilmington, North Carolina

We planned a lovely series of outdoor activities for Day #2 in North Carolina with our daughter. Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate and brought us a rainy day. Weather would not stand in our way and out we went to explore Wilmington, NC.

First on the menu was a visit to the Airlie Gardens [300 Airlie Rd, Wilmington, NC 28403]. We tried to head there yesterday but arrived just after closing. Today we were not to be denied.

The Gardens were beautiful. Unfortunately the tram was not running but the rain clouds were. The main attraction at the gardens is the Bottle Chapel. It is made of discarded bottles and cement. It has a wooden and metal frame and measures 17 x 17 feet. LA people might think it looks like a mini version of our Watts Towers. See below.

Bottle Chapel at the Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, N.C. Selfie of Patrice and me with one of our favorite photograpers.

We also visited the Butterfly House. This got us out of the rain but we only saw a few butterflies .

Western Giant Swallowtail who lives in the Butterfly House.

The gardens also had a number of gorgeous flowers and other forms of vegetation.

Beautiful to the eye and to the nose: Jasmine
The lovely but poisonous Foxglove. Source of the medicine we call Digitalis.

Then Erica spotted this critter in a lake.

A turtle swimming about and occasionally checking us out.

After the gardens we headed to one our favorite travel activities, A FOOD TOUR.

We had a little trouble finding the starting point when the link in the confirmation email sent us to a location about 15 miles from where we were supposed to be. One phone call and a great GPS got us to the tour just about 1 minute late. After apologies to the other participants we were on our way.

First stop was Prost Biergarten [115 S Front St, Wilmington, NC 28401] where we had a potato pancake (or a latke as my brethren would say). It was outstanding. It was served with a tiny glass of beer which I loved. Yes, I drank some beer.

Potato pancake, with some sour cream, apple sauce, and a small glass of beer. Seconds after this picture was taken, all were located in my stomach.

Next we headed to Beer Barrio [34 N Front St, Wilmington, NC 28401] for Mexican food. Living in Southern California has convinced me that people outside our region don’t know what good Mexican food is. I couldn’t imagine anyone in North Carolina knowing how to make decent Mexican food. I was wrong, this place served us a wonderful “Pulled Pork Soft Taco”. It was also accompanied by a small glass of beer which I again drank (yes, 2 small beers in the same day).

Pulled pork tacos. Also notice the small glasses of beer.
They also offered a vegetarian taco for those wanting to avoid meat. I didn’t try this one but I heard it was great.

Next we were off to Savorez Latin Cuisine [402 Chestnut St #4026, Wilmington, NC 28401] where we were served a tostada with seared tuna with a margarita. Neither are my favorites and I only tasted them. Erica said they were good so I will leave it at that.

Tostada and a margarita. You might like it but it was yuck to me.

We next went to Floriana [2 Market St, Wilmington, NC 28401] where they served us Arancini, (a fried risotto ball) and a glass of red wine. Sorry I didn’t take a picture of either. I think the beers were starting to get to me. I didn’t care for the wine but did like the risotto.

For dessert we headed to Gelarto [18 S Water St STE 5, Wilmington, NC 28401]. We had delicious gelato there. I had the rum raisin again. Again? Yes, we went there yesterday after our river tour. Sorry no picture of the gelato but I did find this pasted to the door of the establishment.

Didn’t think I would see this in North Carolina.

After the tour we talked about going across the river to see the USS North Carolina but being cold, wet, and under the influence of beer we decided to go back to the hotel and take a nap. I know, I am boring.

Tomorrow we head for home, and say good bye to Erica. Vegas odds are 70% saying that I will cry. I won’t comment.

North Carolina Baby Visit Day #1 “Why We Travel”

by reissmd, posted in Wilmington, North Carolina

Today we headed to Wilmington to see our daughter, Erica. That is Wilmington, North Carolina not Wilmington, California, Ohio, or Delaware. Last year, Erica told us she planned to go to North Carolina for a friend’s wedding. How could we pass up an easy opportunity to see our baby?

Someone asked me if I planned to blog about this trip. I replied, “Blogging is my only reason for traveling these days”. That was a joke of course but traveling has become so stressful a lot of the fun has been taken out of it. For example they ask you to arrive 2 hours early for a domestic flight and 3 hours ahead of departure for international travel. That alone is enough to discourage you. My friend, Mike, offered to take us to the airport and traffic was crazier than usual. It was so bad that if I said I owe MIke one, I would be lying. I owe him two.

So we flew into Wilmington, North Carolina last night and this morning got to see our girl.

The three of us walked around the town a bit and took an uneventful boat tour on part of the Cape Fear river. Our guide told us that the movie entitled “Cape Fear” supposedly took place in this area. The movie makers took some poetic license since the picture was actually filmed in Georgia and Florida. As you can tell from the sign below, this tour did not have me in mind.

When a tour’s main drawing point is a “Full Bar” it might not be my kind of attraction.

But let’s get to what the followers of this blog really want, PICTURES OF FOOD! Patrice found a great restaurant called “Flying Machine Oyster Bar” [530 Causeway Dr T-1, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480 (910) 239-9474]. Knowing how much I like to drink, doesn’t this seem like my kind of place? We were told they were known for their fish which is something I do like.

Our waiter, Anthony, gave us a run down of what to expect from the variety of dishes. Monday night they have a special of raw oysters for $1 each. Erica wanted to try one. We asked Anthony if there was a minimum we could order and he said no. But there was a maximum. We could only order 36 or less. I think we could safely stay under that maximum since neither Patrice nor I wanted any. We ordered 4 and when they arrived I have to say I was intrigued. As you might know I am not into sushi. I like my food dead and cooked so for me to give raw oysters a try was a real adventure. See below.

Four raw oysters waiting for me to say yes.

I saw Erica eat one so I had to give it a try. I have to admit, it was not bad. Actually it was quite good. I would have had more but we had lots of yummy stuff on the way. I ordered the Shrimp and Grits. I have a rule, never order Shrimp and Grits above the Mason Dixon Line. We are well south of that demarcation so I had at it.

Shrimp and Grits were delicious.

Patrice and Erica shared an entree (Lobster Mac and Cheese) and an appetizer (Pork Wings). I found the idea of pork wings especially interesting since I never knew pigs could fly.

Pork wings. They were spectacular (I had to try one).
Lobster Mac and Cheese. I tried this too. I better go to the gym.

Many thanks to our server, Anthony, who made sure we didn’t make any errors with our order.

Two of my favorite women, Erica and Patrice (love you too Lindsay), with our new friend Anthony.

Like I said I better hit the gym to work off some of those calories (I failed to tell you about the gelato we had earlier in the day). Actually, I think I will lie down until my gym urge passes.

See you tomorrow when they are predicting an 85% chance of rain. Ugh.