When I first saw a 36 hour layover in ILM up for grabs, I had to Google what it was… Wilmington, NC?! It looked adorable in Google Images, so I added it to my schedule. This is the longest layover I’ve ever had – two nights in a city is hard to beat, but it’s even better when it’s in an adorable, southern beachside town like Wilmington. And of all days, it fell on Mother’s Day. I took it as a little sign from my momma in heaven.
The night I arrived, it was raining and we had a little delay, so it was also sunset. I got to my room and looked out the window to the most beautiful pink sky reflecting over the river.
I was so exhausted though, I decided to stay in and order room service (for the first time ever!!) and it was great. So relaxing. I planned to get up for sunrise, so I set my alarm for 6am. But.. I was still too tired, so my snooze button won me over. By 9 am I was up and at ’em and walked down the street from the hotel in search of breakfast and coffee. I stopped at Tugboat Tony’s for a bagel and Bespoke for an iced coffee, then sat on the edge of the riverwalk to enjoy my breakfast.
Now that I had some caffeine and carbs, I was ready to explore! I had no idea what this town had to offer, so it was a lot of fun just wandering around and enjoying the sights. The town is so quaint and historic, with colorful old buildings and horses on the streets. By lunch time I decided to make my way to the beach for some salt and sand.
I had to take an Uber because the beach is on the other side of Wilmington from our riverside hotel. But it wasn’t very far at all and quite a nice scenic drive. I arrived at Johnnie Mercer’s Pier and there were sooo many people. I had almost forgot it was Mother’s Day, so of course everyone and their mother was at the beach! But I found myself a nice spot in the sand and it was sunny and 85 degrees – I couldn’t be happier laying there on my towel and soaking up the sun.
After a couple hours beachside, I Ubered back to the hotel and got freshened up for dinner. I was by myself and it was Mother’s Day, so I felt weird going into a restaurant and asking for a table for 1. All I could find with decent take out was a pizza place called I <3 NY Pizza… I thought this was pretty funny because it was the furthest place from NY and I couldn’t tell you the last time I ate pizza in actual New York. Anyways, I got myself a pizza and walked along the riverside taking photos of the gorgeous sunset.
As the sun went down I realized how lucky I am to have a job that gives me opportunities like this. Never in my life would I have thought to go to Wilmington, and here I was enjoying two whole nights in one of the most beautiful places I’d never even heard of.
Wilmington, I hope to see you again soon 🙂
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