5 nights/6 days near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina: Top attractions including Wrightsville Beach, New Hanover County Arboretum, and Fort Fisher State Historic Site
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| Fort Fisher State Historic Site, Kure Beach, NC |
Since my wife and myself’s early retirement in August 2020, we have made the state of North Carolina our home. North Carolina, known as the Tarheel State, is one of those very lucky states where the economy has been growing in leaps and bounds.
When we first visited the state in 2008 to see our family, the suburban area near Raleigh seemed to be almost rural with some newer developments, but otherwise plenty of what we would see in places like rural West Virginia or rural Mississippi. Many houses we saw on our way to our brother’s house looked to be in serious need of repair, and the area leading to his place, looked just like any other neighborhood that has seen better days.
Finding a decent place to eat was a challenge back then, but so was looking for a nice attraction nearby. In short, we weren’t impressed. Fast forward to year 2020, and boy did things change, big time.
The neighborhoods leading into Raleigh looked completely different, with so many new housing and retail developments that we thought we were in somewhere more upscale, like Long Island, New York. No longer were there old, rundown houses, and we no longer had to struggle to find a nice place to eat! There were so many options for food.
After moving down to the state in 2020, we got to explore the scenic Falls Lake Dam Recreation Area, the excellent Falls of Neuse Trail, and the amazing North Carolina Museum of Art. After sampling delicious foods from local restaurants including Italian, Cajun, Mexican, Venezuelan, Chinese, and the usual national chain restaurants, we were truly impressed.
Although we had spent several months in Atlantic Beach along the North Carolina’s Bogue Banks and a week in Asheville, we really hadn’t explored much elsewhere. That, was about to change when we used our Hilton Honors Rewards program points to book a 5 night stay at the excellent Homewood Suites Wilmington/Mayfaire.
Thanks to all of our stays at various Hilton hotels like Homewood Suites, Home2 Suites, Hampton Inn, and Embassy Suites and our American Express Hilton credit card, we managed to rack up close to 350,000 points equaling about $1750 in monetary value at Hilton Hotels. With those points, we got a 5th night free when booking a 4 night stay using points.
We were ready to finally reap the rewards of opening up that American Express Hilton credit card and staying 60 nights throughout the year. With different promotions being offered by Hilton several times a year, it wasn’t hard to earn all those points in just one year.
On a sunny morning in late November, we left our place in North Carolina for Homewood Suites Wilmington/Mayfaire. We knew we couldn’t check in too early, so we decided to stop at a restaurant in Wrightsville Beach area called Fish House Grill for lunch.
The restaurant is a well regarded place with harbor and waterfront views, located right near the Wrightsville Beach Drawbridge. We waited to be seated, then got a table with nice views.
We ordered the mahi mahi blackened tacos and the shrimp tacos, then enjoyed the awesome views while waiting for our meals. Why not get some fresh seafood while near the ocean, right?
Food was good, as advertised, at a decent price point. Add in the amazing views of the waterfront, and we could see why this place is so popular.
We finished off our delicious tacos then headed towards our hotel which would be about 10 minutes away. But before checking in, we stopped by at one of our favorite supermarkets, Harris Teeter.
We picked up some meals (sandwiches, pasta salad, soups), drinks (water, flavored seltzers), and snacks (cheese & crackers, chips) for our 5 night stay. This is absolutely one of our favorite things to do when traveling. By buying meals at supermarkets, we end up saving tons of money on food and they’re tasty on top of that!
We drove just behind the Harris Teeter supermarket to arrive at our temporary home for the next 5 days. Check in was smooth and we got a nice, clean room with a view of the hotel main entrance and the streets below.
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| Homewood Suites Wilmington/Mayfaire |
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| Nice view of the streets below |
Using this hotel as our home base, we explored some of the most popular attractions nearby. These are as follows:
- Wrightsville Beach
Wrightsville Beach is a popular North Carolina coastal beach town with easy access to the I-40. It boasts a walkable island with plenty of water sports like surfing and paddle boarding. We had to check out this beach!
We drove the short 10 minutes to arrive at the end of the island to park at the Jack Parker Beach Access Parking. This is a rather small parking lot with maybe around 30 parking spaces. We knew this going in, but thanks to it being December, we found a spot with no problems.
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| Walking towards the ocean |
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| Wrightsville Beach, NC |
Day was cloudy and super windy as we started to walk towards the ocean. We saw trails of dust/sand creating a ghostly makeshift ripples and on top of the beach area thanks to the high winds.
It was as if we were walking on a distant planet with its ghostly shapes acting like transparent snakes. With the howling sound of the fast moving winds, and crashing, loud, choppy waves adding to the overall ambiance, we were feeling that with every passing minute. What an introduction to the beach…
We walked along the beach, trying to survive the biting mini dust storm created by the winds. Everything seemed to be thrown into the air, and during this brief walk, I managed to lose some tissue that was perched close to the entrance of my jacket pocket. Oops.
Chasing after it was pointless as it moved at an impossibly fast clip. I gave up the quest quickly. What was more important was our survival: we needed to get out of there, especially the biting dust/sand hitting our bodies.
We moved quicker than usual heading back towards our car, then we headed towards the middle of the Wrightsville Beach, where many condos were located. We found this area much calmer than the southern tip of the island.
We grabbed a bench to finally enjoy the beach and the ocean…
The weather seemed to change every few minutes that day. It started out cloudy but it started to clear up as the day progressed. The beach and the ocean which looked so menacing just few minutes before, now looked more inviting and benign.
We stayed for several minutes just taking in the scenery, and silently thanking the universe for our early retirement. It really allows us to enjoy the slower pace of our current, retired lives. No more running in circles like rats in a cage trying our best to survive…
- Fort Fisher State Historic Site
Fort Fisher State Historic Site is known for its largest Confederate earthwork fortification in the United States crucial for keeping the port of Wilmington open during the Civil War. It features a modern visitor center, earthwork fortifications, trails, and it’s one of the most popular attractions in the Wilmington area.
We left the comfortable confines of our hotel for the Fort Fisher, and arrived 40 minute later at the modern, impressive visitor center. There were plenty of parking spaces but the visitor center was booming with lots of fellow visitors.
We went inside the visitor center to use their restrooms then looked around briefly to learn about the fort’s history. We then proceeded back outside to walk the fort grounds via the popular trail that loops around the marsh and the fort area.
We started our exploration of the fort first, which was very cool indeed. We walked through the smallish walkways inside the fort, getting a feel for how small the average soldier’s stature must’ve been during the Civil War.
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| Earthwork fortifications |
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| Modern visitor center |
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| Fort Fisher State Historic Site |
We continued towards the marsh trail with wide open views of the Cape Fear River and the surrounding marshlands. The well maintained wooden boardwalk made walking the trail a breeze, and we made good progress on our journey through the marshes.
It took us around 30 minutes to complete the loop at the site. We really enjoyed seeing a bit of history and the always beautiful marsh views.
We decided that we should check out the beach, just across the road from the visitor center. It was a decision well made, as seeing the ocean anywhere, anytime, is always nature’s little treat! Awesome…
- New Hanover County Arboretum
New Hanover County Arboretum is a 7 acre public garden showcasing plants from the southeastern North Carolina. It features over 30 themed gardens like Japanese, aquatic, and children’s gardens.
Being that we were only about 2 miles away from this place, we decided to check out this arboretum.
We arrived on a rather chilly morning and found the large parking lot with plenty of empty spaces. We made our way inside (free admission!) after parking very near the entrance to the arboretum.
Even though most of the flowers were no longer blooming, we still enjoyed the inviting layout of the gardens. We walked through the gardens to get a feel for the place, and eventually we were drawn to the main focal point at the arboretum, the koi pond.
It was hard to miss as we saw many fellow visitors near the pond. Whenever we travel, we notice that a particular attraction that has most people gathered around it, usually means it’s popular. This was no exception!
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| Beautiful koi pond |
Pond was absolutely stunning with colorful koi swimming energetically under the water. We stopped for few minutes to watch the koi play and to see the still awesome changing leaves. We particularly liked the dragon statue right in the middle of the pond.
Shortly afterwards we walked over to the Japanese Garden & Tea House, one of our other favorite spots at the arboretum. We loved the amazing replica of the tea house and the gardens. It was one of the best replicas we’ve seen anywhere.
We’ve never been to Japan, but it felt and looked right, with many neat attention to detail. We walked around the house and the outdoor gardens and wondered what it might feel like to do this in Japan. Oh, well. Maybe that’s in our future travel plans…
Being that the arboretum is only about 7 acres, it took us about 20 minutes to see the gardens. Had there been blossoming flowers and trees, we might’ve stayed awhile, but it was winter after all. No worries. We’ll take whatever we get! It was still an awesome experience to break up the day.
In conclusion:
Even though we just had 5 nights/6 days to explore the Wrightsville Beach area, we had a very memorable stay. Thanks to one of our favorite supermarkets, Harris Teeter, right across the street from our hotel, we weren’t going hungry, to say the least.
We ate sushi on “Sushi Friday” with their $5 sushi rolls, and their $8 gigantic sandwiches on Friday. We really pigged out during our stay. Oh, the fish tacos at the Fish House Grill were just sublime, especially with their awesome waterfront views!
We really made our short stay count, exploring the 3 aforementioned attractions. We had a great time, and we think you will too.
Thank you for reading and happy trails!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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