Wilmington, NC June 2015 – Riverfront, Wake N Bake Donuts and Carolina Beach

 

I’m back home from my home away from home.

Doesn’t it seem like most of the time we need a vacation to recover from vacation? Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE going out of town and traveling but it feels like it takes me forever to get caught up!

Not only was I working like crazy to get caught up on my regular work, I had a few last minute deadlines to finish up and my 30th birthday was yesterday!

That’s right. I’m officially done with my 20’s and as of now I’m 30 years old! 30 YEARS OLD!

I’m totally fine with turning 30, well for the most part.

The only thing is, I always imagined that I would have my life totally figured out by the time I was 30. haha Growing up, I thought that by the time I was 30 I would have my stuff together, I would have an awesome amazing career, I would have a husband and kids and I’d be living in an awesome mansion. bahaha.

I have the husband….. haha 🙂

Yeah, here I am, a 30 year old that’s still trying to figure out her life and where she belongs.

But you know what? One place where I feel like I belong is in Wilmington. I know you’ve read about my trips to Wilmington and how much I love it there but here’s another little post about my latest visit to the city that’s stolen my heart!

The other weekend, Nikki and I went down to Wilmington, NC for a few days. I got to visit with a few friends, relax on the beach and I even got to check out a new donut shop!

The Riverfront Farmer’s Market with the USS North Carolina Battleship in the background

We pulled into the Wilmington city limits around 10pm and since we were starving, we made a little pit stop at Chili’s before heading to Nikki’s sister’s house. That’s when I got a text from my friend Shari (from Tickled Red) inviting me to go to the Riverfront Farmer’s Market with her the next morning!

I had wanted to get together with her while we were down for the weekend and this was the perfect opportunity. So, Saturday morning I woke up bright and early before anyone else and got ready to head down to the market! (yep, Wilmington is probably the only place in the world that makes me WANT to wake up early haha)

Shari picked me up and we headed downtown to check it out!

The USS North Carolina Battleship sits right on the Cape Fear River across the way from the area where the vendors set up shop; their Farmer’s Market has the most beautiful backdrop!

Now I do get overly excited about visiting farmer’s markets! I love to support local farmers & artist, and I totally go crazy over the beautiful colors of the flowers & vegetables that you can find!

Our first stop was to pick up some of these beautiful fresh cut flowers! Shari picked up a couple of bouquets for a friend and I scooped up a little bouquet of freshly cut lilies and sunflowers for Toni’s apartment for a little “Thank you for letting me crash at your place” present. haha

After we made our rounds and checked out all of the vendors, we scooted back around to the front and picked up a few little treats from the bakery.

I picked up this gorgeous loaf of rosemary bread as well as s chocolate filled pasty to snack on and then I spied something on the end of the table…

A whole tray of beautiful, golden Sfogliatelle! Which I normally refer to as “clam biscuits” haha. 

I tried to make these once with the help of my Italian ‘sorority’ sister, Nicole, and I totally screwed them up haha and since I can’t pronounce Sfogliatelle to save my life, I refer to them as “clam biscuits”. 

Just a little FYI for ya. 😉

After a little bit of looking through the honey selections, art work and after grabbing a few vegetables (yes I totally had to grab some rainbow carrots) we settled onto the steps along the Riverfront,  nibbled on our pastries and discussed reason of why I should move to Wilmington.

Saturday afternoon was busy with a little time for the pool and tas we attended a graduation that afternoon! Nikki’s niece graduated from high school this year and I’m so glad I was there to celebrate with them! Congratulations, Sydni!!

They may not be my “real” family but I love them just the same!

Sunday Funday was spent at the beach! We set us up a little spot down near the Kure Beach Pier and spend the day relaxing in our new beach chairs. 🙂 I’ve been looking for one of those low sitting beach chairs for a while and finally found some while we were down there!

The sun was hot as heck but as the waves moved up the beach, the crowd thinned out and we moved our little chairs down just a smidge and sat on the water’s edge, just enough so that the waves ran up the sand to our toes (and sometimes our tushes)!

Also, I don’t know if you’ve been to the Carolina Coast this year but the waters are unbelievably blue this year!

While we were there, enjoying the sun and sand, we later found out that at the same time we were laying out on the beach with our toes in the water, just 30 miles south of us two teenagers where attacked by sharks in waist deep water.

They survived but lost limbs.

I know shark attacks happen and I know sharks live in the ocean but it’s a little more terrifying when they’re happening on a beach close to you while you’re at the beach!

It freaked me out just a tad! Although I have to say that I watched a little interview from one of the teenagers that was attacked last Sunday and he was so positive! He’s like 16 and is handling way better than I would have.

 

Monday was our last day in Wilmington. 🙁 I decided to sport the “beachy curls” look and for the first time, in forever, I didn’t mind my hair being curly. It was just too hot to spend any time with a hair dyer!

We went downtown a bit and did a bit of shopping at R&D Designs  (they have the cutest monogrammed stuff!) and then stopped into this new (to me) place called Bourbon St.  for lunch!

We were originally going to try to eat at the Front Street Brewery or the Copper Penny but the heat was so bad that we jetted into the first place that has air condition and no wait. 😉

I noticed this little place back when we came down to Wilmington for the Azalea Festival and anyone that knows me KNOWS that I love New Orleans! So a little place in downtown Wilmington with a New Orleans theme……….um… PERFECTION!!

The restaurant was decked out from ceiling to floor in mardi gras beads, New Orleans memorabilia and New Orleans street signs!

After a little debating between the Shrimp Po Boy and the Crawfish Etouffee, I decided on the 6 inch Shrimp Po Boy.

I really, REALLY, wanted that Crawfish Etouffee but I just felt like it would be a bit too much for lunch and a bit to much to get full on and then have to walk around in the heat.

So the the 6 inch Shrimp Po Boy which was piled high with 6 jumbo fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo. The Po Boy was huge (even though I only ordered a six inch sub) and between that and the fries, I had more than enough food! I couldn’t even finish it all!

After lunch and a bit running errands, we drove over the bridge into Carolina Beach to check out Wake N Bake Donuts!

I am always posting photos on Instagram when I travel (it’s probably my favorite form of social media haha) and I tagged one of my photos with the hashtag #WilmingtonNC. Well when we had a little down time at the apartment I clicked on the hashtag #WilmingtonNC on Instagram to see what other people had been tagging “#WilmingtonNC” with and a photo of donuts popped up in my feed.

 

But these were no ordinary donuts. These had fruity pebbles and cookie crisp cereal on them.

I NEEDED these donuts in my life! haha

So I made it a point to visit before we left town!

We went in empty handed and came out with half a dozen each!

I really wanted that s’more donut but they were all sold out 🙁

However I did come home with these awesome sweet treats! Ps. the Peanut butter Cup one was my FAVORITE!

So another Wilmington weekend is on the books and I’m 100% ready to pack my bags and head back!

Have you been to Wilmington? Have you tried any of the places?

Riverfront Farmer’s Market
Saturdays, April 4th – November 21st
8:00 am to 1:00 pm
Downtown Wilmington in the parking lot on the corner of North Water and Princess Streets.

USS North Carolina Battleship
1 Battleship Rd NE, Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 251-5797

R&D Designs 
106 N. Water Street, Suite 102,
Water Street Center
Wilmington, NC 28401

Bourbon Street Wilmington
35 N Front St
Wilmington, North Carolina
(910) 762-4050

 Wake N Bake Donuts
1401 N. Lake Park Blvd.
Suite 46
Carolina Beach, NC 28428