Last month I had the opportunity to visit North Carolina with Stefan since my sister recently moved down south. I say we had the opportunity to because we took full advantage of the fact my sister and boyfriend live in North Carolina and stayed with them. (We totally wouldn’t have been able to swing it otherwise!) Because yeah, ya girl can stand to save money wherever she can…travel isn’t cheap my friends! But you already know that, I’m sure. 😉
Although we went on this trip last month, the procrastination on writing this blog post was real. For some reason I’ve felt a little unmotivated to write but today I woke up feeling ready to share my thoughts and recommendations from this lil adventure. When I woke up feeling this way, I knew it was the perfect morning to share all about it! If you’re ever considering visiting North Carolina, I can’t recommend enough visiting Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach! Having explored both areas, they truly made us feel like we were experiencing our own little slice of heaven. (Then again almost any beautiful lake or ocean has that kind of affect on us..lol) Both areas were so beautiful and I can’t wait to share the photos with you that we took. So if you’re interested in getting a glimpse into our trip, here it goes! 🙂
Other Related Posts:
A 48 Hour Charleston Itinerary
A Day Trip Itinerary for Visiting
Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach
First thing to note: Wilmington is actually just a 2 and a half hour drive from Chapel Hill, NC. The takeaway? If you live in the Chapel Hill area or are visiting, Wilmington makes for the perfect day trip! I didn’t learn until during our drive there, that One Tree Hill was filmed in this cute town. My sister, being the serious fan that she is of the popular show, made Stefan and I aware of this! So if you’re a fan I recommend taking a self-guided tour of the town and visiting all the spots where they filmed. After walking around town and visiting all the spots where they filmed, we took about a 20 minute drive down to the beach! Before soaking up the sunshine, it’s great to pop into town and admire the cuteness of it all. I’m sharing below a couple places we visited while there, that you definitely won’t want to miss!
My Itinerary for the Day:
10-11am: Grab a cup of coffee from the popular Bespoke Coffee & Dry Goods
Because you need to fuel up for a day of exploring, am I right? It was hard to decide between Bespoke and Drift for coffee, as both spots are super Instagrammable but I ultimately went with Bespoke.
Alternative Suggestion: Stop for a snack & liquid fuel from Drift Coffee
If you’re feeling hungry at this point and are in need of a bite to eat to go with that coffee, than Drift will be the better option for you. They serve a lot of great food here. If I went I totally would’ve ordered the great harvest toast and acai bowl. Both sound so amazing!
12-1pm: Stroll around town, there are a couple of really cute shops to check out!
Before moving on to the beach, take some time to stroll around town. It’s not very big so you can do it within an hour or two easily! My favorite shops we found there were Edge of Urge ,an adorable, eclectic/boho clothing & gifts boutique. Think Urban Outfitters but in boutique form The other shop I loved wasThreve Merchantile,a very Kinfolk/minimalist style home decor shop with a couple boho inspired pieces.
If you’ll be eating lunch in town, I recommend trying Zocalo Street Food and Tequila. Guys, we didn’t get the opportunity to eat here but I’m telling you, you have to check this place out. Enjoy the food for me! lol The street food portion of the menu seriously has me drooling as I type this blogpost during lunch… So try the street tacos for me, will ya? 😉 Okay one more suggestion before you leave the cute little town of Wilmington, make sure you stroll through the riverwalk! The view is gorgeous so you won’t want to miss out on the opportunity to stop for a moment and take it all in.
2pm: Arrive at Wrightsville Beach and do all the beach things
I figured this part of the day would be pretty self explanatory so I won’t add much to this. Just find a spot to park (parking is affordable here, thank god! lol) and head on down to the beach! One cool thing I do want to note though, is that when you’re walking in you’ll find a little cactus by the fence. I’m not sure which entrance we went through (helpful, I know!) but be on the lookout as you enter the beach. Hello Instagram photo op, am I right?
4-5pm: Get some food in that belly girl!
If your hungry at this point, which I’d be shocked if you weren’t, than stop on over to Surf House Oyster Bar & Surf Camp. While I’m not the biggest seafood fan, my boyfriend is and I know so many other people are too. That’s why I figured I’d include this suggestion, in addition to the fact that if I did love seafood, I’d 100% love this spot. If you have a taste for the beachy cuisine, try Surf House out for a delicious dinner at the beach!
6:30-7:30pm: Catch Sunday’s Surf Cafe before they close for snacks on the way back.
Can’t quite stomach a drive without coffee and snacks to help you through it? Good, me too! In that case, since you’re a normal person, you’ll want to pay Sunday’s Surf Cafe a visit before leaving the beach. They have a wide variety of goodies from a full coffee menu, (including sugar-free flavored syrups, yay!) acai bowls and other snacks like protein bars and yogurt.
Well, that should do it for a full day out in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach! I’m feeling very happy inside thinking back on all the fun memories we made during our day here. Here’s to hoping you have the opportunity to visit too and enjoy my recommendations! I will say there were so many other places we wanted to go there but we were limited to a day, so these were the top options we found. Make sure to comment below your thoughts and if you’ve ever been here, continue the trend of recs. and share your personal favorites below. I’d love to hear them and give those places a try when I’m back! 🙂
