Wilmington, North Carolina

When I was planning my big Puppet Pilgrimage to the USA, one of the places I was most excited to come was Wilmington in North Carolina and not just because this was the home Dawson's Creek and Weekend at Bernies... (Wilmington has actually racked up an amazing stack of films and is like a tiny, mini Hollywood.) From all my research it seemed like a wonderfully friendly, little ole' beach town that was laid-back and relaxed - and honestly that was exactly what it was.

I must say, besides the ridiculous humidity and 47 degree heat, Wilmington was a very beautiful and vibrant place. To put things in perspective, Wilmington has roughly the same population size as Canberra (where I currently live), so I felt very much at home. It’s very much like a big country town - except complete with beaches, board walks, rivers and even pirates!! Well, apparently they had pirates back in the 17-1800s so I didn’t see any except in the airport gift-shop. I never got a chance to go to the beach, but as you can see in my pictures, I had a lovely time walking through the city, on the board walk along the river and walking through the Sunday markets that were full of fresh food, buskers and artists. I also enjoyed a fantastic meal at one of the best Mexican restaurants I’ve ever been to called Mixto. Even just the amazing Mexican beer was so good, I can’t even begin to describe the authentic spices and flavors of the tacos... mmmm...

My latest companion - Dr. Pepper

Wilmington had a great vibe about it and all the people I keep meeting are just lovely. I became particularly fascinated with the ‘southern’ accent, it’s so beautiful and charming - especially the accents from the people I met who came from South Carolina. After my week here, I felt like I could almost perfect the “G’night Y’all” sounding like an authentic southern bell...

Wilmington and greater North Carolina is definitely a place I want to come back to and explore more of - but maybe next time I won’t come in the middle of summer! Also, I’d love to see the beaches next time and visit the Dawson’s Creek film set... ;-)

 So Dawson - maybe I'll see you next year...