Hello from Georgia! The girls and I are spending some quality time at Mom’s house before going to Nannie’s to help her bake pies and hang out with family. We arrived at 8:00 last night after a whirlwind of a weekend.
We arrived Friday afternoon in Wilmington, a North Carolina beachfront town that is quite popular, but one I haven’t ever spent much time in. Mom, Hailey, Kaitlyn, and I were there for an end of season soccer tournament; David hung back with Finley.
We arrived late Friday afternoon to the Blockade Runner Beach Resort on Wrightsville Beach. We picked it at random because we wanted to beachfront spot. We haven’t seen the ocean in over a year and the girls were very excited!
The people at the Blockade Runner were very kind and we found the rooms to be simple and clean. We did little more than drop our things before heading down to the blustery beach!
While it felt strange to be bundled up on the beach, it was still breathtaking! We walked and hunted for shells until the sunset forced us back up to the hotel.
We wandered into the restaurant in the hotel around 5:15 asking if they could seat us. Live music was setting up so we had a feeling it would fill up, but lucky for us, we were able to snag a table right away.
Mom and I had a glass of cabernet and the girls enjoyed their first Shirley Temple experience. For an unassuming, classic beach hotel, we were blown away by the menu! It had intricate dishes and vegan options. We started with the fried cauliflower in a tangy Tokyo bomber hot sauce and it was RIDICULOUS. I had the crab cake that was 90% crab and my mom had the sunchoke soup. Truly, the food was so delicious!
We were all in bed early since we had to be up early for the first game of the tournament the next morning.
We all woke up around 7:00 and got dressed to get breakfast at Drift Coffee. Drift is a favorite of mine that I know from Ocean Isle Beach, so I was excited to see there was a Wilmington location. The matcha latte and my power breakfast bowl were very good, but the girls weren’t thrilled with their avocado toast (too much avocado… as if there is such thing?!) or banana bread (too toasted; not sweet enough).
From there we were off to the first game, which ended up being thrilling! Hailey scored the first goal of the game and they ended up winning 4-2. She was so excited and proud; as she traditionally has played more defensive positions, but recently has been playing more left mid.
We had a second game at 1:00 which the girls won, as well, putting us in the championship game the following day.
After the second game we still had an afternoon stretched out in front of us. We headed back to the hotel for Hailey to change, watched a little football at the bar with a bloody Mary, then went on a beach walk down to the pier.
By the time we made it back to our hotel, it was dark and we were hungry. Tower 7 had been recommended to me by more than one person, so we decided to try it out and I was so glad we did. It was probably some of the freshest Mexican food I’ve ever had!
We were all tucked into bed again by 8:00 watching Home Alone. We got up and out the next morning, in time to make it to First Watch for a hearty breakfast before Hailey’s first game. Now this ended up being a hit for everyone!
From the blueberry pancakes to French toast to veggie omelets, everyone really enjoyed their meal. I highly recommend this breakfast spot.
After that, we spent the rest of the day at the soccer field for two games. The girls lost them both (it was the same team both times), but they played hard and finished the tournament in second place, earning them medals they were all quite excited about. It was a great end to the falls season!
During the second game Kaitlyn started feeling badly and after she started crying that her legs hurt, I knew she was getting a fever. It happened so suddenly that I started thinking we’d have to abort Thanksgiving again. We left the field, had her tested for C, and thankfully it was negative!
We gave her some Genexa pain and fever which had her feeling better within 30 minutes. From there, she’s been fine. Like… what the heck?? I haven’t seen her yet this morning but she was happy as a clam last night after her shower and slept all night so I’m mind boggled. But grateful she seems to be feeling better!
To make the four hour drive even more exciting, Hailey had a wave of car sickness that had us pulling over to a sketchy gas station in the middle of nowhere, so that was fun… but luckily she never got sick and walking around for a minute seemed to cure it. We listened to Who Smarted podcasts for the remainder of the drive and finally after hot showers, all got tucked into bed at Mom’s house.
I’m finishing this up now with Finley in my lap (we met David halfway to pick her up) and am looking forward to a restful day. We’re thinking some Christmas movies and walks and helping mom put up some Christmas decor. I hope you had a great weekend and that you and yours are feeling healthy and well!
Laura says
We just got back from a trip to Universal, where most of the rides are 4-D. I’ve had trouble in the past, so I brought non-drowsy dramamine with us. Turns out it’s just super loaded ginger capsules, but my daughter and I felt great all day, even with hours of riding and flipping and spinning. Not the same as car sickness, but I’m definitely packing them for Thanksgiving travel. Game changer!
Brittany Dixon says
Ohh how was Universal?! We are thinking of a HP trip next year 🙂
And thank you! I’m going to have to check out those capsules for H; thank you!
Laura says
Universal was really fun! We stayed at the Royal Pacific Hotel to gain early entry and unlimited express passes, and that is the only way I’d do a repeat trip. The parks were decorated for Christmas the day we arrived, and that made it even more special.
My friend was our trip planner, and she did so many extras leading up that made Camille feel so special: a Hogwarts acceptance letter and school supply list that came in the mail, an itinerary that maximized the things she was most excited about, and just handling all of the logistics.
Universal has lots of thrill rides in addition the magic of the two Harry Potter sections. It was perfect for our almost 10 year old, but our 7 year old son is not into either of those things. Hope that helps! I’m glad to answer other questions if you have them. I’m no expert, but our trip was pretty magical.
Andrea says
Ohhh, I just had to say hello! We live in Wilmington and we absolutely love it. So glad you all had a wonderful trip. You definitely stopped at a few of our favorites. Enjoy the rest of your travels and Happy Thanksgiving!