Wilmington, NC and Other Places - Day 2

Wednesday, March 29

      Our morning event on this day was the U.S.S. North Carolina.  This was my first time to see it.

 

     After spending 2+ hours on the battleship, we ate lunch at Charlie Graingers.

     We then headed downtown.

River Walk

       We had afternoon coffee and a pastry at 24 South Coffee House.

    That evening we went to Wrightsville Beach.  It was cold so we didn't stay long.

Wilmington, NC and Other Places - Day 1

Spring Break Vacation

Tuesday, March 28 

           My sister and I left around 9:30 am for the eastern part of the state, headed towards Wilmington.  After looking at maps to plan our route, several historical sites were listed that we had never visited.
  
        Our first stop was in Sanford to a Revolutionary War site House in the Horseshoe also known as the Alston House. This place has free admission, donations accepted.  Upon arrival, there were two activity buses of school children.  We were given a "tour-for-two" of the house before the children went through, which was nice.

The tour starts at the back of the house

 

      The name of this plantation house comes from its location on a horseshoe bend in the The Deep River.  Built in the early 1770s, Philip Alston was the first owner. His "band of Whigs was attacked in 1781 by Tories led by David Fanning. Later, four-term North Carolina governor Benjamin Williams lived in the house, which today features fine antiques of the colonial and Revolutionary War eras.  Its walls still bear numerous scars and bullet holes from a Revolutionary War skirmish." - (source: website)

The front of the house

There is a small building on the grounds which has a few displays.

      By the time we left, it was lunch time, so we stopped at a grocery store to buy sandwiches to eat at our next stop which was The Bentonville Battlefield in Four Oaks, NC.  They have a nice picnic facility on the grounds.

Harper House

      The Harper House was used as a Union Field Hospital during the Civil War.  The parents of the house had nine children, the oldest daughter was 27 and the youngest age 6.  The oldest daughter, whose husband was killed in the war, moved with her two children, back to her parents' house.  Seven of the nine children lived here with the parents during the time the house was used as a hospital.
       Families have lived in this house up until the 1950s.  It is now set up as it may have been at the time of the Civil War, with the front two rooms for major surgery and minor surgery. The family lived upstairs and helped care for the wounded.
      The wounded Confederate soldiers who were able to make it, moved on with the Union, but the others remained at the house to recover.  Several died later. They were buried next to the family's plot.

   

View from the road of the Visitors Center and Harper House.

      The entire battlefield covers 10 miles that is around town; an audio tour is available.  We only looked at what was on the property near the house.


     Several years ago I read a book that took place in Mt Olive, NC.  The town sounded very interesting, especially the pickle factory.  I knew tours were not given, but wanted to go by it anyway just to see it, and maybe find a gift shop.  We did not see any signs for a gift shop, so we just drove around the factory.  We rolled the car windows down, because the smell of vinegar and dill was all over the place.  If I couldn't eat a pickle, I could smell one!

Mt. Olive Pickle Company

      We arrived in Wilmington that evening, and got Chinese takeout for supper at a place near our hotel.

Tea at Old Salem

In the Spring, I had the opportunity to go to the Flour Box Tea Room and Cafe at Old Salem.  It had been in my plans to go back sometime for tea, so the date was set to go Friday, October 7, which was today.  The rainy weather today made it great for tea!

The Flour Box is in the basement of a retail store.

Outside eating area.  We obviously did not eat out here because of the rain.

Tea is served until 4:00.  We did not make reservations ahead of time.  It is probably best to before going, as the tea services were limited in number by the time we got there around 3:30.  We ordered two Light Teas and one Cream Tea.  The Light Tea came with your choice of tea; one vanilla scone and one spinach savory scone, cream and orange marmalade; a mini pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting (which was divine), some kind of puff pastry with a glaze; and a seasonal fudge with nuts and other stuff.   The Cream Tea came with your choice of tea and one larger vanilla scone with cream and orange marmalade.  I don't know if the jam is always the orange or if it changes seasonally.  

The tea pots were perfect for the Old Salem setting!

My pot of English Breakfast

They use loose leaf.

J's pot of Tea Room Blend

S's pot of Earl Grey

It was almost 5:00 when we finished, so most of the shops were getting ready to close.  We just walked the streets briefly.

If your tea room style preference is chintzy, this isn't for you.  It has an uncluttered, relaxing atmosphere.  The place is well kept and clean and we had good waitress.  It was a delightful tea experience.