Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex

Poe House (built 1897)

I was rather excited this weekend when I read in the paper that the Museum of the Cape Fear was hosting an exhibit on the 1898 Wilmington Race Riots (I had just finished reading a children's book about this event, so I was excited to learn more.) However, since this was my first visit to the museum, I decided to explore all the museum complex had to offer.

I began my excursion with a 45-minute tour of the Poe House, the home of a well-to-do merchant from the late 19th century. Built in 1898, the house was filled with the family's original furniture and supplies from that time period. It was very interesting seeing how difficult life was during that time period (especially the original coal stove!)

Foundation stones from the Fayetteville Arsenal

After seeing the Poe House, I enjoyed a nice walk across the complex to the a park, which was originally a Arsenal for the US government. Sadly, the entire arsenal was destroyed by the Union army during the Civil War; today, there are merely foundation stones and a reconstructed "ghost" tower that recreates one of the original four look-out towers.

Reconstructed "tower" from the Arsenal

After touring the Poe House and Arsenal Park, I entered the actual museum building. The museum space itself was nothing all that impressive - pretty much just a small local history museum. Sadly, the Wilmington Race Riot exhibit which originally drew me to the museum ended up being the low-point of the museum. The exhibit was little more than a short documentary and a few photographs of the integrated state legislature of the time. (Perhaps this speaks more highly of the book I'd read, but I learned nothing new about the event from this exhibit.)

Airlie Gardens

Swan on the lake at Airlie Gardens

All the guidebooks I've read on North Carolina seem to highlight the annual Azalea Festival in Wilmington as one of the most popular events in the state. Although the Azalea Festival didn't quite look like the pictures in the guidebooks (most of the guides used had this picture), the Airlie Gardens did provide a beautiful setting for a spring outing!

Southern Belle for the Azalea Festival

The gardens are home to over 100,000 azalea plants - and countless spring bulbs, so there was plenty of color to go around! The Azalea Festival originally focused on these plants; however, today, it seems to serve more as a festival of antebellum culture (the "flowers" of today's festival are the young girls who parade the festival in the traditional hoop skirts worn before/during the Civil War Era. Sadly, this was the only belle that I saw at the garden (there was a large parade and festival in downtown Wilmington, so I'm sure most of the belles were there.)

Fountain in the Spring Garden at Airlie Gardens

For me, the highlight of the garden was its true Southern charm, with twisted oak trees shrouded in Spanish moss. The garden's small ponds, which were surrounded by these trees, also served as the home to white swans and dozens of turtles; it was nice seeing a mixture of animals and plants.

Wrightsville Beach

After my walk around the gardens, I continued a few streets further east to Wrightsville Beach. Sadly, the parking situation was less than desirable at the beach (one lot wanted $20 to park for the day!) Since I wasn't planning to stay at the beach all that long (I didn't have my swim trucks...and it was far too cold to get in the water), I just parked my car illegally and ran towards the beach long enough to snap a couple pictures.

After my brief beach outing, I started downtown to attend the actual festival. Sadly, the traffic situation for the street festival was even worse than that at the beach. Since I didn't really need anything from the festival booths (and was likely to only buy high-calorie foods), I skipped the street fair and began my 2-hour trip back to Fayetteville.

Cape Fear Botanical Garden

Children's Garden

I finally decided that we are far enough into spring, that the local botanical garden might actually be a good option for an afternoon of spring flowers. Although the Cape Fear Botanical Garden was nowhere near the nicest botanical garden I've ever viewed, it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon. I think the thing that most surprised me about this garden was how little "formal" garden area it contained. When I think of botanical gardens, I typically picture small segments devoted to different varieties of plants (roses, water lilies, cactus, etc.) The Cape Fear Botanical Garden was much more "natural" than the average botanical garden; it was almost more of a park/forest than what I normally think of as a botanical garden.

Cape Fear River

The highlight of the garden for me was the Cape Fear River Loop. The garden had a small trail that wrapped through the forest and passed along the Cape Fear River. This is actually what I had hoped for when I first walked the Cape Fear River Trail many months ago. The Cape Fear River Loop provided a secluded little walk through nature - with a symphony of birds in the background.

North Carolina Heritage Garden

After walking the garden's exterior, I returned to the more traditional gardens. While I did enjoy the Camellia garden, the others were a little lacking. The Heritage Garden did have a great collection of historic (or historic-looking) buildings. Although it was a great little "town", I wish I could have toured the interiors.