BIG UPDATE

Wow, so much has happened since I was last able to write, so here it goes:

Paul and I had an AWESOME anniverary trip. We headed down to Wilmington on Sat. (6/5). We detoured to go to Southport and take the Fort Fisher Ferry back across. It was a nice day, the humidity was down and the wind was cool. The ferry ride was pretty hot, somehow we weren't getting any breeze and it was a bit sticky. It's about a 30 minute trip across (not to bad for $5) We didn't stop while at Fort Fisher or at Kure and Caorlina Beaches, they were packed with weekend beach goers.

It was late enough for us to trek into the historic area of Wilmington. We took our "special" back road that goes through the industrial port area. Last time we were there (Aug 03) there were HUGE military ships loading supplies and materials, but this time, it was really calm. We arrived at the Hilton Riverside right at check-in (4ish) and got a room on the TOP floor (9th) on the Cape Fear River side. There was an awesome sunset that evening. We headed out to dinner soon after, and decided on The Pilot House. It was riverfront and the food was absolutely amazing. We had a great bottle of wine and a 4 course dinner. What a delight! We walked back to the hotel and leisurely looked at the ships and other things along the river. We took it easy that night ;-)

On Sunday, we had a day packed with going to Wrightsville Beach (where we both didn't get sunburned, yay!), then eating lunch at Dockside (mmm!), a Riverboat cruise in a bit of a drizzle/rain. It was fun... but a little slow. They need to work on their history narration a bit. I know Wilmington is a lot more interesting b/c we went to the Cape Fear Museum on our way out and learned lots... We then went to the Battleship NC and walked around quite a bit. I felt really really claustropobic and just couldn't keep going down deeper and into narrower walkways... it was fun, but it had really warmed up and bit. We had late dinner reservations at Roy's at Riverboat Landing. What a awesome experience... we had dinner on a private 2nd story outdoor balcony. It was just us, out little table, chairs and bottle of wine for sunset. The dinner was absolutely amazing. Once again, we stuffed ourselves with four courses and headed back to our hotel (after I'd had a key lime martini...mmmm!)

We headed out Monday morning to run by the HOUSE (which I will update on shortly), then out the the Fearrington. When we arrived, just at tea time, they UPGRADED us to the most amazing suite they had. We had booked a deluxe (one step up), but we got the GRAND suite, the very best, with lots of neat touches. I'll have to post some pictures - but let me tell you - we had a window in every direction, a large sitting room with palladim windows, 3 chairs and sofa with a FIREPLACE. The bedroom had a 4-poster king bed with great views towards the cow pasture (those belted galloways are just too cute). Our bathroom was AWESOME... the ceiling had to be at least 12-14 ft throughout the suite, and the bathroom had a great skylight, stocked closet (robes, amenties, fun things), a large shower and the whirlpool tub (I took advanatge of that thing TWICE!). We also had a "sleeping porch" balacony off the bathroom with 2 rocking chairs, table and ceiling fan (of course screened in). We took our port-wine after dinner out on the balacony.

Ok, here's the scoop on our dinner. We had dinner at the Inn's resturant (the only 5 star in NC). It was great - but I didn't choose wisely. I got way tooo brave and had the duck and soft shell crab. I tried my best to eat it, but just didn't like it a bit. Paul had goat cheese, tuna carpaccio, the angus tenderloin... and he was absolutely in love. We had a great dessert wine with our fruity desserts. It was a great dinner, thankfully included in our package (otherwise it would have been $85 a person + wine and gratuity). After dinner we returned to our room that had been prepared with turn down service - bed was ready, chocolate mints, fuzzy slippers (that we could take home), the port wine and the lighting was set. If it hadn't have been near 90 outside, I would have loved to have had a fire... alas, it is summer.

I hope to return to the Fearrington every year. It is absolutely amazing. We rode their old style bicycles around the village and through the paths in the fields. What fun, and how relaxing. We still have a $25 gift card to their shops. We'll have to return! :-)

That's all for this part of the update, stayed tuned for the next on the house!!!