Wilmington NC

We started our short stay in Wilmington by taking a trolley tour of the historic district. I love the old houses and churches!

Then LW dropped me off so I could tour the Bellamy Mansion. Here are pictures of the intact slave quarters.

These are pictures from inside the mansion. The mansion was built just before the Civil War, has 22 rooms and 10,000 square feet. It was built by free and enslaved laborers.

These are pictures painted by the oldest Bellamy daughter, Belle.

This is Dr John and Mrs Eliza Bellamy. They had 10 children.

More pictures from inside.

There was a young slave girl who had the job to wave that fan over the food at mealtime to keep bugs away.  That's where the saying "shoo fly" might have come from.

The kitchen where Sarah the slave prepared the family meals. The Bellamy slaves were lucky in that they ate the same food as the family. Not with the family of course.

Pictures of the outside of the mansion.

The elevator bridge crossing the Cape Fear river.

The original brick streets are partially covered with tar in the historic district. People go out at night and chip the tar away in order to keep the original road.

Amazing ice cream...

The riverwalk.

Saw this plaque on the front of a renovated historical home.

Sunset and the Battleship North Carolina.

The pier at Wrightsville Beach.

Saw this at Wrightsville Beach. I think she was having her quincenera pictures. I tried to snap a picture without being noticed but her sister stepped in just as I took it. She looked beautiful.