#1 ◱ 2011-11-03
Don on the Wilmington Waterfront. The US Coast Guard boat in the back is leaning to one side so that they can clean the other side. This is the Cape Fear river.

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#3 ◱ 2011-11-03
Don was awarded the title of "Fellow" during the conference.

#4 ◱ 2011-11-03
Here are samples of the WONDERFUL food that was served us on the first night. I was very impresed with the swans that contained blueberries.

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#6 ◱ 2011-11-03
Cheese balls.

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#9 ◱ 2011-11-03
I thought the ceiling light fixtures were really cool looking.

#10 ◱ 2011-11-03
I ate tons of the yellow squash. :-)

#11 ◱ 2011-11-03
eggplant

#12 ◱ 2011-11-03
asparagus

#13 ◱ 2011-11-03
zucchini

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#15 ◱ 2011-11-03
The next few pictures of Don getting his award.

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#18 ◱ 2011-11-04
This is a very large courthouse that was used in Matlock, and this night it had blue lights on it, as they were filming. It seems that Wilmington is home to the second largest motion picture studio in the US.

#19 ◱ 2011-11-04
I don't know if these trees always have lights, but I think it was for the movie they were making.

#20 ◱ 2011-11-04

#21 ◱ 2011-11-04
Don and I walked around town the first night. It was very enjoyable at night.

#22 ◱ 2011-11-04
Part of the streets are cobblestone.

#23 ◱ 2011-11-04
I had to take a picture of this Men's Dress Shop. :-)

#24 ◱ 2011-11-04
All over town there is artwork. It is fascinating to look at.

#25 ◱ 2011-11-04
They also have rocking chairs.

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#27 ◱ 2011-11-04
I loved looking at the architecture everywhere.

#28 ◱ 2011-11-04
The Cotton Exchange is currently a lot of shops.

#29 ◱ 2011-11-04
I liked how this interior sidewalk was made to look like a street.

#30 ◱ 2011-11-04
The next day I went on a 2.5 hour "Walking Tour" as part of the conference activities. All over the town you can see the ballast that came from ships and then was thrown overboard upon reaching Wilmington. Our guide could look at the stones and tell us where they were from.

#31 ◱ 2011-11-04
Here is our Walking Guide. He is 76 and he was hard to keep up with, just like they warned us. This is a Mulberry Tree.

#32 ◱ 2011-11-04
One fence had a lot of keys on it, and it was a Memorial Wall.

#33 ◱ 2011-11-04
The philosophy is to use what you have, be creative, make it better. Don't tear it down. Here you see the Women's restroom in the safe. :-)

#34 ◱ 2011-11-04
I thought the store front architecture was great to look at.

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#36 ◱ 2011-11-04
As I said previously, they had art work everywhere. Here are some on the walls that lead to apartments.

#37 ◱ 2011-11-04
Near this was the washing machine, and artwork all over next to it.

#38 ◱ 2011-11-04
There are a lot of "half doors" on the street level that lead to the living quarters above.

#39 ◱ 2011-11-04
They were making movies around town. It is reported that Colin Firth (Darcy in one of the Pride and Prejudice movies) was in town.

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#41 ◱ 2011-11-04
Stores that we walked by at night.

#42 ◱ 2011-11-04
The downtown area was very walkable by everyone.

#43 ◱ 2011-11-04
Our guide took us in and out of stores. It was pretty funny, he would just take us in. This is where we ended up going out to dinner the next night.

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#47 ◱ 2011-11-04
This was a "store" where teenagers could go and make things out of wood, and then sell them.

#48 ◱ 2011-11-04
You can see some of the things they made.

#49 ◱ 2011-11-04
I thought the bricks with their casting prints were interesting.

#50 ◱ 2011-11-04
Here our guide is pointing out how thick the walls are.

#51 ◱ 2011-11-04
All over town they had plaques explaining the history of the building, house, street, etc.

#52 ◱ 2011-11-04
We went into a coffee shop. The Southern Pecan Coffee smelled heavenly. Some of the group bought some.

#53 ◱ 2011-11-04
Here are some of the other items they sell. I wanted to compare prices, thus the picture.

#54 ◱ 2011-11-04
The windows had two layers of screens. The larger weave you can see here, and if you get the bigger picture, you can see regular smaller screen weave.

#55 ◱ 2011-11-04
This piece of artwork looks like it used to be in better shape.

#56 ◱ 2011-11-04
Here are more of the shops in the Cotton Exchage.

#57 ◱ 2011-11-04
This is the popcorn tree.

#58 ◱ 2011-11-04
Showing us how thick the walls are. If you had a house like this, then all the cousins would come visit you when a hurricane was coming.

#59 ◱ 2011-11-04
Can't remember what kind of tree I was taking a picture of.

#60 ◱ 2011-11-04
I'm off to bed, and the computer is still updating, but it's now almost 7am by Saturday's Wilmington time. See ya tomorrow.

#61 ◱ 2011-11-04
Our guide would just walk through shops or houses and we'd follow along. It was a hoot.

#62 ◱ 2011-11-04
I liked looking at all the old big houses. It would be fun to take tours through them.

#63 ◱ 2011-11-04
Segway

#64 ◱ 2011-11-04
Came to these stairs and we just went into the yard. Of course, he told us about the people that lived there. This one had lots of terraces and gardens.

#65 ◱ 2011-11-04
Son's house next door.

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#68 ◱ 2011-11-04
pomegranate tree.

#69 ◱ 2011-11-04
It's hard to see, but there's a window around the chimney to let the heat out.

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#78 ◱ 2011-11-04
water cistern

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#84 ◱ 2011-11-04
I think we're looking at a "side" garden.

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#92 ◱ 2011-11-04
Cyprus trees, ballast, and yellow pine trees. The long needle yellow pine lasts longer than the short needle yellow pine. I think. They use the trees to make tar and turpentine.

#93 ◱ 2011-11-04
One of 5? artesian wells in town.

#94 ◱ 2011-11-04
Tugboat on the Cape Fear River

#95 ◱ 2011-11-04
Courthouse in daylight. It's the courthouse that they used in Matlock.

#96 ◱ 2011-11-04
Here they were actually staging a scene for a movie.

#97 ◱ 2011-11-04
If you recognize any actors, please let me know. :-)

#98 ◱ 2011-11-04
I heard that Colin Firth was in town, but none of these people look like him to me.

#99 ◱ 2011-11-04
I was so tired after our 1 hour lecture, and 2.5 hours of walking that I just collapsed on the first couch I saw. They liked how our clothes coordinated with the artwork. :-) I am glad they took a picture. I would never have noticed otherwise. :-)

#100 ◱ 2011-11-05
The next day I set out to see the three houses in town that they give tours through.

#101 ◱ 2011-11-05
The first one I went to is the Bellamy Mansion. 1861 It has 5 floors plus another viewing floor at the top. The Bellamy Mansion still has it's slave quarters. Most had slaves and servants. You can find more pictures online.

#102 ◱ 2011-11-05
Hat and umbrella rack inside the front door. I thought it was pretty fancy.

#103 ◱ 2011-11-05
The mirrors above the fireplaces were ornate.

#104 ◱ 2011-11-05
In the "public" rooms everything was fancier, and as you went up floors the moldings and gingerbread was less and less (as you can imagine.)

#105 ◱ 2011-11-05

#106 ◱ 2011-11-05
The fireplaces had mirrors on them so that they ladies could check and see what their hemlines looked like.

#107 ◱ 2011-11-05
This type of window was in 2 or 3 of the houses I went through. The whole bottom 2/3rds raises and becomes a door.

#108 ◱ 2011-11-05
So it just goes up into the wall above.

#109 ◱ 2011-11-05
Outside of the Bellamy Mansion.

#110 ◱ 2011-11-05
Fountain in the street next to the Bellamy Manion.

#111 ◱ 2011-11-05
I was going to go on one tour but they only started the tour on the hour so I wandered the town.

#112 ◱ 2011-11-05
I thought I would go to the third one but it didn't open until noon.

#113 ◱ 2011-11-05
Church. I don't recall which one. Front picture below.

#114 ◱ 2011-11-05
the Burgwin-Wright house used to have a jail on the property, and when it was burnt/destroyed, Mr Burgwin purchased the property and built this house. The jail parts are still there. :-) The Wright family added a wing to the house since they had a lot of children, and when Burgwin owned it, the house was a business, not primarily used as residential.

#115 ◱ 2011-11-05
The next house I ended up touring was the Burgwin-Wright House 1770. I sat on the front porch and the wind was blowing, and I froze for half an hour.

#116 ◱ 2011-11-05
Church across the street.

#117 ◱ 2011-11-05
House between the Burgwin- Wright house and the Latimer house.

#118 ◱ 2011-11-05
House being redone.

#119 ◱ 2011-11-05
window in the Latimer House, top floor. You can see the thickness of the wall. I have never seen a window that shape before.

#120 ◱ 2011-11-05

#121 ◱ 2011-11-05
Latimer House 1852. It was very nicely decorated inside.

#122 ◱ 2011-11-05
I thought all the gingerbread was amazing.

#123 ◱ 2011-11-05
Corner decor on the house next to the Latimer House

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#125 ◱ 2011-11-05
It was great just looking at the architecture of the houses as I walked along the street.

#126 ◱ 2011-11-05
A trolley tour. I would have liked to have taken it also, but I wasn't sure where it started and I was cold and tired anyway.

#127 ◱ 2011-11-05
So after this I walked back to the hotel. I could have gone and seen the USS North Carolina, but once again, I found a couch and flopped down since I had been wandering town and houses for about 5 hours. :-) It was a wonderful day. That night we went out to dinner at the Latin restaurant #5546-5549.

#128 ◱ 2011-11-07
Here we are getting ready to eat! That was nice of Les to take our pictures. Thank you!

#129 ◱ 2011-11-07
Blanche and Les W. It was really fun to eat dinner with them.

#130 ◱ 2011-11-07
They were kind enough to take a picture of us.

#131 ◱ 2011-11-07
The the waitress took a picture of all of us.