For Labor Day 2020, Olivia and I spent an extended weekend at Wrightsville Beach with friends and family. I did my best to recap everything and film as much as I could, but I inevitably missed a good percentage of the weekend just relaxing and enjoying the great company. I will do my best to describe some of these experiences in this blog entry. For the visual highlights, be sure to check out the video below:
We arrived at the beach house on Thursday afternoon and I immediately got changed to head to the golf course with my dad. He is a member of Landfall Country Club, an amazing private club just on the other side of the Wrightsville Beach drawbridge. My parents have been members of Landfall for about 30 years now, and some of my earliest summer memories involve a myriad of activities at the club–swimming at the pool, playing tennis with my family, watching fireworks on 4th of July, and of course playing golf on their two beautiful courses.
Since we had a late start to the day, we decided on nine holes at the Pete Dye course, actually teeing-off on number ten. Landfall features two top-notch tracks: the Nicklaus featuring three individual nines (Marsh, Ocean, and Pines) and the aforementioned Dye Course with another incredible eighteen holes. Although I prefer the Nicklaus course–Marsh to Ocean in particular–the Dye course is great in its own right and has some iconic holes. This afternoon, we were lucky enough to have the course to ourselves and breezed through the back nine.
We had to start the weekend with dinner at our favorite local burger restaurant, Poe’s Tavern. This place never disappoints–the food is always fantastic and the atmosphere is awesome for the beach. We can walk to the restaurant from my families’ place, and it is always our first choice when an important game is on. They have a great bar area with plenty of large TV’s for viewing. After starting off with a delicious order of chips and queso (standard), I had my go-to “Pit & Pendulum” burger with cheese and bacon. Delicious as always, and the shoestring fries are the perfect complement. They absolutely load you up with these bad boys. Washing both down with a Tropical Lightning (local Wilmington Brewing IPA) makes one of my absolute favorite meals in town. Not to mention the rotating flavors of Nye’s ice cream cookie sandwiches that we typically take to-go. We landed on vanilla-chocolate this evening and the food coma commenced.
Friday was a workday for both us–Olivia doing her schoolwork for her Master’s in nursing while I was working my full-time spec engineering job. By five o’clock, we were ready to unwind and grab some dinner. We decided to go casual and change it up by checking out a new place–Wild Wing Cafe in Landfall shopping center. Although the food took some time to come out, everything we ordered was absolutely delicious. We started with six honey barbecue wings–immediately wishing we had ordered at least six more. For my dinner, I went with a Buffarella, their take on a buffalo chicken wrap. It was so tasty and one of the best buff wraps I’ve ever had. They use a jalapeno-cheddar tortilla that really set it off. The tots on the side were crispy and plentiful. With plenty of sports on and live music playing in the background, this place checked all the boxes for us!
We got a special surprise on Saturday with a visit from our good friends Mike and Michelle. I worked with Mike for two years at Nomaco before he moved up to Richmond to be with Michelle while she finishes up dental school at VCU. Mike and I have been on a few trips together (both work and personal travel), but we all enjoyed a weekend in Nashville together March of 2019 to see the town and watch our Canes play the Predators in hockey. We had such a great time on that trip and have been trying to link up since, so this was a welcome surprise for the afternoon. Mike and Michelle were in town to shoot their engagement photos at Airlie Gardens, so we were able to have lunch together prior to their photoshoot.
For lunch, we checked out one of our new favorite spots that is also within walking distance from the rents place. The place is called Shark Bar and its right up the street from Johnny Mercer’s pier, adjacent to the Palm Room that’s been around since my mom was a kid. We discovered this place on our last beach weekend and it has not let us down after two visits. Although it is slightly on the smaller side, they do have a second floor area with it’s own separate bar and additional seating. It also has a view of the ocean from the wraparound windows–pretty hard to beat that. My cheeseburger was as good as the first time and we began the walk back home super satisfied.
Saturday also saw the arrival of my aunt and uncle, Cyndi and Dale, around 1pm. After saying our goodbyes to Mike and Michelle, the fam had a nice afternoon together relaxing and getting some sun in the backyard. Around 5pm, my mother fired up the over to prepare dinner for the whole group. My uncle Kip and his girlfriend Kathryn ended up coming out as well, and we all sat down on the back deck to a delicious home-cooked meal. Complete with BBQ ribs and a slew of side options (my favorite of which being my mom’s mac and cheese), I loaded up my plate two or three different times. It was great spending time with family while indulging in some delicious food.
Sunday started early with another round of golf for me and my father. This time around, we had a 9:30 tee time for the Nicklaus course. Instead of the typical nine hole combos that we play, we decided to play the Pines course twice around because it was absolutely empty. We had a blast and finished eighteen holes in just over three hours–exactly my style of golf.
The afternoon featured a family boat ride to palm tree island for Ellie to stretch her legs a bit and for the adults to get some sun. Although the sun never really wanted to come out, Eleanor had a blast socializing getting to swim with all the other pups. This is the highlight of her beach weekend and it’s awesome to be able to let her off the leash and get some good activity while the adults hangout in the water. After going all out the previous evening, Sunday was a bit simpler with a couple of pizzas from Mellow Mushroom. So filling and delicious, we were all in bed early after this long day.
Olivia and I were back to work Monday morning, and by lunchtime we were saying goodbye to Cyndi and Dale. While the afternoon turned out beautiful and sunny, we decided to make a return trip to palm tree island. This is where most of the footage from the recap video came from. Ellie was tearing it up and loving all the action going on at the typical Labor Day party spot. Although a slow holiday in comparison to recent years, it was a welcome change for us “locals.”
Monday’s dinner was decided earlier in the weekend as we always have to work it into the trip somehow. This evening it was the delicious baja-mexican restaurant K38, the sister restaurant to the legendary Tower 7 in the main downtown area of Wrightsville. The food here at K38 is just as delicious and always so filling. I went with the shredded chicken enchiladas this time around, and I couldn’t have been more satisfied. Super tough walking out of this place because I am always so full!
We finished off the long and fun-filled weekend with a round of mini golf at Jungle Rapids. Jungle Rapids is a family fun center in Wilmington that has been a staple of the Detweiler family for some time (to say the least). In addition to mini golf, it features a badass go-cart track, a large indoor arcade and rock-climbing wall, laser tag, and even a large outdoor waterpark. Although we used to be regular visitors to the waterpark when we were younger, we mostly stop by now and again for a round of mini golf and a few laps on the go carts. It had been awhile being back so it was super nostalgic to play eighteen on this awesome course. Olivia’s first time and she ends up beating me, can you believe it?
Tuesday was a classic return home day as we woke up to dark storm clouds and wet weather. We spent the morning working and the afternoon getting packed up for the drive back to Raleigh. It’s always so tough leaving the beach, but with an already short week it was time to get back to the grind. It was a relaxing Labor Day and one that I was happy to capture on video, so be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to stay tuned for future adventures. Thanks again for reading and I’ll be back next week for an update on our next journey: a weekend with friends in St. Louis!
– Walker
Texas-Ranger Travels 