Shell Island resort- Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington NC 2006

Shell Island Resort: Wrightsville Beach,
Wilmington North Carolina
11 Aug 2006 to 19 Aug 2006
Fri 11 Aug 06-
This Vacation is another trip to the beach. Patti and I both worked today but were able to get off work early so we could head out. We are driving instead of flying. Total drive time will be about 11 hours. We will stop and spend the night tonight. We finished loading up the Mustang and pulled out of the driveway about 4:30 PM. I had packed up most of the stuff into the car the night before.

We drove for about 5 hours and had to drive in rain when we entered the mountains in West Virginia. We stopped for the night in Beckley, WV. The Best Western was full, so we checked into the Marriot. Not one of our favorite hotel chains based on past vacations and trips. Everything in the town of Beckley was very expensive. I guess since it is the only big town in the southern part of West Virginia. The only room available was $145 (nice room though). A dinner at the Omelet shop was 24 dollars, about twice what it should have been.

Sat 12 Aug 06-
After waking up we used the in-room Jacuzzi. We paid for it, why let it go to waste. We packed up the few things we brought in from the car and headed out. A quick stop for gas and we were on our way. Breakfast was a Danish and corn nuts from the gas station. Ok, it wasn’t the breakfast of champions. We still had 400 miles to go. It was still drizzly off and on until we got out of the mountains and down into Virginia. The drive was very pretty. We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch and got to Wrightsville Beach about 4:00 PM. A problem at check in. They declined my debit card. That was odd because we knew what our balance was. I tried Patti’s debit card and it was declined also. The desk clerk gave me ‘the look’. They tried using a credit card as a deposit and it would not go through either. I was about ready to jump the counter. She finally said, “Oh our computers are down.” We got our key but that was not the end of the story.

The suite is a one bed room Condo with a balcony overlooking the beach. We were on the fourth floor. This unit was smaller and not quite as nice as what we have had in the past but it was ok. It had a small kitchen area with a half sized fridge and 2 burner stove top. After unpacking the sun broke through the clouds. The ocean view was great. and we could hear the waves roll in. It was a bit of a walk to the waters edge. The resort was the last building on the north end of the island and wasn’t very crowed most of the time. I headed out to a nearby grocery store for some supplies. We sat on the balcony for a while then had ham sandwiches for dinner.

A bit of history about the area: The first permanent settlers came to Wilmington about 1720. The town of Wilmington was incorporated in 1739. A number of the first settlers of the region came from South Carolina and Barbados. Slavery came early to the region, as landowners used slave labor to work the region's natural resources. Forestry was the region's major industry through the 18th and most of the 19th century: naval stores and lumber fueled the economy both before and after the American Revolution. During the Civil War the port was a major base for Confederate blockade runners. A blockade runner was a fast frigate that would out run the union ships to bring supplies into the port. It was captured by Union forces only in February of 1865, approximately one month after the fall of Ft. Fisher had closed the port. The city of Wilmington was never attacked by Union forces and original buildings still stand.

Sun 13 Aug-
I woke up about 8:00 AM. Made coffee and had a cup on the balcony. It is starting out to be a nice day. Clear skies, low humidity and the high for the day is supposed to be in the low 80s. Patti got up and had coffee with me. We ate a banana for breakfast and decided to go check out the resort.

About 10 years ago they had to modify an inlet because the resort was not to far from being washed away by the ocean. The work redirected currents and waves and now it has a very large beach and is protected. The resort was saved by the construction but the ecologists and tree huggers were not happy about ‘fooling with mother nature’.

The indoor pool had a glass roof that let in the sun, and it was heated as well. After the swim we changed and had lunch in the restaurant. Patti had a burger that was pretty good; my hot wings were pretty good too. Patti noticed that their dining room could have used a good cleaning. We had a few drinks with lunch and enjoyed the ocean view.

The over-all impression of the resort is that it is “ok”. On the 5 star scale I guess I would give it a 3. No major complaints other then it could use a little work and cleanliness of the dining room. Maybe we have been spoiled by the Edgewater Resort in Panama City Beach.

We figured out why the debit card was denied. Our account has a security feature that does not allow a transaction over $1500 to go through. That is good I guess. I had them split the charge and it went through fine. We sat out front of the hotel and enjoyed the breeze. We watched the new arrivals check in. If they were big tippers I might have helped with the bags. I went back to the store for some bottled water. The tap water in the room tasted bad.

After a nap we went down to the outdoor pool and read, then went down to the beach and read. This became the theme of the vacation- days of just relaxing. The ocean water was warm in the 80s. After it started to get dark we went back to the room and made tacos for dinner.

14 Aug Monday-
We woke up early again and read for a bit on the balcony. It was getting hot. We made omelets for breakfast and watched a little TV. We decided to drive in to Wilmington and take a tour of the Historic District. It was only 20 minutes a way. The historic district is right on the Cape Fear River.

We took a horse drawn trolley ride. The trolley was pulled by a matched pair or Percheron draft horses. It turned out the horses were rejects from an Amish farm in Indiana. I guess the Amish give a horse 3 years and if the can’t cut it they sell them. Pulling a buggy is probably easier on them the plowing a field. The tour was pretty neat. We were on old cobble stone roads. The homes we saw were all originals from the early 1800s to the 1920s. Our tour guide said the only part of the homes we saw that were not original was the iron work. All the original iron work was melted down during the Civil War to make bullets. We saw 2 sets of homes that were identical. On set was built by a sea captain for his two daughters. Of course they had to be exactly the same! The other set was a pair of homes ordered and built from the Sears catalog in the 1920s. The entire house was ordered by the catalog -- wood, paint bricks tools and nails. It was delivered to the site and built by the home owner.

After the tour we had lunch in a building that had been a warehouse storing cotton, peanuts and indigo in the 1800s. I had seafood chowder and a crab salad sandwich. Patti had fried cod and Cole slaw.

Wilmington lacks a lot of the ‘tourist type attractions’ you find in some of the bigger beach towns. No put-put golf courses and parasailing boats. A little quieter and more laid back.

Went back to the resort. At about 5:30 we took our beach chairs back down to the beach. It was our favorite time to go because the sun was not glaring down, yet it was still sunny and warm. We stayed down there till it got too dark to read. We had a late dinner- BLTs, watched some TV and called it a day.

15 Aug Tuesday-
A very lazy day. Slept in and made pancakes for breakfast. It was a little too hot for the balcony so we hung out in the room read and played yahtzee. We went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called “On the Boarder.” Food and service were fine. After dinner we went to Wal-Mart. I needed a new book to read. We also wanted to get some kiddy pool floats for our pool at home. We were hoping since they had a longer pool season here we may find something. Got a book, no floats. We did get a jigsaw puzzle. The weatherman was calling for possible rain the next few days (they were wrong). We had a tropical low off shore but it never made it ashore. Just a few sprinkles.

16 Aug Wednesday-
Even more relaxed then the day before. Coffee on the balcony then ham and eggs for breakfast. We went down to the pool and sat in the shade and read and swam. We also used the indoor pool and had it to ourselves. Went back to the room and had leftover Mexican food for lunch. Since the morning had been so strenuous we took a nap. Later that afternoon we grabbed our beach chairs and headed out to the beach. It was nice just sitting watching and listening to the waves roll in. Ordered hamburgers from the restaurant and took them to the room for a late dinner. They were the size of a dinner plate. I thought I could eat the whole thing but I was wrong.

17 Aug Thursday-
I went down to the restaurant and made up a couple of plates from the breakfast bar. Their breakfast was free but this was the first time we had tried it out. It was a pretty good lay out- donuts, fruit, cereal, waffles and scrambled eggs. After we ate we went down to the outdoor pool and read and hung out.

We went to the ‘Draw Bridge” restaurant for dinner. Slightly upscale- sea food and steaks. And yes, it was next to a draw bridge over the inter-coastal waterway. We had a nice view from or table and did get to see them raise and lower the bridge.

Sat 19 Aug
Time to check out. We were mostly packed and loaded up so there was not much left to do. We checked out of the Resort about 10:00am. Patti and I stood on the balcony for one last look at the beach and ocean before leaving.

Before leaving we had a scare. Patti had looked out and saw rescue vehicles on the beach in front of the resort. She was afraid somebody had drowned. I peaked over the parking garage as they were loading the person into an ambulance. It was an older lady who had her leg in a brace. I could see her gesturing with her hands talking to the medic. I am guessing she fell and twisted her knee or ankle.

The resort had a four story parking garage attached to the hotel so we were able to walk down the hall to our car. Driving home is not near as exciting as heading to it to start. It took about 3 ½ hours to get out of North Carolina and into the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. We stopped for lunch at Shoney’s, then headed back out. More rain in the mountains of West Virginia. We stopped at a rest stop on the WV turnpike and got a couple of cups of Starbucks coffee. Patti and I both agreed it was the worst tasting coffee we have ever had in our lives.

Just about the time we finally got out of the mountains the rain stopped. We ended up just driving on to get home. We pulled in the drive way about 10:40 PM. Emptied out the cooler but the rest can wait till morning. It’s good to be home, but we do love our vacations!!