We spent several weeks in one my favorite North Carolina cities, Wilmington. Situated on the Cape Fear River, not far from the Atlantic Ocean, it's a young (and old) and vibrant small city with tons of great restaurants, funky stores, and amazing old homes.
Wilmington is a medium-sized city that feels like a small town, and it's also the setting of Alexi's new Coastal Carolina series of books about the men who live and work in the area.

The first thing you notice when you sail into Wilmington on the Cape Fear River is the Port of Wilmington, located just south of the city. Nearly every day, huge container ships make their way up the river and are unloaded and reloaded using giant cranes at the docks there. Those enormous boats aren't sailed in by their captains (called "masters" in the shipping business) they are guided in by river pilots who meet them out in the ocean a few miles offshore.

Some years back, Wilmington was hit pretty badly in Hurricane Florence. In fact, our sailboat sustained minor water damage while slipped at a Wilmington marina. At one point following the hurricane, the entire city was cut off by water, making it an island. In the weeks following the storm, debris piled up outside homes as residents cleaned up. Weeks after the storm passed through, there were still huge trees and other detritus floating in the Cape Fear River, making navigation hazardous. The river smelled like wet cardboard for nearly a month afterward.

On this trip, we visited with friends while we were in town, taking some day sails to visit the nearby rivers and small islands. On our way, we saw shrimpers and container ships, along with small sport-fishing boats. The river seemed quieter than before the pandemic, but there were still families out enjoying the sunshine and the water. Restaurants in town were serving outdoors, and the first inside dining began a few days before we left for Virginia. We even stopped in a few stores and bought a few items, including cool face masks made in Tanzania, which look a lot better than the surgical masks we'd been wearing.

Perhaps someday we will settle in Wilmington, once we are done exploring on our boat. I look forward to going back to North Carolina soon and enjoying one of the most beautiful coastal regions of the eastern United States.

Until then, Alexi will be writing more stories set in the Wilmington area. If you're interested in checking those stories out, you can find them on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and any other ebook outlets.