Fall break--Day 3--Adventures in Wilmington

Wilmington was an adventure we expected to take because of Arianna's love of the television show One Tree Hill. I don't actually watch the show, but it is filmed in Wilmington, NC, and we knew from the start that a visit there was on her to-do list. We headed out early for Wilmington--with Bella.

We decided to bring Bella because we knew the trip would be all day and we couldn't leave her at home the whole time. I was a bit concerned because it was her first trip longer than 15 minutes, and I wasn't sure how she would react to being around so many new people and places.

Turns out my fears were unfounded. She did great. She sat for the number of people who told us she was adorable and asked if they could pet her. She walked on her leash without getting completely underfoot. And she sat chewing on a  bone while Shawn and I ate a nice lunch in the park.

Let's backtrack though. We started off by walking down to the riverfront. Arianna immediately spotted the basketball court featured in the show and was incredibly excited. She and Tim then went and purchased tickets for a tour that featured the locations of various movie sets and television filming locations. Before their tour, we all walked around and checked out the various historic houses, some of which dated back to the late 1700s.

We then headed back so Arianna and Tim could take their 90 minute walking tour. Shawn and I decided to sit that one out and watch Bella together, so we grabbed a sandwich and found a nice small patch of grass down by the riverfront to enjoy a picnic lunch. The weather was beautiful--high 70s with a slight breeze--and we enjoyed sitting there then walking along the water before heading back to meet them.

Once we met up with Arianna and Tim, the four of us then decided to get some ice cream and sat in a shady spot to eat it. Bella was awfully tired from all the walking that we did earlier at this point and didn't even really try to steal a lick.

We then went back to the car so Arianna could visit some additional filming spots of One Tree Hill that were not covered on the tour, and after that it was back to Durham. At this point we were all tired, so Bella and I took a nap.

The car ride home wouldn't have been too bad had it not been for state fair and sporting event traffic. We sat on the freeway for about a half hour. Luckily, we made it home and were able to enjoy an evening of dinner and board games before heading to bed.