Riverfest!!!!

After jogging with my friend Becky at 7:30am Saturday morning, I rushed home, jumped in the shower, threw on some jeans, and hopped into the car next to Boo. We were headed down to Wilmington NC for the 2010 Riverfest. Whoo Hoo!! It was a nice easy 3 hour drive and as we drove across the Cape Fear bridge around 12:30pm, I could feel the stress of the week just melt off into the salty, coastal air. Boo navigated us through the festival traffic and found a great (and the last) parking spot, near the Cap Fear Community College. We decided to leave our jackets in the car, because the overcast day turned into a beautiful, breezy, sun shining day.
We walked the two blocks down to the breezy river front and folded into the throngs of people walking about. We took in a small skateboarding competition for kids that was set up with a small skate ramp, then we checked out little ones flying up rock climbing walls before we decided to stroll down the street and check out the craft booths. To the left we saw a full fledged wrestling ring and saw some adults in tights really wrestling! haha! We moved along and dipped in and out of small canopied booths that caught our interest. I really loved the photograph and painting booths. I did check out some of the jewelry tables, but didn't find anything that struck me. Lots of sea glass jewelry set in silver and glass beaded necklaces though. Boo and I found an interesting coconut booth. Everything was made out of coconuts; lamps that looked like miniature palm trees, tables, bird feeders, silly animal figurines, etc... We walked down along the street food section, everything from cold lemonades, roasted turkey legs, funnel cakes, deep fried blooming onions, lamb gyros, shaved ice, you name it, it was there.

Boo and I had plans to eat at our fav, place, so even though our hungry mouths were watering, we bypassed the aromatic festival section and walked down to the main stage area. I really wanted to catch the 2pm reggae band called SELAH DUBB ,and with 10 minutes to spare, Boo and I grabbed a seat on the city hall steps to people watch and checked out the stage. The backdrop of the stage was amazing. It was the waterfront of the Cape Fear River with the river court (for those who watch the show One Tree Hill, you know what I'm talking about, it's filmed here) and the battleship North Carolina, whose permanently docked there. Well, in true reggae time, the band started up late, hahaha!, around 2:30pm. They were pretty good too! I found out they are from Boone, NC, and moved to Wilmington to continue pursuing their music. The singer really had a strong reggae voice, it reminded me alot of Shaggy (Mr. Boomtastic). Boo was totally mesmerized by Hula Hoop Ho... I mean girl.... haha! You see, there was this girl who had brought her really short skirt and hula hoop out to the festival and was shaking her mid drift cut off shirt for everyone to watch her. Honestly, she was a really good hula hooper, even if she was attention starved :) Anyways, we stayed and watched the band (and hula hoop girl getting picked up by a pirate) til 3:45pm, then we strolled down along the boardwalk to Georges for some lunch.

At Georges, we opted for an outdoor table, (I love, love, love outdoor dining!!), ordered two Corona's and the warm spinach artichoke dip we love, and continued people watching. When our beers came, Boo and I did a little toast to getting out of town for a bit and as soon as Boo had his first sip, he said he felt completely relaxed. It made me smile and feel good that he was able to chillax for a bit. After two rounds of Corona's, we ordered our entrees. Boo got the shrimp Po'boy with malted fries and I got the baby spinach salad with goat cheese, pecans, and cherry port dressing. (YUMMY!) We enjoyed the waterfront view, the awesome 72 degree weather, and left with satisfied smiles on our stuffed faces. We strolled along the Front Street and finished checking out all the vendors and wandered up to the boardwalk again. We decided to just chill for a second and sat along the waterfront wall. Well, Boo sat, I laid down for a bit and enjoyed the breeze and watched the boats coming up the river. An hour later, we continued walking along the boardwalk til we got to where the Flotilla entry boats were being decorated. We checked out the Pirate Themed boats and watched all the sailors on board swilling back some rum concoctions and laughing the day away in their pirate outfits. (One day Boo, one day we'll be dressed up in silly costumes, hanging colored lights off of our boat and swilling down some rum concoction. I promise. )

We decided to make one last stroll thru the craft vendors to see if we missed anything. Oh, I forgot to mention how many ECU Pirate t-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts we saw all over the festival. It's nice to see my fellow alumni representing our college. I, of course, had my ECU hat tied to my purse, in case I needed to wear a hat :) So after attempting to buy some international flags to round up our collection at home, we headed to the boardwalk wall to grab a seat for the FLOTILLA. For those who don't know what a Flotilla is, it's a parade of boats all decked out with Christmas lights or any themed decoration. The Riverfest Flotilla was Pirate themed and started at dusk. We watched swashbuckling sailors float by playing their sea shanty music, firing booming cannons, and showing off their "booty" treasure chests, all the while lit up with all kinds and colors of Christmas lights. Once the show was over, Boo and I decided to head on home, we had a nice long 3 hour drive ahead of us.

What a perfect day trip down east to Wilmington, NC for the annual Riverfest. Not only is Wilmington one of our favorite little spots on the planet, it's also full of history, and is by far, one of the best coastal towns around. I'm so glad Boo and I took the opportunity to go on this adventure. Til next time... GET OUTDOORS!!!