WILMINGTON: We Were STUNNED At What We Saw In This North Carolina City

good morning [Applause] these guys are checking me out out of the corner of their eyes all right don't you get too close dude this is the Cape Fear River and that's downtown Wilmington Wilmington North Carolina here I wasn't sure what it would look like I'm not gonna lie I'm a little stunned it is gorgeous here I'm on the other side of the Cape Fear River downtown and you can see they've got a river walk there I'm gonna head there shortly right now I'm near this huge Battleship it's called battleship North Carolina I want to start the video there it's a museum now when it was commissioned in 1941 it was called the world's most fearsome sea weapon it was involved in every major battle in World War II that was conducted in the Pacific now you can go on board and take a look if you want if you happen to be here and Edmonton me I'm just going to give you a nice look at it and of course downtown from over here and uh well I'm gonna head over there right now but uh you know what before we do that it is a beautiful day to fly a drone so I did just that here it is [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] before I stop and walk around a bit yeah why not uh you can see for yourself it's beautiful let's see uh there's the Cape Fear River right there and yeah I'll just make my way through at least this One Main Street here in downtown we'll take a look then I'll get out and walk about a bit see what it can find on foot you guys know what this looks like it looks like a film set film or TV yeah without question there is something uh something being filmed here yeah we just drove by a film or TV set well okay here I am on the other side of the river from the North Carolina battleship really nice Riverwalk here stretches I think a couple miles along the uh Riverfront here it's downtown the heart of downtown right there I'm going to walk around a bit show you the city at least the downtown area there are a lot of apartment buildings and hotels here on the river I'm going to walk down this Riverfront for a minute or two and tell you some about the city [Music] latest census estimates that there are 117 600 people here [Music] Metro a little over three hundred thousand three hundred and two thousand that's pretty good sized you may not know this but Wilmington was the largest city in North Carolina until 1910. Charlotte passed it but it's still a good sized city today is Friday by the way it's 9 30 a.m so it's a little bit quiet right now sunny day a little bit windy it's about 60 degrees so it's not unpleasant it is uh late January anyway uh a little bit more about the town you may not know this but it is a film and television production Center let's see uh they've got a studio here screen gym Studios it is the largest film and television production facility in the United States outside of California they've got a Sound Stage there that is the third largest in the country they've got a water tank there it is the biggest for filming movies and television well I'm making my way into beautiful Downtown Wilmington by the way did you know that woman Wilmington is a Beach town I did not know that I do now I'm going to tell you up front that the wife and I are staying out on the ocean in a place called Wrightsville Beach we're staying at a resort there it's absolutely gorgeous second half of the video will be uh us reviewing the hotel and showing you around that area but I was reading that National Geographic lists Wilmington as among the top 20 in the world for surfing yeah it's a surfing Paradise here in fact this morning when I looked out of the window of my hotel uh we actually have a ocean view room there are guys out there already early early in the morning surfing and it's beautiful and sunny couldn't blame them looked like fun quite a few famous people from here Charlie Daniels I think all of you who are older very familiar with the song The Devil Went Down to Georgia uh Meadowlark Lemon from the Harlem Globetrotters I used to love watching those guys he's from here Michael Jordan the great basketball player in my opinion the greatest of all time uh he wasn't born here but he grew up here honed his basketball skills here I graduated high school here there's that film set Sugar Ray Leonard he's from here too a lot of other people but I won't get too far into it I'm just going to look around here a little bit more maybe I can find out what this film set is or TV set you can't see him right now but there's a guy up there Manning those lights uh looks like they're waiting to shoot they've got the uh craft cart right there looks like they're just waiting for the actors to show up pretty cool huh yeah they're filming in that building apparently well it came over here and asked them what they were shooting I got the little snack cart out here they're shooting a remake of the Disney show Disney 10 or I'm sorry Zoe 101. pretty cool my daughter used to watch that show when she was much younger of course she would never watch it now anyway yeah let's look around some more what a beautiful building absolutely gorgeous all right what else is there well I'm taking it walk through downtown it is absolutely beautiful here every storefront has a business I haven't seen any trash on the streets uh no graffiti I haven't seen any homeless I'm assuming there are but I have yet to see a single homeless person beautiful couple stats average age or median age here is 42 years old poverty level is 17.1 it's a little higher than I thought it would be that's not super high at least for a city like this the city just seems very prosperous as you drive through it [Music] another stat that kind of stuck out as I show you the town the graduation rate a high school graduation rate is uh 93 percent it's one of the highest of any town I've seen all right well I'm out in some neighborhoods just outside of downtown is it what you expected to see yeah I did I figured it was this area of town probably was full of beautiful homes and uh yeah it is not disappointing wow now you can tell these are all very old too I mean many of them I'm guessing probably the 1800s Maybe a lot of these homes it's a pretty old city early 1700s yeah it's just gorgeous I mean wow got the brick streets and just these incredible homes I mean what a beautiful city look at all this blocks and blocks of this you can see how close I am to downtown it's straight up ahead there I mean look at these beautiful homes I can't get over this town this is one of the most beautiful towns I've ever seen at least in downtown and near downtown look at this church holy cow that is something you guys seeing that of course you are I'm pointing the camera at it but uh wow that is absolutely beautiful and yet another beautiful Church Basilica of Saint Mary that is something isn't it wow all right everyone that's going to be the end of this part of the video here in downtown Wilmington and of course the area around downtown gonna head out to the beach right now that's where my life is rest of the video will be there and we will be reviewing the hotel as well so that's coming up next all right I'm going to show you Wrightsville Beach first it's really nice here very much laid back Beach town it's I don't love it as much as my beloved South Padre Island in Texas but uh it's in the top five for sure um the ocean is right there the Atlantic so this road just runs along the beach you can see the housing absolutely gorgeous the town uh there's about 2 400 people here it's pretty small this is the off season but there's still quite a few people here a lot of beautiful women of all ages I I don't think I've ever seen such a high concentration in one place really attractive women all over this place uh you can see for yourself it's pretty incredible we are staying at a hotel or a Holiday Inn which we don't really like Holiday Inns we rarely stay at them but this is a Holiday Inn Resort and it is really nice very upscale we're gonna do a review of it uh here I'm going to pull into the hotel right here here it is yeah Holiday Inn Resort we'll show you the entire Hotel a lot of the and of course all the amenities it's got uh covered parking which I like a lot I'm driving into the parking lot right now really nice place uh so we will be showing you this entire area coming up there's the hotel I look at it from the beach oh nice out here today water's really blue too Bluer Than I thought it would be pretty early in the morning in the morning about 11. so it's a bit quiet let's see how about if we check out the area from the sky perfect weather to fly my drone so here it is [Music] thank you [Music] I'm going to show you the layout of the hotel you go up these stairs and that's where you check in beautiful Lobby elevators and that's a coffee bar there so if you want some morning coffee kind of like a Starbucks that's where you go [Music] some more Lobby and then there's the bar restaurant over there which we will be going to more than once and come out the door [Music] and uh your Ocean Side beautiful day here in North Carolina there's the Atlantic Ocean [Music] there's a hot tub right there outdoor swimming pool and then there's also an indoor swimming pool right there underneath that roof we will show you all that it's about 65 right now sun no wind really nice all right we have arrived at our room uh what is it 552 yeah five two five five two let's check it out we've got the one bedroom suite by the way yeah is that a patio a balcony so uh yeah it's got a really big balcony look at all this space now there's the Atlantic Ocean uh the place has an indoor and outdoor pool the indoor pool is heated we already checked it out a couple of hot tubs um all right let's check out the living area so this is the living area [Music] the big TV a lot of room right there for sitting yeah this should be microwave refrigerator and a little table with a sink kitchenette it's probably going to be your little desk huh yeah uh let's see bathroom here this is a hat no there's no shower in there half bath so this is the yeah this is the bedroom let me turn around over here get the light in the right place yeah it's got TV yeah TV and uh little closet and it's got a full bath so this hotel room has got a one and a half bath with a big shower you've never had a room with a one and a half yeah yeah but still with all this bathroom space you would think they could put a tub in here somewhere yeah it's really nice yeah it's a big shower yeah that's really cool all right well focus camera all right well that's the room pretty cool uh we're walking the beach some guys out there surfing I don't know if you can see him out there and I'm like well how cold can the water be so I'm walking in it uh it's cold that guy's out there surfing anyway though wow yeah this water is ice cold it's definitely winter anyway there's the hotel by the way right here full day out here though isn't it or what that water's cold it's a beautiful day though right it's uh very easily I mean I'm wearing a jacket because yeah I get cold very easily but it's still a great day yeah but uh is it 70s that water's cold but there's guys out there surfing I've worn those wetsuits to actually keep you because I don't know I couldn't get in that water all the way keeps them warm enough I guess yes what is it like 70s out here today it's probably about 65 it's supposed to be the high today which is still pretty comfortable yeah well I mean with the Sun out and sliceries it's nice yeah just the way I like it it's nice and hot just the way I like it yeah this hot tub is a little bit small they uh just small so I'm our room is right up there three down uh yeah it's hard to believe that it's January and we're sitting outside we're going to go eat they have a bar and restaurant uh well it serves breakfast but it also serves lunch and dinner called solstice [Music] so we're gonna we're gonna give that a try right now check it out all right we are sitting in the bar looking at the menus crumbies on mine huh crummy zombies it's a pretty cool looking Place nice little bar well we're drinking Jack Daniels and we've had a couple because we don't have to drive we're in the hotel I'm having short ribs with fries and you're having scallops and scallops it's on top of butternut squash with the Apple fennel slaw and I got garlic green beans Too Apple fennel slaw that's good yeah it doesn't it's very good yeah this stuff looks really good I'm gonna dive in well the verdict on the food is it's amazing it's very good yeah these short ribs short ribs are to me are just like a fancy pot roast which I love pot roast and those fries they have this coating on the outside make some really crispy fantastic my green beans are super yummy they kind of they taste almost very similar to the ones you used to eat yeah I'm an expert at making green beans yeah you are those are uh looks like garlic on them yes they're garlic green beans it's actually better not squash do you like that on that yeah I do I do and the applesauce is really good too and the scallops are very very good they're almost amazing so uh yeah this place is expensive but it looks good yeah food is good food is expensive you guys are probably wondering how much this stuff costs the yeah mine my short ribs are 29 yours is stupid yeah yours 36 right my scalps the 36 but then I added the green beans which were eight yeah so your dish total is forty eight dollars 46. 44. 44 dollars so your dish is 44 okay got it whew that's expensive eating I'm sorry come on you can make it all the way in I know I can that doesn't mean it's that's lukewarm it's not pleasant for me huh does it feel good or no see it's not bad is it I see I knew you could do it well the hot tub is full of people right now there's there's we're gonna have to wait till they clear out did you bring my drink we're having some Jack Daniels here in the uh yours is over there over there bring my drink over I have to ask yeah that's like a given the uh I'll give you a look at the pool area we kind of got it or we definitely have it to ourselves there's uh outdoor pools right there hot tubs are over there one of them is closed at the moment though one of the hot tubs you're gonna go over there and get my drink that's right over there [Music] get it woman do your job yeah you heard me oh come on go get it get your man his drink oh yeah that's just wrong that's just wrong see how you do me you call me a caveman yeah I like it well it's 8 30 in the morning and I'm going to have breakfast it's not included it's 18 bucks that's a lot of money in this inflation ravaged World it better be good well the breakfast is buffet style so uh let's see what all they got here looks like a bunch of stuff though all right the buffet is pretty extensive I got scrambled eggs biscuits and gravy some fruit French toast potatoes bacon they got a bunch of other stuff too though all kinds of stuff cereal and muffins and grits there's a guy there making eggs to order however you want them this orange juice looks amazing lots of Pulp just the way I like it it's pretty good the bacon is fantastic eggs are good potatoes okay biscuits and gravy okay [Music] just toast pretty good orange juice is phenomenal second morning here in wifey needs some coffee so uh I'm tagging along so she ordered a caramel macchiato caramel macchiato right and you really want to share one of those huge cinnamon rolls yeah let's get one of those it's not enough Kathy's a Salesman he's like it's worth it not that many come on I'm going to the gym doesn't mean I can work that off cheers excuse me all right you got your fancy hot coffee coffee yes [Music] okay I'm not gonna eat this whole thing you're gonna eat the whole thing you better not I'm gonna have something you better not because I'm going to have some yeah it's nice out here on the patio this morning three mornings it's been nice out here how's your uh I have done my breakfast out here every morning you having your breakfast out here every morning yeah watching the ocean I'm having my breakfast too healthy breakfast yeah mine is healthy too I've been having Coke for breakfast ever since I was 15. it's hot well it's supposed to be hot extra hot extra hot okay how's the cinnamon roll I don't know you could try the first bite [Music] yeah you're gonna have a bite [Music] it's kind of a good time of the year to come here because everything costs less and it's still pretty nice anyway anyway I see that well I'm gonna check out the gym right now and I can see the wife she's on the elliptical working away getting a good workout yeah I just got started but yeah I'm feeling energetic today yeah good it's good because I need to lose oh yeah your weight is fine nice gym though it's got the full weights a bunch of machines treadmills and uh if you're on a treadmill you get to look at the ocean and the pool it's pretty sweet it's um 7 30 in the morning mystery and cold 41 degrees outside you can see the waves crashing in on the beach and these Maniacs woke me up that pool is not heated you can probably hear the wind the wind shear in the camera it is windy and cold I'm trying to understand what these people are doing at 7 30 in the morning in a cold swimming pool holy cow these guys are hardcore not sure what they're doing but I can tell you one thing they are freezing their tails off wow yeah I'm too old for this uh for this I could never do it I'll sleep in this morning too and now I'm wide awake wow all right everyone so time to review the hotel uh we were here Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Wednesday and Thursday nights it was a hundred and eighty eight dollars a night Friday and Saturday it was 264. so pretty expensive I can tell you one thing for sure this hotel is far more expensive in the summer it's structured pretty much like a resort uh really nice yeah I mean it's a Holiday Inn Resort and we usually won't stay in holiday ends we really don't like it because they are so inconsistent uh but this is this is the exception really nice except for the hot tub the place is great yeah so uh I guess that's all that what do you think how would you rate this hotel hon 4.6 I'm right there too I'm thinking 4.7 really nice place yeah highly recommend if you're in a Wilmington area coming out here to Wrightsville Beach to stay awesome out here lots of restaurants lots of stuff to do laid back Beach Town um and this time of the year it's still a nice a nice visit here uh the first two days we were here it was in the 60s and low 70s now today not so today it's it's that is the day that we're leaving anyway at least we didn't get this weather when we were when we were actually you know on our full days so yeah today is cold and rainy rainy rainy rainy and that the ocean is going crazy out there too I'm looking at it right now yeah we'll leave I'll show you a picture of it yeah see there's what it looks like right now uh but still it's still even then it's nice uh because the hotel's nice and they have lots of stuff to do here they got pool tables and they're on that pool tables but they got they got different games of stuff for you to do just put it that way anyway so the hotel's rated that's it that's it for this video um I can't remember where we're going next but anyway whatever that video is it will be up in a couple whatever that video is it will be up in a couple days so we'll see you then

Channel: Joe & Nic's Road Trip

Views: 224,216

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Id: xgt04czNXRk

Length: 34min 38sec (2078 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 02 2023