Due to the boys' Seussical rehearsal schedule, we couldn't go on an extended vacation for Memorial Day. So we settled on a 24-hour whirlwind trip to the North Carolina coast.
We left the house on Saturday morning headed in the general direction of Wilmington, NC. It's a simple drive down Hwy 74 straight into Wilmington. From there we headed south towards Carolina Beach. I had printed online directions to get us through Wilmington and to the beach. They turned out to be completely useless. There are only three numbered highways in Wilmington and they run in all directions. Luckily, the local DOT really wants people to find their way to the beach. So there are road signs pointing the way.
We didn't get to spend all day at the beach, just a few hours. But it was a great way to start the summer. The weather was breezy & beautiful and the water was nice and warm.
My impression of Carolina Beach based on the few hours we spent there:
-- Follow signs to the beach. Online directions are useless.
-- There is plenty of municipal parking at Carolina Beach. Before we left, I checked the city website & located a few lots. The spaces are metered and the automated ticket dispenser accepts debit cards!
-- Other than in the "downtown" area of Carolina Beach, there aren't traffic signals or crosswalks. Pedestrians beware! During busy times, it was really scary crossing the road to get to the beach.
-- Carolina Beach doesn't seem to be as crowded as Wrightsville Beach. There were plenty of people, but it didn't feel like we were falling over each other.
-- At low tide, Carolina Beach is a great place to find seashells. Some big ones were washed up high on the beach. Down in the surf, we only had to scratch off the top layer of sand to find thousands of tiny little treasures. Jacob even found a hunk of sea clay the size of a football.
-- And lastly, my oldest will rarely be featured in our beach photos because he doesn't stand still long enough. He loves the beach!
After a few hours we headed back to Wilmington to check into our hotel. Once again the online directions failed us & we got lost. But following a lovely tour of the waterfront district, we found the Country Inn & Suites. We needed to get cleaned up and rested before heading out for dinner and a show. The Country Inn & Suites was suggested to us by the theatre owner. Just a few days before our trip, I had snagged one of the few remaining rooms for the holiday weekend. For being a destination city so close to the beach, I thought $109/night was quite reasonable. Especially since breakfast was included. The hotel is relatively new and the staff was quite helpful. We used their business center to print the receipt for our theatre tickets. And later in the evening, the boys went swimming in the indoor pool. We will definitely stay there again when we're anywhere near Wilmington.
Our show was at The Browncoat Pub & Theatre on Grace Street in the riverfront district of Wilmington. As a special package deal, we also bought dinner at the Blue Plate Cafe a few doors down. All the food there is made fresh daily so they had run out of a few items by dinnertime. And the service was a bit leisurely considering we only had a little time before the show. But the food was downright amazing! I especially recommend the ribs -- and I'm not usually a rib eater. We polished off dinner and hurried over to the theatre.
Blue Plate Cafe on Grace Street in Wilmington
The Browncoat Pub & Theatre is a small bar attached to a tiny theatre. The bar is designed for the enjoyment of every Firefly/Whedon fan. There are handpainted murals under the bar depicting each Firefly character. The bar top is plastered with every Whedon-designed comic graphic ever printed. And the ceiling has white Christmas light draped with black to look like outer space.
The theatre has about 40 seats. The Browncoat specializes in independent productions, especially by local playwrights. It is a non-profit and genuinely exists for the sake of its art.
The reason we traveled over hill & dale to come to the Browncoat Theatre was to see the Browncoat-essential production of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog". Every member of our family is a huge fan of the movie. The Browncoat Theatre obtained the rights to adapt it for the stage. They worked with Maurissa Tancharoen, one of the Dr. Horrible writers, to make sure the show adhered to the original spirit of the movie.
We arrived just before the show and very nearly had to sit in the last row. But luckily we were tricked-out in full fan gear. So we got upgraded to front row, V.I.P. seats. Check out my fanboys getting ready for the show.
We were NOT disappointed. The whole cast is really talented. They did a great job overcoming the challenges of bringing a movie to the stage. The Wonderflonium-containing van was merely implied, with Captain Hammer perched atop a ladder. There were some moments when pre-taped video was projected onstage to allow for quick plot changes. What was especially appealing is that a stage production allowed the characters to be more over-the-top. Moist became a sniffling, sneezing mess who occasionally spewed some unknown goo towards the audience. He also served as the stand-in dart board for the "So They Say" number. And the mayor, who was extremely minor in the movie, was a complete goofball onstage during "Everyone's a Hero". Somehow, they rigged the Death Ray to smoke & sizzle when it malfunctioned. That was quite impressive.
Dr. Horrible & Moist (sneezing)
Billy meets Penny
Captain Hammer's here, hair blowing in the breeze
I hate the homless.....-ness problem that plagues our city
We came back to the Country Inn after the show, had a restful sleep, a humongous breakfast the next morning, and hurried back to Charlotte so Jacob could work on Sunday afternoon.
By Monday night, the boys were back at the theatre for their first full dress rehearsal. And there were still a few days of school remaining. But our summer had officially started.
