The entire Cape Fear region is water oriented. Our climate enables us to enjoy the beach all year - although maybe not in the water all year! The Intracoastal Waterway, the ocean, and our creeks, rivers, inlets and sounds make this a boating and fishing paradise. We have 13 area golf courses, countless tennis courts, and several private country clubs as well as athletic clubs and a family YMCA. UNCW (University of North Carolina at Wilmington) brings us soccer, basketball and baseball. You'll enjoy visits to our many historic homes, majestic plantations, the North Carolina Aquarium and Fort Fisher (site of the Civil War battle for control of Wilmington).

• Things to see and do
• Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Insiders Guide To Wilmington
• Dining
• Night life
• Airlie Gardens
• Shopping
• Surf report
• Golf
• Check Out Our Newspaper
• Weekly Arts & Entertainment Guide
• Online Yellow Pages for Wilmington Area

Wilmington offers you many delightful choices. and these are ones that I can heartily recommend. We have several B&B's in the heart of our Historic District; enjoy the charm of our Riverwalk, park your car and stroll to delightful restaurants and shops.

• The Front Street Inn
• The Verandas

• Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort

• Hampton Inn & Suites @ Landfall

We have a thriving theatre, arts, and music community, actively supported by both permanent residents and our film studio "guests" (you will see the studios working in various neighborhoods as they film movies and TV shows). In addition, UNCW attracts a variety of guest speakers and cultural programs.

• Weekly Guide to Arts & Entertainment
• Arts in Wilmington
• New Art Museum
• Center for Performing Arts
• Jazz
• Event Calendar
• Film Festivals

Our lovely long falls and springs extend our "outdoor living time." Our winters are brief (mid December into March) and mild; we sometimes have cold spells with highs in the 40's and lows in the teens, but a week later we will have highs in the 60's. Just ask our golfers and tennis players about the days in January and February when they can enjoy playing! And yes, our summers are hot, but steady, cooling ocean breezes make a wonderful difference.

• Weather report

Those hurricanes? Yes, we do have them sometimes. In 1996, "Fran" taught us a lot, and we made our repairs and benefited from our knowledge. Since 1996, Wilmington has had minimal damage and brief power loss from storms that generally are more tedious than frightening. Those of us who love the coast and the coastal lifestyle accept the fact that there are occasional inconveniences; and ... the Northeast has severe winter storms, the Midwest has tornados, and California has earthquakes!

They all made our area their home at one time! Don't you want to join this list?

What do these people have in common? (Email me if you don't recognize some of the names.)

• David Brinkley
• Meadowlark Lemon
• Anna McNeil Whistler (Whistler's Mother)
• Charles Kuralt
• Woodrow Wilson
• Charlie Daniels
• Michael Jordan
• Henry Bacon (architect for the Lincoln Memorial)
• Althea Gibson
• Caterina Jarboro
• Sugar Ray Leonard
• Robert Ruark

• Commerce & Industry
• Film Commission
• Downtown Revitalization
• Community Profile
• Demographics and Economy
• New Hanover Health Network
• City of Wilmington

Wilmington is the epitome of what the emerging New South is all about. Our inviting business climate has attracted giants like General Electric, Dupont, and Corning, as well as smaller high-tech firms such as Applied Analytical Industries and Pharmaceutical Product Development. Since the late 1990's technology has contributed to Wilmington's growth; FAX machines, Internet access and an airport enable many of our new residents to live anywhere, and they have chosen to enjoy our coastal lifestyle.

What's a FROG? If you don't recognize this term, you're like the great majority of people who live outside Wilmington! Unlike other Multiple Listing Services, Wilmington uses this term as an abbreviation for Finished Room Over Garage (sometimes called a "Bonus Room).

And a UROG? But, of course, that's an Unfinished Room Over Garage!

Wilmington offers many choices, and prices vary dramatically depending on proximity and access to water. We have a tremendous variety of new neighborhoods in which home prices range from $100,000 to $1,000,000 and above. We have a lovely historic district and other delightful areas of established homes as well as waterfront neighborhoods, beach towns and several golf and country club communities

Historic Charm - Part of the magic of Wilmington is our great variety of historic areas. We offer several distinct areas - all quite close to one another.

The Historic District began its renaissance in the early 1970's. The years after World War II had not been kind to Wilmington as river transportation declined and the railroad left, but we now realize this was a blessing. Wilmington wasn't experiencing the boom that led other cities to replace their historic buildings with modern structures. Ours simply became boarding houses! Now we are blessed with a wonderful collection of colonial, Greek Revival, Victorian and Italianate architecture spread through a charming (and growing) historic district.

Today the Historic District stretches for several blocks north and south of Market Street and is a delightful mix of shops, restaurants, lovely homes, and recently converted condos. Gothic churches, a community arts center, the public library, Thalian Hall (performing arts center), museums, and municipal buildings combine to make it a lively mecca for residents and tourists.

Many homes in the Historic District have been beautifully renovated, but there are still ones waiting for a loving hand! Home prices begin just below $200,000 (for ones needing work) and may be as high as $1,500,000 (for large, elegantly redone homes).

The Historic Overlay, Carolina Heights and Carolina Place developed in the early 1900's and are lovely areas just outside the Historic District.Charming bungalows, cozy Tudors, and elegant colonials, they have larger yards than homes in the Historic District. Sheltered by grand trees, their welcoming porches encourage you to stay awhile! These homes are not within an easy walk of downtown, but they are certainly convenient and desirable. Prices range from $160,000 (in need of renovation) to $1,300,000 (beautifully redone).

Forest Hills began to develop in the 1920's and 1930's as Wilmington's leading families began to move away from downtown (3 miles away!). This large and very desirable neighborhood has remained popular with its large, beautifully landscaped yards and streets lined with majestic live oak trees. You will find no lovelier spot during Wilmington's spectacular springs or on Christmas Eve when the residents line the streets with luminarias!

There is diversity in both home size and style and this allows for diversity in price. You may find a home for as little as $300,000, or you could spend more than a million.

We have four wonderful and distinct beach communities: Wrightsville Beach, Figure Eight Island, Carolina/Kure Beach, and Bald Head Island. Each one offers something quite unique to its lucky residents!

Wrightsville Beach is only 7 miles from the center of Wilmington and has long been "Wilmington's beach community" (since 1899). Wrightsville is a pretty beach town with a year-round population of fewer than 3,000 residents (primarily single family homes and a few condos and town homes). It also has delightful restaurants, a long-established small grocery store, a few hotels, and several shops.

• Wrightsville Beach Museum
• Town of Wrightsville Beach
• Wrightsville Beach Chamber of Commerce
• Lumina News (weekly newspaper)

A person who appreciates small-town living in a beach atmosphere will love Wrightsville it's our home, and I adore it! We have 5 miles of broad, clean beach where you can jog, stroll, or simply sit, and on most days you'll see surfers waiting for "that perfect wave." Both residents and visitors enjoy the "Loop," a 3-mile circle that passes the town parks, playgrounds, tennis courts and playing fields, crosses two bridges, and includes several blocks in the heart of town. If you walk, jog or skate the Loop at the same time each day, you'll encounter many of the same smiling faces. Wrightsville is connected to the mainland by a drawbridge across the Intracoastal Waterway - crossing the bridge at the end of a busy day always reminds us that life is good!

Prices in Wrightsville Beach range from $160,000 (interval ownership) to $4,000,000 and above (large oceanfront and waterfront homes).

Figure Eight, first developed in the 1960's by local families is a private island of single-family homes and no commercial development, but there is a yacht club and private harbor for residents. The private drawbridge leading to the island provides controlled access to Figure Eight. Home prices start at $1,295,000.

Carolina Beach and Kure are located at the southern tip of New Hanover County. and these beaches have experienced dramatic changes recently. New luxury hotels and condo development have changed the center of Carolina Beach, and the construction of luxurious homes and 2-unit condos has altered the town’s overall look. Carolina Beach is promoting family activities and has enhanced the lake area with walking trails and footbridges, outdoor movies on Friday nights and fireworks on Thursday nights. New neighborhoods have been developed with pools, clubhouses and marinas with individual boatslips.

Kure Beach has always had more single-family homes than Carolina Beach, and several new developments have further enhanced Kure Beach. Community pools, clubhouses and oceanfront gazebos and parking areas are now customary and have attracted both year-round and vacation home residents to Kure Beach. Again, the new homes are luxurious with lovely hardwood floors, spacious baths with custom tile design, high-end kitchens with granite counters, and private elevators.

Both beaches have many restaurants and shops, and historic Fort Fisher and a North Carolina Aquarium are located at the southern tip of Kure Beach. Our canine friends have not been ignored, and there’s now an official “Dog Park” in Kure Beach! Homes in the two towns range in price from $110,000 (small 1 bedroom condo several blocks from the beach) to $2,000,000 and above (large oceanfront and waterfront homes).

Bald Head Island can be reached by a 20-minute ferry ride from the historic village of Southport, NC. Bald Head is an idyllic spot where there are no high-rises, no shopping malls, no crowds, and no cars! Everyone travels by electric golf cart or bicycle. You'll find a clubhouse with a pool, a George Cobb-designed golf course, tennis courts, a marina and limited shopping. There is a delightful harbor area where the ferry docks and a charming combination of town homes and single family homes. Home prices on Bald Head range from $300,000 to $2,000,000 plus.