Vacation shopping in North Carolina

After days of restoring our souls, soaking up sun and swimming in the warm ocean, Vivian and I decided to drive the 20-something miles to Wilmington for a little retail therapy.

A gorgeous seaport town dripping with history and used as a location for many films and TV series, Wilmington has a historic district that I could spend days exploring. We decided to make the most of our half-day there by starting our expedition at The Cotton Exchange on North Front Street, a collection of restored 19th c. buildings on the river, full of restaurants and boutiques.

At Elizabeth’s Tres Chic , I was charmed by relaxed linen clothing artfully displayed, and a knowleable and helpful saleswoman. I ended up purchasing 3 dresses in a 25% off sale, from 3 different brands I was impressed with. Two of the brands were designed and manufactured in the US – always a plus for me. All of the dresses were in a relaxed cut, but still fit very well through the torso so they didn’t look like sacks.

This Cut Loose dress was “sewn & dyed in San Francisco, comfortable everywhere”. I enjoyed wearing it with sequined deck shoes, but think it will do equally well with silver sandals or heels.

This cream ruffled Paper Lace dress is tremendous fun, and cool as a cucumber. The top half is very plain, so it lent itself to a long tassel necklace, fun fox earrings and bangles. I wore it out to lunch today and I think it’s on tap for my family birthday party.

The blue striped dress is from a brand called Goddess Gear, designed and produced in Colorado from organic and sustainable fabrics. They’ve been in business since 1998, and I’ll look for them again. It even has pockets! Wearing to dinner on actual birthday.

Our next purchases were at Emory’s Crystals. I liked this store immediately because an elderly dog lay on a large dog bed beside the cash register, lovingly doted on by her human, the shop owner Marlo. We were looking for locally-made items, and Marlo was extremely helpful. The shop has semi-precious stones of all kinds, crystal, jewelry and clothing and gift items – all very reasonably priced. Vivian got a moonstone pendant and Marlo helped her find the perfect chain to go with it. She also explained how the parking worked (3 hours free with validation from any Cotton Exchange shop), and recommended where to have lunch. Marlo and the shop are both treasures.

Our other discovery in the Cotton Exchange was Ping’s Tibet. I probably wouldn’t have stopped in, but the windows made me think of scenes from Netlflix’s Marco Polo, which Viv and I had been binge-watching. Madame Ping was dressed in glorious silk, offered us tastes of her homemade fudge (deelish), and shared copies of an ancient Tibetan mantra to help us gain health, peace and good fortune. The shop contained handmade art, clothing, jewelry and gifts from Tibet and China. I got a pair of GeSang Good Fortune Flower cotton shoes. This shop is worth a stop just for the Madame Ping experience!

I’m looking forward to wearing these with leggings, tights & skirts, and jeans too as the weather cools.

We bagged plenty of treasures in Wilmington, as well as exploring the historic district of gorgeous homes and brick-paved streets, but it’s worth more than 1 day, especially if you tour the battleship North Carolina, permanently docked there. As well as being a stop on the Underground Railroad, Wilmington was the site of a horrific race riot in 1898. When there’s not a pandemic going on, there are walking history tours I hope to return to take in. Until then, I’ll look forward to learning more about the history, and enjoying some wonderful souvenirs. Farewell for now, Wilmington!