taking pictures, particularly so when I go on vacation back out to the NC coast next month.
Take lots of pictures of Wilmington, and post them.
Visit the Cotton Exchange, Paddy's Hollow, and a little bar downstairs from Second Street. Longstreet's, it was called a while back, and there's a good pool hall too.
Carolina Beach is a little more low-rent, and more to my taste, while Wrightsville Beach is more touristy.
See Fort Fisher, the USS North Carolina, and the Ft Fisher aquarium, and take the nature walk from the aquarium down to the river. Beautiful area.
Walk all the way around Greenfield Lake, and don't be afraid to leave the path and get into the swampy cypress area closer to the water. Even better, rent a canoe and you can really get into some great areas.
See a play at Thalian Hall if there's anything good playing, or otherwise just walk in and have a look around. Very historic theatre.
At that, there's a lot of history all over, and a lot of great pics.
Take a tour if you must, or just take a bike (or rent one) and see all of the historic district. It's not that big.
Some great dives in the area, if you like I'll try to remember them, 'though when I was there I couldn't go into any. Legally.
Interesting story on the origin of Paddy's Hollow. Paddy was a lady of the evening, y'see, and her "Hollow" was where she would take the British sailors way back when. Now it's a damn good pub. Or was, anyway.
On Carolina Beach Road near the lake there's an old-fashioned barber shop. Stop in and say hi to good ol' Harry Pope, if he's still there.
Oh, and find Jackson's Big Oak Barbecue and have a pulled-pork sandwich. It'll show you what good
Eastern NC barbecue is.
That's all I can think of for now. Have fun.