I stopped in for a tour last week and unfortunately they were only having self-guided tours where…read moreyou had to scan each QR code with your phone for the details. But the history of the home, the Bellamy family and enslaved workers were fascinating. The home is beautiful. I want to return around Christmas time for a guided tour.

This is worth the $15 self tour or $20 guided tour admission. The home is very well kept after…read moreseveral restorations. The slave quarters were difficult to tour, especially juxtaposed to the grand, spacious and opulent mansion. All of the stories are well-documented since there were memoirs. The history, even some of the ugly parts, are shared on the markers. We spent a good amount of time touring the place, and it was very beautifully decorated for Christmas during out visit. Picturesque.

Have been dealing with New Elements for years and thinking they were a super gallery. HOWEVER,…read more that day changed today. I connected Miriam, the owner on July 21 about purchasing a serigraph. I was informed that the piece was damaged and needed to be appraised. No problem for me or my husband who agreed to purchase the piece with in the range quoted when the appraisal was completed. We would wait until Miriam had finished the appraisal. Each week I inquired about the piece. Today I learned the gallery has offered it to another buyer without the appraisal being done. Now we are being asked to bid on the piece at a price much higher they we were told. To add insult to injury we have bought TWO other works by the same artist from this gallery. BUYERS, beware! Duplicity thrives at New Elements.

Great people to do business with. Everyone at New Elements is extremely knowledgeable, very…read moreaccommodating and attentive to customers' needs. I have always had a great experience each time I visit, especially during monthly gallery crawls! They seem to understand just what I am looking for and they go out of their way to provide a satisfactory experience. Each customer is treated as an individual and made to feel like family. I greatly appreciate their gracious and generous warm customer care. I have no hesitation recommending them. Definitely the gem of downtown Wilmington's art community! Alexander Hammond, Esq.

READ for TIPS INCLUDED - Fun and educational tour. Great family thing to do. Driver was engaging…read morefunny knowledgeable about the history and houses. Kid friendly, family oriented activity. The company use horses they have rescued & save from abuse or from situation where they'll be sold for processing. So you're supporting a horse rescue organization as well. TIPS: -It is $16 per adult CASH only or VENMO as of 12/2023. Pay driver at the end of the tour. If you grab a brochure/flyer advertisement at the hotels it has a $1 off per Adult fare COUPON. Be sure to TIP the driver (before the discount) & the company so they can save more horses. -Get there 15mins before posted return time because there's a seating capacity 20-25 people. -When the horses get back they need a 15min break so you have to wait for that, but be sure to get onboard & pick your seat while waiting out the 15mins after the horses get back and wait on the carriage. Driver does take lunch so be aware of that (not sure when that is 12pm or 1pm) -Really the tours start 15mins after what the clock sign says -Tour is about 1/2hr. There's only one carriage. There are blankets if it's cold that day as the trolly/carriage is open air. -You can get ice cream /chocolate/candy at Kilwins while waiting

Someone save these horses!!! Saw one today who could barely stand up in the heat. Exploiting these…read moresentient animals for a carriage ride is sick!

I went to the Christmas lights festival tonight? It was beautiful for $10/person. There was a lot…read moreto do and it was decorate beautifully. You were able to tour the main house, too. They did a really great job for this! Food trucks, bar, photo ops, etc. beautiful place!

I had a nice visit at the Poplar Grove Plantation after figuring out where to park. What was…read morewritten on the ticket in great detail was not correct. They changed the parking to the next street and you aren't to enter at the flags like the ticket directions told you. I took a guided tour and learned about the Foy family that had a peanut and sweet potato farm. But the more important part of the story was about the Gullah Geechee people. I had first learned about them when I was in Beaufort SC. But there is a corridor that goes from Wilmington to St. Augustine, FL to protect the Gullah Geechee culture. Poplar Grove was built by the Gullah slaves who were very skilled. 59 lived on the property. They took care of the construction; lumber milling; brick making; tending to the livestock and crops as well as domestic chores. They need to be the focus of the tour.

I knew that the famous portrait of Whistler's mother is really a portrait of a real person, but I…read morenever really thought about where she might have lived or where she was born. I've seen the picture. It's in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris https://www.yelp.com/biz/musée-d-orsay-paris-3?hrid=n7kuhIp1EPKNNsk-IJFd7g. So now I know a bit more of the story. The marker reads, "Anna McNeill Whistler, the mother of James Whistler, artist, was born in a house which stood one block east." Online, "James Abbott McNeill Whistler, the son of George Washington Whistler and Anna McNeill Whistler, was a prominent nineteenth century artist who spent his adult life in Europe. Whistler's mother, Anna McNeill, was made famous in renowned painting, "Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother." The work, referred to colloquially as "Whistler's Mother," was painted in London in the early 1870s. Anna McNeill, the subject, was born in Wilmington in 1804." "Anna McNeill, born on September 27, 1804, to Martha Kingsley and Dr. Black Daniel McNeill was the fifth of six children, and was influenced heavily throughout her life by her older brother William Gibbs McNeill." "Anna Whistler moved to London in 1863 to live with her son, and in 1871 he painted her as the figure in "Whistler's Mother." The painting was first shown in 1872, extending Whistler's reputation, but it has received mixed reviews throughout much of its history. "Whistler's Mother" now hangs in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris, and has rarely been exhibited in the United States." [Review 14009 overall, 1331 of 2020, number 2649 in North Carolina.]

The USS Battleship in North Carolina is one of the largest & iconic attractions of Wilmington,…read moreNorth Carolina. It went beyond my greatest expectations and was quite a workout in the middle of July. We chose to go on the self guided tour, so we could explore at our own pace. History of the battleship: The Battleship NORTH CAROLINA participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific theater of operations during World War II, earning 15 battle stars. This authentically restored National Historic Landmark proudly serves as her State's World War II Memorial to the 11,000+ North Carolinians who made the ultimate sacrifice.- (Source: https://battleshipnc.com) One of the highlights of visiting this battleship is that your ticket for the self guided tour allows you to leave and re-enter the battleship on the day you bought it (from 8 AM to 5 PM). Military discount is $10 an adult person - must have military ID. We spent about 3 or more hours exploring the ship and it was quite an exercise workout going up and down the stairs in the ship on a hot day. There are 9 levels to explore on the battleship. We were not able to finish exploring all the levels due to being exhausted by the heat and getting dehydrated. There are areas you can sit and take a break in the ship fortunately. We took a few breaks but not enough. There are some fans inside the ship yet not many. The battleship has a wealth of information to read at the entrance area and inside the ship at every area. It felt like going inside narrow passage ways in a labyrinth walking through the ship. They displayed information of life inside the ship - a floating home away from for thousands of men living there. If you love military naval history or have a curious mind open to seeing & learning a wide variety of information & history, you will find this battleship fascinating. The shops inside the ship, post office, dining & recreational areas, officer living quarters, pharmacy , and kitchens were fascinating to me. The view of the battleship is very impressive as well. I can only imagine what this battleship was like many years ago especially when the only communication people on the battleship could receive from loved ones was through mail coming into the post office on the ship. I should have brought water and take more rest & hydration breaks at the battleship. It gets really hot during summer and very cold in the winter. It was too exhausting to keep going past three hours on the ship in one day . Overall, I loved visiting the battleship and a little shocked at how difficult it must be living on that ship with thousands of people on it. Looking forward to visiting this battleship again in the future.

Come see the history and beauty while walking on, around, and within the halls of the USS North…read moreCarolina. These ships have typical tight spaces and steep ladders for those who have difficulties involving such movements. Plenty to see. Nice gift shop on grounds and friendly greeters at the door to welcome you on board. All photography shown were uploaded also to Instagram: @3spade7star_photography and Facebook ThreeSpade SevenStar

This marker along one of Wilmington's oldest streets points out the early home of the 28th POTUS,…read moreWoodrow Wilson. It reads, "Woodrow Wilson. President of the United States, 1913-1921. His home, 1874-1882, was the Presbyterian Manse which stood one block east." Online, more information. "Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, lived in Wilmington from 1874 to 1882 at the Presbyterian Manse while his father served as the minister of the city's First Presbyterian Church. The third of four children of Joseph R. and Jessie Janet Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1856 in Staunton, Virginia." (Staunton is about 360 miles north.) "In 1873, Woodrow Wilson began attending Davidson College. The following year his father took a position as minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. Wilson remained at Davidson College only briefly before transferring to Princeton University. He graduated in 1879, and began attending law school at the University of Virginia. Illness forced him to return to Wilmington the following year. The family remained in Wilmington until 1882. Wilson moved to Atlanta to open a law practice, while his father and family returned to Augusta." [Review 13995 overall, 1317 of 2020, number 2635 in North Carolina.]

Recently cleaned after someone decided to express themselves with spray paint, the Kenan fountain…read morewas a gift to the City of Wilmington in memory of his parents, William Rand and Mary Hargrave Kenan. Born in Kenansville, the senior Kenan was a captain in the Civil War, originally enlisting in the Duplin Rifles of the North Carolina 43rd Regiment. After the war, he became a life insurance salesman in Wilmington. A prominent member of the Wilmington community, he became a trustee of the University of North Carolina in 1903. He died shortly after this appointment in 1903. His wife, Mary Hargrave, was a native of Chapel Hill. It is a pretty fountain, approximately 14 feet high. There is a large central fountain with a bowl on a tall pedestal sitting in a larger round basin. The entire stricture sits atop a first tier. The center segment on the four sides forms a bench and the fountain pools are located on either side of the corners. The fountain is also decorated with classic figures including gargoyles and terrapins. [Review 14001 overall, 1323 of 2020, number 2641 in North Carolina.]

An iconic part of Wilmington with Bellamy in the background there are some beautiful pieces done by…read morelocal artists that display the fountain

We had a great time on our tour. So much I fact we signed up to do the night tour the same evening.read more

They were a no-show and kept the money. It's been 6 months now, and we're still waiting for the…read morerefund they owe us. They wanted payment immediately to guarantee the trolley. We paid $500. The day of the event, the trolley broke down and they called us after the event had started to say they weren't coming. They said we would get a refund the next week and here it is 6 months later and still no refund. Phone calls go to voicemail and messages go unanswered. Be sure to read the reviews on other review sites as well as the Better Business Bureau so you can see this is not unusual.

Times come, times go. Things that were appropriate a hundred years ago are no longer appropriate…read more This Confederate Statue, which was erected in 1924 has been determined by the local elected officials to be no longer appropriate. Designed by the same Henry Bacon who designed the famous Lincoln Memorial and the Dupont Circle Fountain, this statue used to feature a bronze sculpture of two soldiers. Under the cover of darkness in June 2020, the City of Wilmington acted to remove the statue as it had become a public safety concern because protesters and counter-protesters were converging on a busy thoroughfare. The bronze statue was removed and what remains is the granite tablet. The tablet itself has been shrouded in a black tarpaulin. I am guessing that removing the tablet proved to be more of a challenge. The statue remains in city storage in an undisclosed location. Perhaps one day it will be on display again with appropriate context to show how times have changed since the Civil War. [Review 13932 overall, 1254 of 2020, number 2575 in North Carolina.]