Last week I shared my travel recap to Wilmington, NC. While I have been there many times, I was blown away by all the great recommendations and the amount of small businesses that are in the area! Even though we were there for a long weekend, I feel like we barely made a dent in all of the great small businesses the area has to offer! I am already itching to get back to the coast to explore some of these great spots that are flourishing after Hurricane Florence and it’s devastating flooding back in September. Wilmington and it’s island beaches are a huge vacation destination in North Carolina, so today I wanted to round up a list of small businesses to visit when you’re in the area! I’m a huge advocate for supporting small businesses when you can!
Coffee shops
Anytime I am traveling I love to find locally owned coffee shops to try! I love seeing the different aesthetics and vibes of each place, and of course, trying their different coffees! We stopped at Drift, Bespoke, and Bitty and Beau’s on our last trip. I don’t think I could have handled any more caffeine 😉
Drift Coffee & Kitchen
Bespoke Coffee & Dry Goods
Bitty & Beau’s Coffee
The Workshop (Wrightsville Beach)
Sunday’s Cafe (Wrightsville Beach)
Love, Lydia
Brick + Mortar Coffee
Social Coffee & Supply Co.
Restaurants & Drinks
If there’s ever an opportunity to try a locally owned restaurant, I’m there! Locally owned restaurants are usually a labor of love and I find that it shows in the food, service, and overall ambiance. I really appreciate seeing a local’s take on certain dishes! Our favorite spot on our trip was Surf House in Carolina Beach. I really enjoyed that they listed where EVERY ingredient was sourced. A lot of them were sourced throughout North Carolina, which I thought was really neat!
Front Street Brewery
Beer Barrio
Dram & Morsel
Bluewater (Wrightsville)
Dockside (Wrightsville)
Cruz (Wrightsville)
Tower 7 (Wrightsville)
Satellite Bar & Lounge
Manna
PinPoint
Sweet & Savory
Elijah’s
Smoke on the Water
Fork ‘N Cork
Havana’s (Caroline Beach)
Surf House (Carolina Beach)
Shopping
I get so much joy perusing locally owned shops. I always try to buy at least one item and a souvenir when traveling as a memory of our trip! Wilmington and it’s local beaches had a TON of locally owned shops – I could have spent hours just wandering all the different spots.
ZIA Boutique (my friend Zelle owns it!)
Hallelu (Wrightsville)
Sweet Water Surf Shop (Wrightsville)
Lumina Station
The Cotton Exchange
Front Street New & Used Books
The Forum
Jess James & Co.
Island Passage
This post is in partnership with Wilmington CVB. All thoughts are my own.
I’ll take one of those lattes please! Looks like a fun weekend.
xo Jessica
My Style Vita
I’m a HUGE fan of acai bowls, so that first photo caught my attention immediately! It looks delish.
You and me both! This may be the best one I’ve ever had!
Those scallops look sooo good! I’ve never been to Wilmington, I’ll have to check it out. This looks like so nice!
XOXO
Cathy
The scallops were one of my favorite meals while we were there… SO good! Wilmington is such a great area and I’m thankful it’s a short 3 hour drive from me!
I think the best part of traveling is finding all the great small local places to eat, drink, and shop! Sounds like you found some real gems in Wilmington!
It looks like you had such a great weekend and found so many great spots in Wilmington!
xoxo,
Kim
Seems like you had a blast. Thanks for the recommendations!
xo, Maria
Sounds like there are so many fun spots to visit! Now I want to make a trip just to see them all myself 🙂
Such an awesome post!! Definitely need to bookmark this for future reference!
Kileen
cute & little
I have always wanted to visit Wilmington. It’s where my favorite tv show One Tree Hill was filmed.
I’ve been wanting to go to Wilmington!! I’ll have to save this for later!
That acai bowl – yes please! Definitely making plans to visit soon!
xo Laura Leigh
Louella Reese
So many cute places to visit! Definitely keeping these in mind when I go back to North Carolina!
I love love love the workshop! I even have a special drink there I’d recommend their lavender honey latte but ask them to make it a frappe! They will only do it in the afternoon when they are slower but it is so good!