On Saturday 22nd September my lovely Mum and Step dad did
the 9andahalf hour flight to Charlotte, NC and then the connecting flight
arriving in Wilmington where I was excitedly waiting for them. They’re staying
for a two week trip in Wilmington and what is Mum’s first time in America. We
picked up the keys to their rental Chevy and cruised along the highway to their
home for a week. I say cruised but figuring out how to function this beast of a
car proved to be slightly problematic but after a short stint on the left-hand
side of the road we were off and running.
After some confusion with the maps we finally found the
entrance to Mcrae Street, which was on first impressions quite something as we
were instantly reminded of the Caribbean. The street is full of brightly
coloured shanty town-like houses with an array of curious dark faces peering at
us from their rocking chairs on their respective porches. We smiled back
apprehensively completely aware of how incredibly foreign we looked. We finally
found our house number, slightly overshooting as Mum attempted to located the
brake, we got out and looked up. The house is fantastic and all-American with
its wooden slates, wrap around porch and, of course, rocking chair.
The next morning, Sept 23rd,
I woke up to the smell of fresh coffee and padded into the kitchen for
some marmite on toast with banana. It’s the little things you miss. After
breakfast we strolled down a couple of blocks until we were in the downtown
Historic District with the sunshine beating down on us and the birds chirping
happily. We had a lovely walk around, me pointing out the sights and showing
off my new home before hopping onto a boat tour down the river learning some
more about the history of the area. Then
my favourite time of day after dinner, lunch! We went to a lovely restaurant
and sat out on the patio overlooking the cape-fear river and ate fresh salads,
finally embracing some healthy food after all the burgers.
