Wilmingwood

On our third day in North Carolina, we traveled 2.5 hours to Wilmington.  I was the most excited about this trip, because I am a dedicated One Tree Hill fan and Wilmington is where the show is filmed.  It was also the location of Dawson's Creek, Matlock, A Walk to Remember, Blue Velvet and many more films and TV shows, hence the name "Wilmingwood" or "Hollywood East."

We started our tour of the town by walking around the downtown neighborhoods.  Literally every house had a plaque explaining who had built the house in the 1800s or earlier!  Plus, they were just amazing to look at, including this Bed and Breakfast...

And the Beckett Mansion...

Tim and I decided to go on a Hollywood Set walking tour of the city.  Our guide was the perfect mixture of Hollywood know-it-all and a complete hippie.  It was quite interesting.  Our first stop was the Wilmington courthouse, used in the opening and outside sequences for the last two seasons of Matlock. (This is for you Grandma M!)

We also passed a wall signed by many of the celebrities that have filmed in Wilmington.  Including James Earl Jones, Joshua Jackson...

John Travolta...

Rue McClanahan, Carol Huston, Mandy Moore...

and Henry Winkler.

After our tour, we met Shawn and Jessica back at the courthouse and got ice cream, while we sat in the shade.  (Did I mention the weather was in the mid-high 70s our whole trip? Way nicer than WA!)

We decided to head home, but I had to get some One Tree Hill pictures in.  In season 1, Nathan and Haley had a date on this boardwalk...at this table (ok, maybe one close by)...yesssss!

This is Brooke's store, Clothes Over Bros, formally Karen's Cafe!  It's hard to believe I've been watching this show for 8 seasons...

And finally, the grand daddy of them all, the River Court!  Basically this location was the basis for the entire show, the place with the most major scenes and the place I was most excited to get a picture at! :-)

Oh, and these are the bleachers, which are used in the show, at the River Court.  They are covered in graffiti from some rabid OTH fans.  Don't worry, I didn't write on them.  (I didn't have a pen!) 

I suppose I should also post a picture of Wilmington's pride and joy, the USS North Carolina.  It has been transformed into a floating museum and is at the top of all of the "must-see" lists for the area.  We didn't get a chance to tour it, but it's not like Tim hasn't already spent plenty of time on a Navy vessel...