Well, I’ve gotta say: Wilmington, North Carolina — based on the evidence of exactly one day — has done a respectable job convincing us of its livability.

Mind you, we haven’t yet sampled much of “the Wilmington experience.” We had to check out of our one-night hotel by 11:00, and couldn’t check into our three-night Airbnb until 4:00 PM. We filled the time by:

• Looking for a good breakfast place. First choice didn’t work out: closed. (Technically not CLOSED-closed; they just had a hand-lettered sign on the locked front door saying something like “That’s all for today.”) Second choice, though, was very, very nice. The Missus went in while I figured out how to feed the parking meter without cash, and by the time I got there she already had some kind of drink with, hmm, looked like tomato juice, and was that a stalk of celery? and was that swirls of Worcestershire sauce? and black pepper??? Good food, good atmosphere, good service. They also seem very good-music-focused — another plus! Posters on the wall (and some T-shirts for sale) featured Thelonius Monk, David Bowie, Miles Davis, and probably a half-dozen other performers from the last 75 years or so.
• Conveniently, the restaurant was located in a retail complex called The Cotton Exchange. I say “conveniently” because this was also one of the places we wanted to check out while in Wilmington. As the name suggests, back in the 19th century the building(s) in question served as a center of the local cotton industry. Rather than tear down the whole thing and replace it with something shiny but forgettable, local philanthropists chipped in to simply refurbish and convert the interior. It’s a very cunningly arranged warren of little shops, bars, ice cream parlors, more shops, with the corridors going up and down stairs as well as winding around unpredictably.

• 

  After we’d exhausted ourselves (without exhausting the places to visit) in the The Cotton Exchange, and fortified not only by our very nice brunch but also by some — yes! — ice cream, we went out onto Front Street to return to the car, making only a couple more detours into stores whose interiors seemed too inviting to pass up. It was hard to miss one obvious point: the arts have a pretty solid footing in Wilmington. (See photo at right.)
• When we left downtown, it was still a little too early to check in, so we headed for a really nice local supermarket, called Harris-Teeter. The plan was to pick up some basic supplies for the next few days, especially considering that these are “extended” stays of 3-4 days each. (The Missus wants to be able to cook a bit, for instance.)

Finally, we got to the Airbnb where we’d spend the next three nights: a little bungalow called “the Perry Cottage” (named after the street it’s located on). If I get a chance, I’ll post some more photos of it later.

For now, I’ll say that we’re looking forward to our plans for today — i.e., doing absolutely nothing.