“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”
-F. Scott Fitzgerald
While summer may be winding down, Wilmington is just getting warmed up! Summer seems to have been cut short this year with entertainment and travel options being so limited and it is safe to say that everyone is ready for a break from online learning and being cooped up working from home right now. Luckily, Wilmington is the perfect spot to have some fun this fall! With some of your favorite summer activities available well into the autumn months, and fun festive activities coming up too, fall is the new summer in Wilmington!
If staying at home for the last few months has left you craving both delicious meals from your favorite restaurants and a change of scenery, you are in luck! Even during the shutdown, our appetite for Wilmington’s best downtown restaurants remained strong, thus Downtown Alive was born! Downtown streets turn into an open-air pedestrian walkway featuring a variety of sidewalk cafés and retail stores that expand into the streets to safely serve customers and allow diners to enjoy our restaurants responsibly. Four blocks in downtown Wilmington are closed to vehicles four days a week at designated times.
Want to combine some local history (home schooling for the win!) and spooky season fun? Well, then hop aboard the Battleship North Carolina and prepare for a spooktacular experience! Voted one of the Top 25 Halloween picks of all time by Syfy network’s “Ghost Hunters“, this self-guided tour is both scary and social distance safe!
Afraid that the kids will have to miss out on rocking their favorite costumes this year? Have no fear, downtown Wilmington has an opportunity for them! Dress up the children (and yourself!) for an entertaining evening where even the horses show up in costume! Hop on a Halloween Ghost Trolley Ride where costumed drivers tell ghost stories tailored for young children. Enjoy a fun ride through the Historic District in downtown Wilmington!
Halloween fun isn’t just for the kids either! The NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher is brewing up a spine-tingling virtual trivia game night for the 21 and older crowd. Daring participants can take part in wild and wicked trivia delivered virtually during “Game Night Untamed,” facing the eerie aspects of the animal world and even some guest appearances from the animals themselves. Individuals or teams of friends and family take on the virtual crowd. Costumed participants may receive bonus points!