Wonderful Wilmington, NC

Another great city, Wilmington, North Carolina, had so much to offer. Near us was University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and we attended three events there. In this recital hall we enjoyed a piano concert.

The following night we went to a theatrical presentation in a larger hall in the same building.
The third night, we went to another building to watch students perform excerpts from operas.

We went to Moores Creek National National Battlefield outside the City.

Loyalists were unaware of what they would encounter as they charged across a partially dismantled Moores Creek Bridge on February 27, 1776. Just beyond the bridge nearly 1,000 North Carolina patriots waited quietly with cannons and muskets poised to fire. This dramatic victory ended British rule in the colony forever. A group of women organized to support the Revolution in North Carolina. This cartoon below appeared in the London news ridiculing them.

In Wilmington, I toured the Bellamy mansion. Located in historic downtown it was built between 1859 and 1861. Located on Market Street in the heart of downtown Wilmington, this spectacular house is one of North Carolina’s finest examples of historic architecture.

 Originally built as a private residence for the family of Dr. John D. Bellamy, a prominent planter, slave owner, physician and businessman, the Mansion has endured a remarkable series of events: the home was taken over by Federal Troops during the American Civil War, survived a disastrous fire in 1972, and was the home to two generations of Bellamy family members and the slaves that they owned. Now it is a museum of history and design arts.

The person in front of me steps through the downstairs window. Windows doubled as doors when needed.

The art work featured upstairs is by Ivey Hayes, b. 1948 d. 2012. Don't you love these bold shapes and colors?

Hayes received a B.A. from Central Carolina University then finished an M.A. at the U of North Carolina Greensboro in 1975. He used acrylic paintings and water colors to depict rural scenes familiar to him.

This is the cover of a memoir of a child of the Civil War whose daddy owned the Bellamy Mansion. She lived into her 80's. The little I read in the memoir is typical of a daughter of the South, "Oh those damn Yankees, whatever trouble will they cause next?"

This house is colossal. It reminded me of Stalin's copies of the New York Empire State Building in Moscow which had to be ENORMOUS. Mr. Bellamy definitely wanted to make an impression with this huge house.