The Resort has the luxury of facing the Atlantic Ocean with its white sandy beaches and clear water, as well as facing the Intracoastal Waterway with a perfect view of the sunsets. The Resort offers most water activities and their staff is available 24 hours a day to assist you with planning your visits to local shopping, dining, theater, historic sites, golf and much more!
Wrightsville Beach is described in the Waterway Guide as “one of the world’s most beautiful beaches.”

The Blockade Runner offers  guests a variety of outdoor amenities including the Sea Escape Beach Bar with an outdoor pool, beach volleyball court, sunbathing, surfing (and surf  lessons!), swimming, and Ocean Front Dining on the Patio. The East Restaurant is a local favorite for it’s superb cuisine and smoke-free atmosphere.

The Blockade Runner Beach Resort is the only smoke-free hotel on Wrightsville Beach. They also feature a Health Spa with a varitey of the best workout equipment that is available 24 hours a day! The Resort offers Intracoastal, Oceanfront, and Oceanfront with a Private Balcony rooms with your choice of two queen beds or one king size bed, which are each tiled for beauty and cleanliness. All Rooms have 37? Vizio HD LCD televisions.

Children 12 and under stay free! For our business travelers we offer Complimentary High-Speed Wireless Internet throughout the entire Resort!

Every suite is an oceanfront suite at Shell Island Resort. Overlooking more than 3,000 feet of beautiful Wrightsville Beach, each full-service suite sleeps from four to six people and includes one bedroom (one King Bed or two Double Beds), one and a half baths and a great room that includes the living area with full size sleeper sofa, dining area and a kitchenette.

Every suite is individually owned and distinctively decorated, providing all the amenities you expect. Open the door to your own private balcony to let the sea breeze in and bring the beach just a bit closer.

Alex Hall, or Big Al, was raised and educated in the bread basket of traditional old time and string band music. The border between western Virginia and North Carolina is home to the oldest and most popular fiddle conventions and traditional music festivals in America. It was at these festivals he learned the traditional songs and tunes handed down through the generations. Here, also, he found other like-minded young people who saw the raw beauty in the ancient music. Alex quickly saw and felt a likeness between the energy of the Alt-rock and punk music popular at the time and the rowdy moods of the old time string bands. This connection is one that seemed far-fetched then but one that many make today.

Shortly after college, Alex started his first old time bands. These projects help to launch the musical career of many of the most popular artists in the genre. Finding his way to Nashville he began to focus on songwriting. After Nashville, Alex made his way to Wilmington, NC. It was here that he teamed up with local rockers Kevin and Lincoln and began to combine modern sounds with old. After adding their friend Jones on upright bass they started recording Alex’s original material as well as new takes on traditional songs. The band has two new records coming out in 2010.

Big Al Hall has gathered a devout fan base with his high energy shows and earnest songwriting. When the band plays the acoustic jammers, metal and punk rockers and music lovers young and old all turn out to dance, clap and sing along with Big Al Hall.

Michael Powell took 1st Place and his brother Ben Powell 3rd Place NSSA Nationals Mens Division! What a way to represent the Wrightsville Beach / Brunswick County NC area!

Wrightsville-BeachNC.com salutes the Powell brothers (who live at Wrightsville Beach but grew up at Ocean Isle Beach) significant accomplishment.

Mike and Ben Powell came to the NSSA Collegiate Surfing Championships in Dana Point, CA with the hope of proving to the California-dominated contest that East Coasters schools could surf too. Instead, the brotherly duo from Ocean Isle Beach (surfing for UNC – Wilmington) almost took the whole thing!

Last year the brothers took second and third place and they ruled the national contest again this year,

Brothers Michael and Ben Powell together operate The Carolina Surf School which offers private and group lessons.

With more than twenty years of surfing experience combined they are semi professionals that can really are help you push your ambitions to the next level as a surfer.

Contact Michael and Ben Powell: 910.233.8908 or 910.233.4004 http://www.carolinaschoolofsurf.com

All NC beaches are open at this time and no closures are anticipated at this time. However, just to avert any fears the N.C. State officials have launched a new Web page dedicated to providing information and useful links regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The web site features information about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the potential impact on the coast.

North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety spokesman Ernie Seneca said the website provides daily updates on the spill as well as links to models that predict where the spill could go.

“We just felt like it was good to get it out there. More information is better than less and this is obviously something that concerns a lot of people. The nation’s eyes and the world’s eyes are on the Gulf right now and what’s going to happen,” said Seneca.

The information is available at nccrimecontrol.org. Seneca said visitors can click on the Gulf Oil Spill tab on the web site.

Spring Bulbs at Airlie Gardens

Generations of locals and tourists travel to the historic property with its beautiful azaleas, dogwoods, camellias and various annuals bring a splash of color to the waterside oaks and pines.

A 67-acre county park, Airlie Gardens garnered nationwide fame for its spectacular plantings, which at one time included more than 600,000 azalea bushes and more than 5,000 camellias.

The most famous couple to originally owned the property were J. Pembroke Jones, a wealthy rice trader, and wife Sarah (Sadie) Jones, who bought a 150-acre tract in 1886. They named their estate “Airlie,” after the ancestral Scottish home of Jones’ family.

After the Joneses’ deaths, the Airlie property passed to the Corbett family in 1948. Bertha and Waddell Corbett operated the gardens as a private tourist attraction for many years. In 1999, in cooperation with the N.C. Coastal Land Trust, New Hanover County acquired Airlie from the Corbetts at a cost of $10.5 million.

Pergola Fountain

Attractions include the gigantic Airlie Oak, estimated to be more than 460 years old, the Pergola Fountain and plantings arranged to bloom year-round.

The property known as Airlie was part of a 640-acre land grant from King George II to the Ogden brothers in 1735; by the 1800s much of the original acreage had been transferred to Joshua Grainger Wright.
It was not until the arrival of Sarah Jones, wife of Pembroke Jones, that a formal garden was created. The Joneses were wealthy industrialists noted for their lavish entertaining.

They used Airlie as a means to accommodate their guests and parties.

Camellia Garden at Airle Gardens

Sarah Jones began planting the property in 1901 and later in 1906 commissioned German landscape architect Rudolf Topel to transform the tract into a picturesque garden. Airlie reached its peak during the 1920s, at which time it was reported that over a half million azaleas and 5,000 camellias were in the garden; many of these plants still bloom and thrive in the garden. The 67-acres of today’s Airlie are all that remain of the original 155-acre estate.
The Corbett Family purchased the Airlie property from the Joneses in 1948 and used the gardens as a primary residence. Local business owners with strong ties to the community, the Corbetts would open the garden to the public several seasons throughout the year, especially in the spring during azalea bloom. In 1999 the family sold the property to New Hanover County.

Bridal Walkway Airlie Gardens

Today, Airlie is a local treasure as one of the last undeveloped land tracts along Bradley Creek. The gardens are undergoing restoration and are now preserved for public use.

Regular season hours at Airlie are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days a week. During spring bloom season (April 3-May 17), the gardens stay open till 7 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Winter hours (Jan. 2-March 19) are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
Cost: Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children aged 6-12. Children younger than 6 are admitted free.

Make sure you bring your dancing shoes…  because the music likely to get your feet moving as you enjoy an evening of great dance music.

Airlie Gardens Concert Series is the perfect place to kick back and enjoy a picnic, a favorite beverage. Bring a comfy chair or blanket and then relax, let the music take you away.

Now you’re ready for an awesome evening with your family and friends at the Airlie Gardens Concert Series. Call 910.798.7700 or email airlieinfo@nhcgov.com for more information.
Airlie Gardens
300 Airlie Rd
Wilmington, NC 28403
www.airliegardens.org

Louis Moore Bacon, who now resides in London but was born in Raleigh, has purchased almost the entire 5,000-acre property – including the historic plantation house and its famous gardens – from the Laurence Sprunt family who have owned the Brunswick County landmark since 1884.

The Plantation and Gardens will close indefinitely on May 31st while plans for the future and other renovations are made. Hurry to see this incredible place while this years gardens are still available to you!

Current Orton manager David Sprunt, will retain that position, said the family has kept the land around the plantation’s pond.

He said he’s excited about the plans for the plantation, but it is hard for the property leave his family’s ownership after all of these years.

A press release states that Bacon is directly descended from Roger Moore, who built the original Orton residence in 1725. Bacon’s mother’s family has strong ties to nearby Wilmington.

Many are relieved to hear that Mr. Bacon has a reputation for buying historic properties such as Orton Plantation and keeping them in their natural state. Also the N.C. Coastal Land Trust holds conservation easements covering much of the Orton property. The executive director of the Land Trust states that Bacon is noted as a conservationist and a supporter of numerous environmental organizations.

Forbes magazine notes Bacon, age 53, is a native of North Carolina who manages several hedge funds and now resides in London, and the London Sunday Times notes that that he is the richest hedge fund manager in Britain having a nearly $1.7 billion fortune.

Orton Plantation, which recently opened for the 2010 season, is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the gardens. Extensive renovations were made in the gardens to open up panoramic views to the Cape Fear River, remove competing vegetation, redesign and enhance the flower beds and restore and preserve the colonial rice fields.

Among the predominant species in the garden are live oaks, camellias, azaleas, flowering fruit trees, daphne, hydrangeas, crape myrtles, dogwoods, and colorful spring and summer annuals. Lawns and water gardens lend variety to the lush vegetation.

Plan to come spend a day at Orton Plantation! The gardens are in their glory right now! The historic landscape designed around the 1735 mansion and colonial rice fields overlooking the Cape Fear River and 20 acres of secluded walking trails surrounded by hundreds of acres of rice fields make Orton Plantation Gardens a wonderful place to visit.

One of the oldest plantations on the Lower Cape Fear and the only one with a manor house still standing, Orton has become a privately owned tourist attraction, celebrated for its elaborate gardens. In recent years, the plantation and its grounds have served as locations on a number of motion pictures.

The house and grounds are located at 9149 Orton Road S.E., Brunswick County just off N.C. 133, close to the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site.

Get directions click here!

Hours are 8am to 5pm March – August and 10am – 5pm September – November (except they close for Thanksgiving Day).

Stay at the area’s premier oceanfront resort The Winds Resort Beach Club (5 -10 minutes away) and play three Big Cat Courses – Lions Paw, Panthers Run, Tigers Eye

Package includes:

• 3 Nights Lodging
• Daily Hot Southern Breakfast Buffet
• Daily Round of Golf On Each Of Sea Trail’s Three Courses
• Courses are Lions Paw, Panthers Run, Tigers Eye
• All Cart Fees
• All Greens Fees
• Daily Housekeeping
• (4 golfers in a 2 bdrm/2 bath suite)
• Prices based on 4 golfers in a 2 bdrm/2 bath suite or 8 golfers in a 4 bdrm/4 bath Resort House.

To book this golf package please call our Golf Desk: 800.334.3581 or email our Golf Desk

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Lion’s Paw Golf Club awarded 4 STARS in Golf Digest’s “Places To Play” has been described as the eminent Willard Byrd’s finest work.

Wild and untamed, rustic and quiet, this magnificent course presents a lion’s share of adventure and challenge accompanied by nature’s best scenery.

The finishing hole plays open from the tee and then flows through the trees to the green.Golf Digest also declared Lion’s Paw “The best in the Myrtle Beach area.”

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Panther’s Run was born to be a different kind of challenge. Masterfully designed by Tim Cate, this course meanders through nature preserves and tests your abilities to blend precision with distance.

Wide fairways twist and turn with water features to create visually scenic views. Bring your best game for the especially challenging #4 and be pleased with a score of par! Golf Digest agrees and placed Panther’s Run on their prestigious “Places To Play” list, as well as a “Top 30 in Myrtle Beach” rating from Links Magazine.

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Tiger’s Eye Golf Links is another dazzling design by Master Architect Tim Cate. Opened in 2000 with 18 unforgettable holes, this big cat is tough to tame, featuring 60 foot elevation changes, undulating fairways, sparkling lakes and a stunning par three island green. In 2007, Golf Digest ranked it among their “Top 100 U.S. Public Courses.”

Be sure to take a moment to enjoy the Tiger’s Eye clubhouse veranda and the stunning panoramic view- truly every golfer’s dream!