Attractions

Enjoy the pleasures nature has to offer — smell the roses, admire the azaleas, gaze at the camellias and stand in the shade of the 466-year-old Airlie Oak while visiting this quintessential Southern garden. Wander at your leisure along curving paths and walkways in this lush natural setting while admiring the majesty of the maritime forest of trees native to the region — live oaks, cedars, pines and wax myrtles. Need a rest? Sit and enjoy the beauty of the overlook and pier while gazing out on shimmering Bradley Creek.

In the early 1900s Airlie Gardens was designed to showcase plants for all four seasons — azaleas in spring, magnolias and live oaks in summer and camellias in the fall and winter. Statuary, pergolas and fountains grace the gardens. Bordered by Bradley Creek and salt marshes, these beautiful 67 acres support two freshwater lakes that attract swans, ducks, geese, herons, egrets and more. From January 2 through March 19 the gardens are open Monday through Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM. From March 20 through the end of the year, the gardens are open seven days a week from 9 AM to 5 PM. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and younger. Admission is free for members. Individual memberships cost $25, with family memberships starting at $50, and each includes free admission to the gardens, the Airlie Concert Series and Enchanted Airlie.

Movie fans can take a one-hour walking tour of EUE/Screen Gems Studios, the largest full-service production facility east of California. You'll see the actual studio lot and stages where more than 300 film and television projects have been produced, including Secret Life of Bees, Muppets from Space, Domestic Disturbance, Dawson's Creek, Matlock and the hit CW Network series One Tree Hill. Regular highlights of the tour include visits to the sets currently in production, old movie sets and props, video presentation of the studio's history in the screening room and a question-and-answer session. From May through September, tours are offered Saturdays and Sundays at noon and 2 PM. The rest of the year, they're offered only on Saturdays at noon and 2 PM. Call in advance for the current schedule information. Plan to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to your tour to purchase tickets. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for students and military with a proper ID, $8 for seniors and $5 for children age 5 to 12. Private group tours for 20 or more people are available by reservation anytime year round. For more information call (910) 343-3433.

This self-contained amusement magnet includes the only true water park in eastern North Carolina plus more game attractions than a family could exhaust in a week. The quarter-mile-long Grand Prix GoKart track features bridge overpasses, banked turns, timing devices and one- and two-passenger cars. Children less than 56 inches tall, and younger than 12 years of age, must ride with licensed adult drivers. The Waterpark includes seven excellent slides, including the half-pike Sidewinder, the four-tube slide called the Volcanic Express, The Super Bowl and the meandering Lazy River. Lifeguards are always on duty, and there are plenty of lockers, lounges, tables and umbrellas. Private cabanas can be arranged for an additional cost. Also worthwhile are the million-gallon wave pool and the Kiddie Splash Pool (with four kiddie slides). In addition, there's jungle-themed miniature golf, a rock-climbing wall, the adrenaline-pumping Alien Invaders Laser Tag, the high-tech arcade featuring more than 100 games ranging from the classic to state-of-the-art, and the air-conditioned Kids Jungle (Wilmington's largest indoor playground for children ages 8 and younger). Jungle Rapids caters kids' birthday parties on site. They offer on-site catering for meetings and functions (the largest room accommodates 200 people with a minimum of 50). The Big Splash Café and Pizzeria offers an ample menu during park hours. Waterpark opens Memorial Day weekend and is open daily from 11 AM. Dry Park attractions are open at 10 AM. Call for hours.  

Tregembo Animal Park will delight and amaze kids of all ages. Carrying on a family tradition that goes back more than 50 years, the Tregembos have expanded and updated the zoo to create habitats for their animals from around the world. There are some of the familiar zoo favorites, like Jashan the white tiger, a lion named Simba and Ben the bear, along with some exotic new additions, including a giraffe, a zebra and a group of ring-tailed lemurs that reside on their very own Lemur Island. Kids will have a great time exploring the park, feeding the ducks and goats, and watching the amusing antics of the monkeys. Tregembo Animal Park is a fun place to spend an afternoon with kids. Their large gift shop is filled with educational animal-related toys, T-shirts, plush items and nautical souvenirs. Tregembo Animal Park is open from 10 AM to 5 PM daily and closes during the winter season. Please call for admission prices. Group rates are available for school groups, but please call in advance.

For the past four years, the Wilmington Sea Dawgs have been "unleashing the excitement" of professional basketball in the Port City. Calling Cape Fear Community College's Schwartz Center their home, the Sea Dawgs play an exciting brand of fast-paced hoops that draws substantial crowds and makes fans of first-time attendees. The team participates in many community outreach events and provides discounted or complimentary tickets to most area not-for-profit organizations. Also, each season the team holds open tryouts, making it possible for local hoop stars to have a chance at their dream of pro basketball stardom. Bring the entire family or the neighborhood kids to a Sea Dawgs game and enjoy all the high-flying dunks and sharpshooters this team has to offer.

The Cameron Art Museum is the only art museum in southeastern North Carolina. The museum presents six to eight special exhibitions annually; monthly family and children’s programs (Kids @ CAM); weekly interdisciplinary, public programs (lectures, music, films, dance); and ongoing workshops and classes in ceramics at a unique Clay Studio with a resident master artist and developing artist-in-residence program. The museum also offers weekly yoga and Tai Chi classes. The museum occupies a 40,000-square-foot facility designed in 2002 by the renowned architectural firm of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates (NYC). Cameron Art Museum is sited on a 9.3-acre woodland park known as Pyramid Park, featuring long-leaf pine woodlands, outdoor sculptures, nature trails, a historic Civil War site and The Clay Studio housed in the Pancoe Art Education Center. The main museum building includes three exhibition areas, the Weyerhaueser lecture and reception hall and a museum gift shop. Parking is free. Admission is free for members, $8 for nonmembers, $5 for students (with valid ID) and $3 for children ages 2 to 12. Program information is offered on the website.

In springtime the colors here are simply eye-popping. In summer the algae-covered waters and Spanish moss are reminders of the days when this was an unpopulated cypress swamp. In winter the bare tree trunks rise from the lake with starkness. Herons, egrets and ducks are regular visitors, as are hawks and cardinals. The 5-mile lake-view drive is a pleasure in any season, and there's a paved path suitable for walking, running or cycling around the entire lake. Greenfield Lake is 2 miles south of downtown Wilmington along S. Third Street. Eco-tours of the lake are available for groups of 4 or more at $15 per person upon request through Cape Fear River Watch; call (910) 762-5606 for more information. (See more about Greenfield Lake in our Sports, Fitness and Parks.)

This 7-acre teaching and learning facility with 33 gardens is the only educational arboretum in southeastern North Carolina. The arboretum was formally opened in 1989 and is still in the midst of development. These gardens rank among the finer theme gardens in the area. Boardwalks and paths wind through a profusion of plants, grasses, flowers, trees, shrubs, herbs and vegetables, and there is plenty of shaded seating. Several sections, such as the Herb Garden with its variety of medicinal, culinary, fragrance and tea species, are sponsored by local garden clubs. Other themed gardens include the Rose Garden's Heritage roses, a hands-on Children's Garden and the Aquatic & Bog Gardens, some of the largest in the state. The arboretum also has an Ability Garden, which helps physically and/or mentally challenged individuals learn about and experience the joys of gardening.

Working in cooperation with the N.C. State University Cooperative Extension, the arboretum also offers community services and educational programs on a variety of skill levels up to Master Gardener courses. The arboretum assists commercial and private horticultural enterprises and helps residents create attractive home landscapes. This last mission is served by their plant clinic and the Garden Hotline, (910) 798-7680, where volunteer Master Gardeners field questions about horticulture from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Need a special gift for a gardener? Don't miss the delightful variety of gifts and gardening books (their specialty) available at The Potting Shed gift shop, (910) 452-3470, in the Hutaff Visitors Center. The shop is open from 10 AM to 4 PM Monday through Friday. Admission to the arboretum is free. Donations are welcome and much needed. Funding is primarily by individual and corporate sponsors, volunteers, fund-raising events and local garden clubs. Volunteer docents lead tours on request during extension office hours Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM. Self-guided tours are permitted daily from dawn to dusk. (The gates are closed but not locked during this time.) Enter the grounds from Oleander Drive (U.S. Highway 76) immediately east of Greenville Loop Road and west of the Bradley Creek bridge. And, yes, the arboretum is available for weddings.