First stop was to drop of something for our friends Margi and Doug Erickson who own and run the C.W. Worth House bed and breakfast at 412 S. Third Street in Wilmington's Historic District.
We only stayed a couple of minutes because they had a good crowd coming in for the weekend and were getting ready. I realized later I didn't take a good shot of the house, so I grabbed the next house shot from their web site - I don't think they'll mind.
Next stop was TayloeGray at 105 N. Second Street. These are the folks helping us with our web site , which right now is only a single landing page for our book, 31 Days To Networking Event Mastery, but is about to grow exponentially in the next month to showcase our widely expanding and expansive range of business and personal development services and products -- wow, how's that for shameless self-promotion?
These guys are Nathan Tayloe and Andrew Gray (it's convenient that their names match the company name - must be why they decided to work there). They're the ones wildly at work on our web site. We had a great meeting. We're very pleased with their work and looking forward to the end result.
Next stop, right around the corner on Princess Street, was Moxie Floral Design Studio. We go there a lot because we really like Cynthia Lee and Djenana Ninkovic and we love their work. They do many many weddings and this year are aiming to do 100+ weddings. Last year I think they did close to 80 (and that, my friends, is a lot of weddings for a two-person studio).
Cynthia wasn't in the studio, but Djenana was there with some friends visiting from Oak Island. Below are Stacy Little, Doris Dawkins, Djenana, and Red Dawkins.
Doris grabbed my camera and got a picture of Djenana, Marge, and myself (bad hair day).
When we left I remembered one of my favorite decorative pieces in the studio.
We were getting a little hungry so decided it was time for a salad. But... then we remembered that Jody Carmichael's new store, the Hot Pink Cake Stand had just opened at 114 N. Front Street, so we bagged the thoughts of veggies and went on in.
The first thing one of us said when we went in was, "Oh, isn't this cute!" (Hint, it wasn't me talking.) And indeed the store is spacious and welcoming and in full startup mode. That's Jody, by the way, serving another customer as we entered. One of the cool things she's going to do, in the back part of the store which is open but you can't see it in these photos, is a live demo-like area where Jody is going to let people watch as she makes and decorates wedding cakes. In true social media fashion, Jody is going to announce the demo schedule on her Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Hot Pink Cake Stand also has a full display selection of Old Wilmington Tea Company teas.
Next we went toThe Cotton Exchange, with two destinations in mind.
The first one was Crescent Moon, Joan and Mike Loch's handcrafted glass gallery.
Joan wasn't in, but Mike was explaining some of the work in the store to customers.
I missed an opportunity to get a shot of performance artist Susan Savia and her husband George Hammen, who have just moved to the Wilmington area from Pennsylvania. Susan will be performing tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon at The Cotton Exchange and I encourage you to go give a listen. Here's Susan's website.I did meet and get a quick photo of three women from Kure Beach who were visiting Crescent Moon for the first time. In the shot below are Chris Still, Jennifer Scott, Mike Loch, and Susan Haynsworth.
Jennifer Scott, by the way is one of the organizers of a Port City Basketmakers event that's taking place at the Scottish Rite Temple on 17th Street in Wilmington Saturday, February 6th from 8AM to 5PM. If you're a basketmaker or have ever wanted to be, this event will include classes and training so you can make one or two baskets with expert assistance and instruction. For more info see the flyer at this link, or contact Jennifer (her contact info is in the flyer).
Marge was taken by a display of Virgil Jones Witches Balls and Fairy Balls.
Here's a shot of one of Virgil Jones' balls from the web site - details on their purpose and creation are on the Crescent Moon web site.
Our second stop at The Cotton Exchange and last stop on our Do It Wilmington excursion was Two Sisters Bookery.
Susan Hipp, who we met on New Years' Day at the Crescent Moon brunch at The River Room, was working at Two Sisters Bookery and we had a nice chat. (Also picked up a cool book for our grand daughter).
So that was our afternoon. We had a great time, had a super meeting with our web designers, saw some friends, met some nice people we hadn't known before, and ate some pretty nice cupcakes. (Oh, and came home with some gorgeous flowers from Moxie as well.)So I encourage you, do as the sign says, and Do It Downtown.
We did, and we're glad of it. In fact, we can't wait to Do It Downtown again!
