Wilmington Bloggers

Just wanted to give a shout out to a local blogger website in Wilmington. Feel free to check them out.

Festival Latino Saturday Nov. 8 Hugh MacRae Park in Wilmington

Don't miss the Festival Latino this Saturday Nov. 8 from from 11-8 at
Hugh MacRae Park in Wilmington NC. There will be lots of delicious food from all over
Latin America and great music all day! We're having more arts and crafts
artists than ever this year, as well as more free children's activities.

Let the children play while you eat tamales and dance salsa!

Numerous booths from health and human service
organizations, local businesses, and churches will also be offering
information about their services.

This event is free and open to the public - come early, parking is limited!

Link: Google Maps and Directions for Hugh McRae Park

Wilmington NC ranked 20th nationally

RALEIGH (AP) -- The Raleigh and Charlotte regions are among the Top 10 fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country.

U.S. Census Bureau data shows the Raleigh area ranking third with a 4.7 percent growth rate between 2006 and 2007. The region includes Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties, and it grew by more than 47,000 people.

Charlotte ranks ninth with a growth rate of 4.2 percent. The six-county region includes parts of South Carolina and gained more than 66,700 people during the year.

State demographer Bill Tillman told the News & Observer of Raleigh the data isn't surprising. He said both areas have been growing rapidly for years but cautioned that the numbers are a year old and the growth rates are based on a short time period.

The next fastest-growing region in North Carolina was Wilmington, ranked 20th nationally. Asheville ranked 100th.

---
Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Link: WWAYTV3

Wilmington is a Distinctive Destination

WILMINGTON -- More than 60 cities in the country apply every year and only 12 are selected.

This year Wilmington was one of the very elite 12 honored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of the country's Dozen Distinctive Destinations.

It's a major award chosen from dozens of competitors across the country.

George Edwards with the Historic Wilmington Foundation said, "You couldn't ask for better recognition. It's incredible."

The national trust for historic preservation included Wilmington on its 2008 list of the country's 12 most distinctive destinations.

Joining places like Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Portland, Oregon as having the best mix of cultural and recreational activities.

Nancy Tinker with the National Trust for Historic Preservation said, "Ggreat gardens, good museums, good architecture, a downtown with a heartbeat, economic and cultural diversity. So why not here?"

Wilmington beat out neighboring cities like Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. City Mayor Bill Saffo said historic preservation is one of the city's priorities.

Saffo said, "So many cities around the country have destroyed their historic core. And historic fabric of what they were and who they were. We haven't. We have preserved a lot of ours."

But as we've been reporting all month in our Cape Fear 2020 series, we're also growing faster than any other place in North Carolina...

And as our population increases, so does the demand for more development.

"The challenge for us is not to lock this city down in place and pretend that it's a 19th-century city, but to retain all of our fabric but at the same time to allow orderly growth and development," Saffo said.

The city passed its first preservation ordinance in the 1960s, helping to preserve these historic buildings. Today the mayor said that we need to keep our past in mind, as we continue to grow into the future.

The city's visitors' bureau says the award puts our city in the national spotlight.
They project the attention should translate to a major increase in tourism here.

In 2006 tourism contributed over $300 million to our economy, and according to the CVB folks, that number will only go up.

Read full article on WWAYTV3

City of Wilmington NC Annual Rain Barrel Sale

Annual Rain Barrel Sale 

Orders must be placed by March 4th 

  

                                                                                

North Carolina is currently experiencing a severe drought with mandatory water restrictions 

in effect. As a result, Wilmington and other municipalities across the state have indefinite 

bans on lawn irrigation and many other activities that require large amounts of water. 

 

Consider that a 1,200 square foot roof generates 700 gallons of water with just 1” of rain!  

Be ready the next time it rains! Use a rain barrel to capture and store rainwater for your 

landscape and outdoor watering needs. 

 

New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District (NHSWCD) and the City of Wilmington 

Stormwater Services are holding their annual Rain Barrel Sale. The 65-gallon rain barrels 

are made from 100% recycled material and cost $95.  Rain barrels must be pre-ordered 

by March 4th by calling 798-6032 or emailing rain@nhswcd.org. Quantities are limited, 

so order early.  

 

Customers will make payment and pick up their barrels on Saturday, March 15th from  

9am-2pm at Halyburton Park (located off of 17th Street Extension at 4099 S. 17th Street).  

Cash or local checks only. We cannot hold orders! 

 

In addition, 10 lucky orders will be selected to receive $35 off at pick-up!   

Winners will be notified when they pick up and pay for their rain barrel on March 15th! 

 

Rain Water Solutions, Inc. of Raleigh, NC is offering these barrels at an extremely reduced 

price of $95, or 35% below retail. They feature an optional one or two spigot connection, a 

screen to keep out insects and debris, and a large overflow hose. Instructions are included 

for easy assembly.  For more information about the barrels, visit www.rainwatersolutions.com. 

 

For more information about the sale,  

contact Dru Harrison of NHSWCD at 798-6032 or dru.harrison@nhswcd.org

All about Wilmington NC

If you go to Google and just type in 'Wilmington NC' you will get several directories and informational sites that talk about Wilmington. Here is a short list:

www.ci.wilmington.nc.us

www.wilmington.net

www.cape-fear.nc.us

www.insiders.com/wilmington

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington,_North_Carolina

www.starnewsonline.com

www.wilmingtonchamber.org

www.wect.com

wilmington.craigslist.org

www.wunderground.com/US/NC/Wilmington.html

Smoke Free Restaurants in Wilmington NC

Looking for a place to eat in Wilmington and not be bothered by cigarette smoke? Check out this website.

Link: Smoke free

Wilmington NC Convention Center Gets Underway

The city finally broke ground on the new convention center in downtown Wilmington on Monday the 3rd of December.

The new convention center will bring 1200 jobs and tax revenue for the city says Mayor Bill Saffo.

I wonder if they need a website?

Link: WWAYT3

Be careful who you shoot

A New Hanover County man tried to help his neighbor who was being robbed by shooting at the suspect.

Officially, detectives say it is not a good idea to do that because you could be criminally charged since they were not attacking you.

"Detectives say in cases like this it's really not a good idea to shoot at the suspect, for one because you don't know what kind of weapon they may have, also, if you do end up shooting the person and the suspect was not personally attacking you or threatening you, it's possible that you could be criminally charged."

Link: WWAYT3

where can i buy cheap gas in wilmington nc

Look no further, mapquest now has a new feature that shows you the local gas station prices in wilmington nc.

just show me the cheap prices please : )

link: mapquest

CNNMoney.com lists Wilmington NC as last of red hot housing markets

I frequently get a newsletter from Buddy Blake in Wilmington NC, a local real estate agent.

His latest newsletter mentioned an article about the last remaining growing housing markets in the country. Suprisingly, Wilmington NC was among the top 5 in the nation, citing a 9.1% 1-yr price increase, a $272k median price and a fast, growing population.

The top 5 were:

Wenatchee, Washington
Salt Lake City, Utah
Grand Junction, Colorado
Seattle, Washington
Wilmington, NC

Link: Full article

Tom's Drug Store in downtown Wilmington, NC

Will be closing it's doors at the end of the month. I've been in there once or twice; they were very friendly and helpful.

The owner will be leasing the space and it is not known at this time what will occupy it.

Location:
1 N Front St
Wilmington, NC 28401

(910) 762-3391

Link: Article on WWAYTV3

Free SEO Tools

I was doing some SEO research the other day getting prepared for my SEO seminar at Specialty Engraving of Wilmington NC.

I came across Webconfs.com which has a ton of cool, free SEO tools. Here is a sample of what you will find on the site:

Similar Page Checker
Search Engine Spider Simulator
Backlink Anchor Text Analysis
Backlink Builder
Backlink Summary
Keyword Density Checker
Redirect Check
Reciprocal Link Check
Check Yahoo WebRank
Domain Stats Tool
Domain Age Tool
Website Keyword Suggestions
Keyword-Rich Domain Suggestion Tool

Link: Find out more info about our SEO/Search Engine Optimization Package in Wilmington NC

Link: Webconfs

Wrightsville Beach NC - Mixed Use Project is Approved

The Wrightsville Beach Board of Alderman has approved a mixed-use project to be built between Salisbury and Seagull Street, next to Johnny Mercer's Pier.

As a Wilmington NC resident and avid surfer, finding available parking spots is almost impossible as it is so I'm not looking forward to the increase of construction and crowds.

However, the increase in shops, businesses and hopefully eating spots will make downtown Wrightsville Beach a nice little place to hang out. And hopefully the increased revenue will give the town more money for public amenities such as restrooms and possibly help reduce the cost of parking.

Link: Lumina News Article

Wilmington NC Web Design and Website Development

My name is Jonathan Richey and I own Impulse Web Solutions here in Wilmington, NC.

I offer web design and website development services for all types of industries ranging from small mom-and-pop shopts to large corporations.

Wilmington NC has a vast array of industries and business types and I service them all. As a local surfer, lately most of my jobs seem to be surf related such as Aussie Island Surf Shop, Surfchex.com, WBLivesurf.com, Greenroom Board Sports, Blue Ridge Surfboards and Surfrider - I have contribuited to all of these sites in some form or fashion. Some of them I designed, some of them I work behind the scenes.

To find out more info about me and my company please visit my website, Impulse Web Solutions - a Wilmington NC based web design firm.

Impulse Launches the new Cape Fear Surfrider site

The new Surfrider site is up for Wilmington's local chapter.

Link: New site