Our second day in Wilmington was overcast, with impending rain later in the day, so we headed to a spot repeatedly recommended by locals: Airlie Gardens. It reminded us of Longwood Gardens back home, but with less human traffic and more Southern charm. The grounds were shaped as a private garden in the late 1800s for the Pembroke Jones family, who lived in Airlie Manson at the time. That mansion no longer exists; in its place sits a picturesque landscape of the South’s subtropical foliage.
Live oaks stood throughout the gardens, draped in beards of Spanish moss, here standing in a clearing, there lurking behind a shrubbery. The most badass tree was the Airlie Oak, a triumphant bastard situated in the middle of the park. The dude is over 400 years old. Those trees were my favorite thing about the experience–as close to alien trees as you can get on Earth. The blue-tailed skink was pretty cool, too. I recommend this place as vehemently as the locals.
P.S. – The field of sunflowers wasn’t at Airlie Gardens; we stopped along the road on the way there to take a picture of it.
