March 14, 2018

VOL. 35 / PUB. 34

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ON THE COVER

EVENT OF THE WEEK

KIDS NIGHT OUT! Parents take the night off and have the kids join us for some fun activities—crafts, games, free play & refreshments.Open to ages 7-12 and completely free at Maides Park, 1101 Manly Ave. Pre-registration is required, so, please, call 910-341-7867.

Also, you can register online at www. webreg.wilmingtonnc.gov

BEST OF 2018, PGS. 30-42 Welcome to week two of five of Best Of coverage. We will dedicate lots of space to our 141 winners from 2018’s encore readers’ poll in coming weeks, including our cover models, like winners from College Road Animal Hospital and P.T.’s, as well as Pineapple-Shaped Lamps’ Jordan Vogt as Saruman the White, (PSL took the award for Best Comedy Troupe and hosted our medieval/fantasy-focused Best Of Party held Feb 24 at Brooklyn Arts Center). Want to know the best newscaster and newscast (hint: look above)? Where the best Thai is? We have you covered. Flip over to page 30, read about our winners, and see pics from our party, which benefited DREAMS of Wilmington. Many thanks to the volunteers (as shown on the cover) for making it all happen! Photos by Chris Brehmer Photography

M

MUSIC>>

T

Shannon Rae Gentry // music@encorepub.com

Art Director/Office Manager:

Susie Riddle // ads@encorepub.com

Chief Contributors: Gwenyfar Rohler, Anghus,

PG. 10

Tom Tomorrow, Chuck Shepherd, Mark Basquill, Rosa Bianca, Rob Brezsny, Linda Grattafiori, Bethany Turner, John Wolfe

Interns: Nikki Kroushl, Jessica Russell

Gwenyfar Rohler is blown away by the acting of Fracaswell “Cas” Hyman in Big Dawg Productions’ “Fences,” now showing over the next two weekends.

Courtesy photo

D

DINING>> Poke is the new fresh rage and Wilmington now has its own restaurant dedicated to it! Check out Rosa’s love affair with the new Nakedfin Poke Bowl!

Photo by Ashley Wixon

Editor-in-Chief:

Assistant Editor:

<<THEATRE

PG. 17

EDITORIAL>

Shea Carver // shea@encorepub.com

The Elonzo Wesley band is bringing new sounds to town with two shows to catch them this week, from the beach to downtown. Read all about it!

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To enter events on encore’s new online calendar, generated by SpinGo, head to www.encorepub. com/welcome/events-2. Events must be entered by every Thursday at noon, for consideration in print and on our new app, encore Go. E-mail shea@ encorepub.com with questions.

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General Manager:

John Hitt // john@encorepub.com

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Glenn Rosenbloom // glenn@encorepub.com Ashley Wixon // ashley@encorepub.com John Hitt // john@encorepub.com Shea Carver // shea@encorepub.com Published weekly on Wednesday by HP Media.

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INSIDE THIS WEEK: Live Local, pgs. 4-5 • News, pgs. 6-7 • Op-Ed, pg. 8 News of the Weird, pg. 9 • Music, pgs. 10-13 • Art, pgs. 14-15 • Theatre, pg. 16 Film, pg. 19 • Dining, pgs. 20-26 • Extra: Best Of, pgs. 28-41 • Fact or Fiction, pg. 42 Calendar, pgs. 44-61 2 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

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NEWS>>LIVE LOCAL

LIVE LOCAL, LIVE SMALL: Adrian Varnam opens string-instrument retail space on Castle St. BY: GWENYFAR ROHLER

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COZY AND INVITING: Adrian Varnam runs Wilmington’s Ronald Sachs Violins on Castle St. Photo courtesy of Adrian Varnam

his stage is for you,” Adrian Varnam gestures to the raised stage, seen through the front window of Ronald Sachs Violins’ new location. Varnam, now a partner in the company, just moved the Wilmington location into a retail space on Castle Street, complete with a small stage. It was a selling point when he was searching for a new location.

“The space offers the opportunity to do concerts,” Varnam says with a grin. He wants very much for teachers of string instruments to have recitals there, for composers and players to perform, and

for the space to be alive with string music.

Ronald Sachs Violins began two decades ago in Atlanta and has built a reputation for trust and reliability among string-instrument players across the southeastern United States. For Varnam, a UNCW grad who has played violin since age 5, a reliable string store staffed by knowledgeable and experienced people was sorely lacking in Wilmington. “I knew we needed a string shop,” he notes. “The closest place was probably Raleigh.”

In the fall of 2015, Varnam and Sachs began talking about what this could look like in ILM. At the time, Varnam was look-

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ing to sell the bar he owned and managed on Second Street. The opportunity to focus on music spoke to his hungry soul.

“For the majority of my life as an adult, I have cared about being part of a community and the arts,” he says.

As meetings with Ron progressed, it seemed like a perfect fit for Varnam.

Rather than beginning with an investment in a full-blown retail space, Varnam elected to begin focusing on relationships with stringed-instrument players and teachers. So he rented office space on Fourth Street.

“We opened an office by appointment only,” he tells, “and I spent every day building relationships with teachers.”

One of Varnam’s frustrations centered around the attitude some people have about rental instruments to school programs. Varnam notes, for some companies, the attitude is dismissive or the instrument is just for a sixth grader, a kid, so the instrument doesn’t need to be perfect.

“No! That’s wrong!” he insists. “That’s the player who should have the best!”

Varnam correlates it to learning to drive: Do you want to learn with a beat-up

40-year-old stick shift, or a smooth auto“I was doing weird stuff through my matic? guitar amp with my violin,” Varnam reVarnam is incredibly proud of the qual- members of their first collaboration on the ity and service Ronald Sachs provides for sound effects and score for Dram Tree all the string instruments in their rental Shakespeare’s production of “Macbeth.” program. They give the same attention to Since, their collaborative work has deeprental instruments they do for professional ened. It recently culminated in Christoplayers. It is a topic Varnam is passionate pher Marlowe’s “Dr. Faustus,” which Varabout, and it clearly resonates with area nam scored. teachers.

“Part of why I like working with Chris Marino is he wants to challenge what theatre can be,” Varnam says. As a music director, he finds his background with string instruments influences the way he approaches the work as well. “As a violinIn addition to New Hanover County ist, I always hear melody. Yeah, I’m melSchools, Varnam’s relationships with ody-based.”

Phillip Singleton at Cape Fear CommuAll pieces of Varnam’s life have come nity College, Danijela Žeželj-Gualdi at together in the new space for Ronald UNCW and Clark Spencer at St. Mary’s Sachs Violins in Wilmington. After more have been invaluable as he continues to than two years in a small office, Varnam is expand into South Carolina, starting with thrilled to move to a retail space. He wantHorry County’s music program. ed to be somewhere downtown, since it is In many ways it is like a culmination of a cultural hub. a lifetime of experiences and learning.

“I love walking outside and grabbing a Though, perhaps, it is not what Varnam’s cup of coffee,” he comments on the Arts mother expected when she signed him and Antique District neighborhood feel. up for Suzuki violin lessons with Lorraine He and Matt Keen, owner of Gravity ReWestermark over 30 years ago. “She’s cords, used to play violin together as kids. changed more lives than anybody I know.

Across the street are also Big Dawg ProI’m very thankful to my parents and to her ductions’ Cape Fear Playhouse and Kids for my music education,” Varnam remarks.

Making It, a nonprofit woodworking proMind you, it was an education that in- gram for youth. cluded a strong public-school arts curricu“It’s transformative—there’s so much lum: orchestra in middle school at Roland growth happening,” Varnam marvels.

Grise and in high school at Hoggard with Linda Figart, then North Carolina GovAfter time spent in a mere office buildernor’s School and All-State Orchestra. ing, the sense of being part of a creative “Sandy and Steve Errante lived across community is a reward in and of itself. the street from us,” Varnam offers with a With floor-to-ceiling display windows in smile. Dr. Steven Errante is the conductor front to shine beautiful, natural light, exof the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra. posed brick walls and hardwood floors, it Varnam started playing in the Wilmington is an inviting space. Along the back wall, a Symphony Orchestra in high school, an work bench has string instruments in variexperience he values greatly. ous states of repair. The whole place has After the foundation he built with Wes- a balance of calm and a sense of sometermark, she passed Varnam on to a thing wonderful afoot—like there is magmore advanced teacher in high school. ic in the air. Though he feels it, Varnam Of course, by then he also was interest- doesn’t seem to realize it comes from him. ed in guitar and playing rock ‘n’ roll. But, “The fact I spend all day doing this,” he through another Wilmington institution, gestures around him, “and all night playOpera House Theatre Company, he dising music and performing: It’s everything covered a love of musical theatre.

I want—entrepreneurship, community, “My first paying gig was playing in the the arts.” pit for ‘The Secret Garden,’” Varnam reHe pauses and quietly adds, “When I calls. “But the one that really got me excan give an instrument to a kid and see cited was playing for ‘Big River.’” them play it, and then go to recitals—that His excitement grew and Wilmington is awesome.” audiences have since been treated to Varnam’s original compositions for theatre, most often through his partnership with Christopher Marino at UNCW’s theatre department and founder of Alchemical Theatre Company.

“I was able to get the New Hanover County Schools’ contract,” he explains.

“All Ronald Sachs shops are managed by professional string players. Teachers can confidently send kids to us.”

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NEWS>>FEATURE

RALLY TO RALEIGH, PT. 2:

John Wolfe follows the fight against offshore drilling along NC’s coast

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BY: JOHN WOLFE

’m in a ballroom on the other side of the hotel, where the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has set up informational stations about the regulatory side of offshore drilling. It feels like a trade show, only instead of product demonstrations and free keychain giveaways, there are bureaucrats standing in front of big glossy poster boards with colorful maps and extremely small text. I join the crowd of citizens milling about counterclockwise, and ask questions while gathering pamphlets. At the end of the loop is a row of laptops on the far right wall; people are typing in the comments they have come to deliver.

The first station outlines the decision-making process for oil and gas leasing off the coast; another poster shows the proposed program lease sale schedule (i.e., what areas would go on sale when, were it to go through).

“It’s about a 15-year process,” the lady at the poster tells me, between the initial decision and when the auger hits the sand. Right now, we are in the 60-day comment-period window between the “draft proposed program” (the first of a three-step process of how to go about drilling off America’s shores) and the “proposed program” (the second step). Afterward comes another 90-day comment period, a proposed final program, then a 60-day period from the president and Congress. Then the program would—assuming everyone voted for it—get approved and leases would be sold to companies.

Leasing of our coast is a long, multi-step process, and it should be, given the potential for irreparable damage to the only ocean we have. After the rights to drill in certain spots are sold to the oil companies, there is another long process (involving exploration plans, reviews, consultations, more reviews and permitting decisions, and the drilling of exploratory wells) before the companies put rigs in permanently.

It is during this process that seismic airgun blasting would be used to determine where the oil and gas deposits are.

Seismic airgun blasting is, on its own, destructive enough. It involves towing a device behind a boat which emits “dynamite-like blasts of compressed air,” repeatedly “every 10 to 12 seconds” for weeks or months at a time, along with audio receivers to pick up the bounces. The process, which creates one of the loudest sources of noise in the ocean, would threaten injury to an estimated 138,000 marine mammals, who use their keen hearing to echolocate and navigate underwater.

Critics also point out how the loud noise might impede the Navy’s ability to detect foreign submarines in coastal waters.

But, nestled in the process, is something called a “State CZM (coastal zone management) Review.” Another bureaucrat from BOEM, Brian Cameron, says it gives the opportunity to the state to review what happens in federal waters—a sort of ultimate check against federal power—because in order for anything to happen, the state must approve the CZM review. That means, after receiving a consistency review on the potential impacts to the coast, even if the federal government wanted to drill and the state government was opposed to it, nothing would happen. “They couldn’t lease until there was concurrence from the state,” Cameron clarifies.

This is where the “game,” for lack of a better word, gets interesting: In a few years, when or if drilling comes up again, no one knows who will hold power at the state and federal levels.

Right now we have a state government firmly opposed to drilling, but it might also be we elect an oil-hungry governor or NC General Assembly during the time the decision would be made, and no amount of Roy Cooper crowing “Not Off Our Coast” would stop the companies from doing what they desperately want to do. So it’s important for everyone who is opposed to speak out now—and loudly—before we get too far down the line.

From the lease sale schedule of the draft proposed program, our region (the Mid-Atlantic) is number seven on the list, with the scheduled sale year being 2020. At the rally, Secretary Regan of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) tell us already there are four oil companies lined up and waiting to submit applications. Even though on the list we’re below oil hotspots Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, we’re nowhere near out of the hot water, so to speak.

BOEM’s Don McLay stands before a big map to outline all the leasing areas. He explains geologists used several methods, including satellite imagery, which looked for oil seepage and geological data off the coast of Northwest Africa (from when Morocco was nestled off the coast of Carolina during the time of the supercontinent Pangea), to determine an estimate for how much oil was off the NC coast. The Secretary of the Interior tells them where to look, and uses the data, along with comments and speeches of citizens, to inform his decision about what to keep in a potential lease sale and what to scrap.

“So many things have to be correct to have

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an oil field,” he says. “You have to have this source, this heat and pressure, you need migration, you need a sand body that can hold it, you need a trap so it doesn’t leak up to the sea floor. You need all of those things or you don’t have it.”

There is a commotion in the middle of the room when two older gentlemen unfurl a banner that reads “Our Waters are Our Life/No Offshore Drilling in North Carolina.” Their main complaint is how the computer-submitted comment process is “just a formality”—and isn’t a real way to hear the passion of the public.

“We’re being railroaded,” the man on the right says. It’s the same process they used for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, he says, and despite the opposition they went ahead with it anyway.

A third man jumps on a table and gestures wildly. “This is your government, this is your state … they’re listening to the industry, and nobody else. Don’t let them take away your voice!”

The sheriff leads the protesters out, as I speak with Michael Pearson, the second vice president and one of the founding members of the Progressive Caucus of the NC Democratic Party. “The reality is [the Mid-Atlantic] is the perfect place for wind energy,” he tells me. “You could install windmills off the coast of NC, Virginia, and SC, 12 miles out, and it would supply enough energy to power the whole Eastern Seaboard, from Maine all the way to Florida . . .If we had that situation, we could also get General Electric or other companies that produce them in Europe to develop a facility here to assemble.”

That’s what we should be focused on; not drilling. “Because [offshore drilling] benefits nobody,” he continues. * * * The rally begins at 6 p.m. in the ballroom, standing-room-only. The energetic and vocal crowd numbers several 100 strong. State House Representative Duane Hall of Raleigh opens with a question. “Why do you think Donald Trump’s Department of the Interior held the only public meetings in the entire state of NC hundreds of miles away from the affected coast? He didn’t think you guys were going to show up. But Donald Trump was wrong. People from all across NC care [about the coast].”

DEQ secretary Michael Regan emphasizes his support and of Governor Cooper and NC Attorney General Josh Stein. “Not Off Our Coast,” he declares, as a reminder for people to stay vigilant, to keep raising their voices against offshore drilling.

The speakers also include residents and representatives from the Outer Banks. Sheila Davis, the mayor of Kill Devil Hills, speaks of her town’s long history of opposition to offshore drilling. Mark Hooper, a fisherman who runs a seafood house in Carteret County, pauses after becoming too emotional about the potential effects of an oil spill. “I feel responsible for [the wildlife],” he tells as he wipes away tears.

Wilmington’s representative Deb Butler takes the floor. “We all know the ocean is powerful and healing,” she says. “It calms us and brings us peace. It has been said the ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul. Offshore drilling would cost us a way of life that money cannot buy. We must protect our mother ocean and our sacred shores.” * * * We are jostling down a dark highway back to our beloved coast we had traveled far to defend. As I sit in the back row of darkness, I think about how much bigger it is than us— bigger than NC, bigger, even, than America.

It is a global issue—and it just happens to be focused on our backyard. We are connected to everywhere else by the ocean, which laps our shores.

I have said the biggest reason not to drill is because of anthropogenic climate change— and I’ll reiterate it: Our climate is warming at a dangerously accelerated pace due to humanity’s continued combustion of fossil fuels. Without hyperbole, it is the biggest problem facing our human species. All our other problems are contingent on us solving this one. Political party, gender, race, religion ... it doesn’t matter. We humans live on planet Earth. It is our problem, and in the same vein, dear readers, we have a part to play in saving our world.

Even if we stop the rigs from going in, we need to stop burning what they produce, too.

Humankind has a remarkable ability to decide its fate, to change habits and invent new ways of living. We can cast off ways of the past like a blue crab’s too-tight carapace. We have the technology; we just need to decide to use it.

It’s time—it’s been time to change for a while.

It’s an old problem: Humanity’s addiction to black death is like the mythical and manyheaded hydra. To truly defeat it, we can’t just cut off the head of oil platforms in our state’s coastal waters and think we’ve won. We need to cut off all of them.

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PORT CITY FOOD LOVERS,

REJOICE! Join us for the most delicious week of spring

encore’s Wilmington

SPRING RESTAURANT WEEK

April 4 - April 11 participating restaurants downtown wilmington Anne Bonny's Bar and Grill Caprice Bistro Circa 1922 Dram + Morsel Elijah’s Fortunate Glass Wine Bar The Little Dipper Nikki’s Fresh Gourmet & Sushi On A Roll Paddy's Hollow Pilot House Ruth's Chris Steak House Savorez Steam Restaurant and Bar YoSake

MIDTOWN

Food from Dram+Morsel. Photo by Lindsey A. Miller Photography.

A Taste of Italy Antonio's Pizza & Pasta Carolina Ale House Casey’s Buffet Hops Supply Co. J. Michael's Philly Deli Jamaica's Comfort Zone La Costa Mexican Restaurant Los Portales Taqueria Munchies Okami Japanese Steakhouse RoadHouse of Wilmington Round Bagels and Donuts Yoshi Sushi

SOUTH wilmington Antonio's Pizza & Pasta Henry's Restaurant and Bar Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries J. Michael's Philly Deli Jamaica House Sports Bar & Grill Niche Kitchen & Bar Osteria Cicchetti Slainte Irish Pub

NORTH wilmington The Italian Bistro J. Michael's Philly Deli La Costa Mexican Restaurant The Melting Pot Osteria Cicchetti

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH Antonio's Pizza & Pasta Bluewater Waterfront Grill Boca Bay Oceanic Restaurant South Beach Grill

PLEASURE ISLAND Freddie's Restaurant HopLite Irish Pub and Restaurant Kure Beach Diner Lazy Pirate Island Sports Grill Michael's Seafood Restaurant

www.wilmingtonrestaurantweek.com 8 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

distraught man, he poured more gasoline on himself and appeared to be holding a lighter in his hand. Hoping to subdue him, one of the officers used his Taser on the man and the gasoline ignited, engulfing him in flames. Officers wrapped him in blankets and removed him from the house. His family reports he was severely burned, and at press time he was in critical condition.

NOW YOU HAVE OUR ATTENTION THE THREATENED AMERICAN WORKER

A local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Battle Creek, Michigan, is butting heads with Western Michigan University this summer after the school brought in a goat crew to clean up an overgrown woodlot on campus, leaving union workers without jobs. The AFSCME’s grievance cites a collective bargaining agreement with WMU, but university officials counter that “the area is rife with poison ivy and other invasive species,” which are difficult for humans to remove. The 20-goat crew, rented from Munchers on Hooves in Coldwater, Michigan, is ahead of schedule in clearing a 15-acre area.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE ...

died at the Vietnam-Czech Friendship Hospital. Buffalo fighting was stopped in the country during the Vietnam War, but the fights resumed in 1990.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Police in Slidell, Louisiana, stopped a “car full of drunks” on July 8 and arrested the driver for driving while intoxicated. The car’s passengers rode home in a taxi, but one of the women then drove back to the police station to bail out the driver. Slidell officers arrested the woman for DWI, and she joined her friend in jail. “Lesson of the day,” Slidell officers posted on their Facebook page: “Don’t drive drunk to a police station in order to bail out your drunk friend!”

Police in Swansea, Illinois, suspect the heir to a brewery fortune has graduated Robert Kanoff, 49, celebrated Independence Day in an unusual way: High on from driving drunk to flying high. August drugs, he was dropped off in his birthday Adolphus Busch IV, 53, landed his helisuit at a Tempe, Arizona, Walmart by two copter around noon on July 10 in an ofpeople who thought it would be “funny fice complex parking lot outside St. Louis. to see him naked,” said police. There he Police and FAA investigators were still trywalked around the store wearing only ing to determine why he had landed there shoes and carrying methamphetamines. and whether any aviation laws had been Maricopa County sheriff’s officers caught broken when they were called back to the up with him around 10 p.m. across the parking lot around 8 p.m., where Busch, appearing to be intoxicated, was trying unstreet from the store. successfully to take off. Swansea police reported that Busch failed field sobriety tests THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT First bikes, then cars ... now umbrellas. but passed a breath test, and after they Maybe. Sharing E Umbrella hit the streets secured a warrant, Busch was taken to a of 11 Chinese cities in April with more than local hospital for blood tests. (Also found 300,000 umbrellas for rent from subway in the helicopter: four loaded guns, several and bus stations. Unfortunately, the com- prescription pill bottles and eight dogs.) At pany’s founder, Zhao Shuping, didn’t pro- press time, no charges had been filed. vide instructions about returning the rentals after use, and most of the umbrellas have LACKING A FILTER Baseball fans at the Los Angeles Dodgdisappeared. Zhao noted his mistake, saying, “Umbrellas are different from bicycles. ers-Kansas City Royals game in Dodger ... With an umbrella you need railings or a Stadium on July 8 were treated to some fence to hang it on.” He plans to replenish righteous moves on the dance cam by his stock with 30 million umbrellas nation- “Rally Granny,” an older fan who capped her performance by flashing her bra at the wide by the end of the year.

40,000-plus spectators. “You don’t see THAT much at a baseball stadium,” deadQUESTIONABLE JUDGMENTS The Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival, in panned Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellwhich water buffalo are pitted against each inger (who actually missed the spectacle) other, has been a tradition in Hai Phong, Vietnam, since the 18th century. But on FROM BAD TO WORSE Two women in Arlington, Texas, called July 1, buffalo trainer Dinh Xuan Huong, police for help on July 10 as a mentally 46, met his doom when his own bull turned ill man doused himself with gasoline in on him. The buffalo first knocked Dinh to the ground, then flipped him over its head, preparation to commit suicide. When regoring Dinh’s leg with its horn. Dinh later sponding officers began talking with the

On July 6, IRS workers in Ogden, Utah, received a fake bomb from Normand Lariviere, 68, of Olympia, Washington. The U.S. Navy veteran and former civilian defense contractor has been disgruntled with the Department of Defense since his dismissal in the 1990s and has a history of mailing disturbing objects to the IRS to protest paying taxes. In 2016, Lariviere sent one of his fingers, a bullet and a marijuana joint to tax collectors. “Many things I could do,” he threatened. “I’m not going to tip my hand.”

Drivers speeding down Bedford Street in Lakeville, Massachusetts, may touch the brakes when they spot a parked police cruiser at the side of the road. But the “vehicle,” a plywood and aluminum sign painted to look like a Crown Victoria blackand-white, is a ruse perpetrated by resident Kelly Tufts to get drivers to slow down. Tufts parks the “car” in his driveway, especially on weekends, to protect dogs and kids from

speeding traffic. “We’ve had some people give us the one finger,” Tufts said. “If it was their neighborhood, they’d enjoy it.”.

AWESOME!

A mathematician in Bucharest, Romania, scored a 44,900 euro profit when he made an exciting discovery at a flea market there: a rare World War II Enigma machine, used by the Nazis for encrypting messages. After paying the unwitting seller just 100 euros ($114 U.S.) for it, he took it into his care, cleaning and repairing it and learning how it worked. On July 11, a Bucharest auction house sold the machine for 45,000 euros ($51,500 U.S.) to an unnamed bidder.

BRIGHT IDEAS

Why hire moving professionals for just one appliance? A man in Brisbane, Australia, gamely tried transporting his full-size refrigerator on a Queensland Rail car in April. He first rolled the fridge, strapped to a handcart, onto an elevator to the train platform. Shortly after guiding it into the train carriage, the man and his icebox were removed from the car by transit officers, who wrote him a $252 ticket. Apparently, his item would not fit under a seat, in an overhead rack or in a designated storage area, as Queensland Rail rules specify.

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ARTS>>MUSIC

UNDERLYING WORLDVIEW: Elonzo Wesley’s Jeremy Davis talks hard conversations and art

“I was still writing songs and performing,” Davis details. “I always wanted to have an acoustic band because I felt the music would fit the songs I write really well.

I didn’t know if it would work.”

BY: SHANNON RAE GENTRY

N

owadays it feels like we’re in a constant state of waiting for the other shoe to drop: another breakingnews cycle made up of a sea of bullets.

When it comes to mass shootings, it’s no longer a matter of if it will happen again, but when and where the next one will be.

Without drums or electric instruments, Elonzo Wesley may be a far cry from rock, but certainly it is not without a groove. “It’s more earthy,” Davis offers. “We like to really explore parts of songs and let them take us where they want to go.”

A school? A concert? A church?

The Elonzo Wesley band’s “Emanuel” is a pretty self-explanatory song reflecting upon one of the most infamous mass shootings in recent U.S. history. Frontman Jeremy Davis (guitar, vocals) penned the ballad right after 21-year-old white supremacist Dylann Roof left nine people dead in 2015 at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. Davis was on the road at the time, staying in a Tennessee Motel 6 when he woke up to hear the news.

“I grew up right outside of Charleston, so that event hit home for me and a lot of folks from the area,” Davis recalls. “It made me really angry that, even in modern times, old ideas and hatred still exist, and sometimes people use that to do horrible things. Being from the South is such a blessing, but a curse in that way, too. I think it is why I wrote that song—because I don’t know how to talk about some of these things as a Southerner, but I think it’s so important.”

Davis sat on “Emanuel” until the time of its release because of his mixed feelings and potential public perception. He didn’t want it to look like he was attempting a career move out of a tragedy.

“I eventually realized, with the help of the rest of the band, I should release it,” he continues. “It’s important to talk about these things and to remind ourselves of our own mistakes as a culture, and that art is supposed to deal with these things.”

Nevertheless, Davis—with Dennis Contreras (string bass, vocals), Alicia Driver (violin, vocals) and Taylor Winchester (mandolin, vocals)—felt they would be remiss to simply put it on their 2017 “Spec” album. So they released it as a single for charity on their Bandcamp page (elonzowesley.bandcamp.com) as well. It will remain there indefinitely and all proceeds will continue to go directly to Emanuel AME. “Hopefully, we can raise some money for a good cause, and keep reminding folks of 10 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

FOLKSTER: Elonzo Wesley band, including lead singer Jeremy Davis, performs two shows this week at Wrightsville Beach and downtown Wilmington. Courtesy photo.

what happened and continue the conversation,” Davis adds.

It’s been a few months since the release of “Spec” in November 2017; while Elonzo Wesley played the songs live throughout the year leading up to and throughout recording them, Davis insists the band continues to find new and interesting ways to tap into the “perfect arc for the listener.”

Davis and his troupe will bring their set of poignant songs and folk nuances to Jimmy’s at Red Dogs in Wrightsville Beach and Edward Teach Brewing in downtown this week.

While Elonzo Wesley has evolved over the years, with new members and evolution in sound, the band’s moniker has remained the same for a reason. Named for his late father who passed away when Davis was 11, he describes Elonzo Wesley as a hardcore blue-collar guy, a farmer and an amateur musician.

“I think it’s just my weird way of remembering and staying in touch,” Davis muses.

“I think he’d like the music I make. [Plus,] I chose the name because good band names are hard to come up with, and ‘Elonzo Wesley’ is such a cool name. It’s even spelled in an unusual way—which is perfect for an indie band (laughs).”

The first version of Davis’ band, simply dubbed “Elonzo,” was more of a rock project he started with his sister and her husband. Now as Elonzo Wesley, which he started as a solo act after Elonzo dispersed, new players and folk-string sounds accompany his songwriting.

“Spec” is an appropriate title track for the album because it’s about the underlying connection of all people, things and ideas.

Though the songs do not share a specific theme, Davis says they share an underlying worldview. “Plastic Memories” is a complicated song about a character living in a dark place, asking, “What are we doing here?”

“At its core it’s about trying to make a relationship work,” Davis says. “For two people to stay together, it’s a lot of work, and sometimes I think it (the relationship) can be more about keeping something going and trying to honor your commitment to someone, [rather] than [being] about actual love or happiness. I think you can be so obsessed with those things that sometimes you can actually miss the other person and forget to see them for who they are.”

“Dreams (Re: Texas)” sounds like Davis might not particularly enjoy his travels or being on the road: “Don’t wanna go to Texas/riding with the wind/Don’t wanna go to Detroit/rebuild it from within ...”

“Traveling and touring is hard on your home life, and home life is hard on your traveling/tour life,” he says. “So I think this song is about the give and take, and the insanity it creates for the person or people caught in the middle.”

DETAILS:

Elonzo Wesley

March 14, 10 p.m.

Jimmy’s at Red Dogs 5 N. Lumina Ave., Wrightsville Beach Cover TBD March 15, 7 p.m.

Edward Teach Brewing 604 N. 4th St. Free www.elonzowesley.com

A PREVIEW OF EVENTS ACROSS TOWN THIS WEEK

1423 S. 3rd St. DOWNTOWN WILMINGTON (910) 763-1607

THE SOUNDBOARD

Tuesday __________________________________________

KARAOKE

w/Elite Entertainment

9PM-2AM • $400 GUINNESS

Thursday ________________________________________

TRIVIA WITH STEVE

8:30 P.M. • PRIZES! • $250 YUENGLING DRAFT $ 50 3 FIREBALL SHOTS

Friday & Saturday __________________________

LIVE MUSIC 2 BUD & BUD LIGHTS

$ 00

Sunday ___________________________________________

BREAKFAST BUFFET 9:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. • $4 MIMOSA’S

WATCH YOUR FAVORITE TEAM HERE!

v Writers Night Mondays: $4 red wine specials v Starving Artists Tuesdays: $2 sangria, $2-$4 beer v Singer/Songwriter Open Mic Wednesdays: 9pm-midnight v Karaoke Thursdays: 8pm ‘til v Jazzy Fridays: with James Jarvis, 8-11pm v Drum Circle Saturdays: 5-8 pm v Second and Fourth Saturday Poetry v Sunday Funday: 4pm ’til: $4 mimosas NORTH CAROLINA NATIVE: Country singer Chris Lane, who once auditioned for American Idol, brings his authentic country sound to Wilmington’s Greenfield Lake Ampitheater on March 16. Photo by Chuck Arlund.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14

Trivia Night w/Party Gras Entertainment (7pm; Free) —Hoplite Pub and Beer Garden, 720 N. Lake Park Blvd.

Improv Comedy (7pm; $3)

—Dead Crow Comedy Room, 265 N. Front St.

The Annex Songwriter Session (7pm; $5)

—Brooklyn Arts Center, 516 N. Fourth St.; 910-538-2939

—Ted’s Fun on the River, 2 Castle St.; 910-231-3379

Nick Gliarmis and His One Man Band (9pm; Free) —The Whiskey, 1 S. Front St.

6th Annual Carolina Comedy Cup (9pm; $5)

—Lazy Pirate Island Sports Grill, 701 N. Lake Park Blvd.; 910-742-8055

Extreme Music Bingo w/Party Gras Entertainment (10pm; Free)

Jazz Piano with James Jarvis (7pm; Free)

—Fox and Hound, 920 Town Center Drive; 910-509-0805

Trivia with Sherri ‘So Very’ (7pm; Free)

THURSDAY, MARCH 15

—The Blind Elephant, 21 N. Front St. Unit F —Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery, 11 Van Campen Blvd.

The Jillettes (7pm; $3; Rock)

HOW TO SUBMIT A LISTING:

Capricious Live in the Beer Garden (6pm; Free; Pop, Rock) —Wrightsville Beach Brewery, 6201 Oleander Drive

723 N 4th St.

Sunset Cruise with Live Music by Jenny Pearson (6:30pm; $27; Singer-Songwriter) —Wilmington Water Tours, 212 S. Water St.

Open Mic Comedy (7pm; $0-$3)

—Dead Crow Comedy Room, 265 N. Front St.

Espresso Yourself @ Coffee-oke & Open Mic (7pm; $2) —Morning Glory Coffeehouse, 1415 Dawson St.

Acoustic Blues Jam (7pm; $3)

—Ted’s Fun on the River, 2 Castle St.; 910-231-3379

Daughtry (7:30pm; $46-$88; Rock) —Wilson Center, 703 N. Third St.

Trivia Night w/Party Gras Ent. (7:30pm; Free) —Fox and Hound, 920 Town Center Drive; 910-509-0805

• 16 NC brews on tap • 8 big screen TV’s • Sports packages

• Bar games • Free popcorn machine

Ch eers!

Trivia Night & FREE Wings Every Tuesday @ 9pm Sip & Spell Adult Spelling Bee Every Wednesday @ 9pm Free Hot Dog Station and Pot Luck Every Sunday 106 N 2nd Street

All Soundboard listings must be entered onto our online calendar, powered by SpinGo, each Wednesday, by 5 p.m., for consideration in the following week’s entertainment calendar. All online listings generate the print listings, as well as encore’s new app, encore Go. Venues are responsible for notifying encore of any changes, removals or additions to their weekly schedules.

(Located next to 2nd Street parking deck) Hours of operation: Mon. - Fri. 2:00pm-2:00am Sat. & Sun. noon-2:00 am

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 11

Trivia from Hell’s (7:30pm; Free)

THURSDAY

100 S. FRONT ST. 910-251-1832 LIVE MUSIC in the courtyard 7 days a week

MONDAY

$2 Select Domestic • $3 Draft $4 Flavored Bombs 1/2 Price Apps Live Music from Tony and Adam TUESDAY

$2.50 PBR 16oz cans $3.50 Sam Seasonal and Hoppyum IPA draft $5 Redbull and Vodka 1/2 price wings Live music from Josh Solomon

Open Jam Hosted by Heter Pan (10pm; TBD) —The Whiskey, 1 S. Front St.

$2.75 Michelob Ultra $3.25 Stella $4.50 Lunazul Tequila All Floors open SATURDAY

$3 Miller Lite $4 Deep Eddy Lemon Drop shots $5 Deep Eddy Grapefruit and Soda All floors open

$2.75 Miller Lite • $4 Wells, 1/2 price bottles of wine $2 off a dozen oysters Live music from Jeremy Norris

$3 Corona/ Corona lt • $4 Mimosa $4 Bloody Mary Live music from L-Shape Lot duo 3pm and Clay Crotts 8pm

SUNDAY

5607 Carolina Beach road Monkey Junction (910) 399-3980 FB: @slaintemj ••• Sunday •••

$5 Mimosa • $5 Bloody Mary • 1/2 Price Wine

••• Monday •••

$5 Jameson • $4 Irish drafts $2 Domestic (bottles or cans)

••• TueSday •••

TRIVIA TUESDAYS @ 7:30

$4 Yuengling, Red Oak, Harp, Miller Lite & Bud Light Drafts

••• WedneSday •••

25% OFF Select Irish Whiskey

••• ThurSday •••

$3 Pint Guiness • $6 Car Bomb $5 Spiked Lemonade

••• Friday •••

Live Music • Select Drink Specials

FEATURE YOUR LIVE MUSIC, FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS

$3.50 Sweetwaters $4.50 Absolute Lemonade Cheeseburger & Pint $12

$3.50 Sweet Josie $4 Margaritas

Pie & Pint $12

$3.50 Pint of the Day $4 Fire Ball $5 Mimosas $5 Car Bombs $5 Bloody Mary’s & Mimosas *Drink Specials run all day

www.RuckerJohns.com VISIT WWW.RUCKERJOHNS.COM FOR Friday Monday DAILY SPECIALS, MUSIC & EVENTS Select Appetizers halfMONDAY off $ 4 Cosmopolitan $ 2 Big Domestic Draft Beers $550 Caramel Apple Martini ALL DAY $ 95 22oz. Domestic Draft $ 4 RJ’s Coffee 3 Sam Adams and Blue $5 Pizzas Moon Seasonal Bottles Tuesday TUESDAY 1/2 off Select Bottles of Wine saTurday LIVE(sugar JAzz IN THE BAR $ 5 Absolut Dream rim) $ 6 All Southern Half Price Bottles of Wine Shiners $ 3 NC Brewed Bottles $ $ 50 3-22oz Blue$2Moon Draft • Pacifico Absolut Dream (Shotgun, Buckshot, High $ 550 2 Select Domestic Bottles Roller and Hoppyum)

WEDNESDAY sunday Wednesday Miller Light Pints $150$ Coronoa/ 5 All$2Flat 50 Breads 1/2 off Nachos Corona Lite Bottles $ 50 $4 Bloody$ Marys 1 Domestic Pints Margaritas/Peach Margaritas 4 Pints $ 50 $ 50 1 Domestic 2 Corona/Corona Lt. $ 5 White Russians $ 50 4 Margaritas on theTHURSDAY Rocks Visit our $website Appletinis $4, RJ’s Painkiller 5 Thursday www.RuckerJohns.com $ 50 2 Red Stripe Bottles $ 50 for daily specials, music and 2 Fat Tire Bottles $ 50 2 Fat Tire Bottlesupcoming events $ 00 3 22oz. Goose Island IPA $ 95 4 Irish Coffee FRIDAY5564 Carolina $ 50 Cosmos $4, 007 Beach 3 Road 1/2 off ALL Premium $ Red Wine Glasses 3 Guinness Cans (910)-452-1212 Island Sunsets $5 SATURDAY Baybreeze/Seabreeze $4 22oz. Blue Moon Draft $3 Select Domestic Bottles $2 SUNDAY Bloody Marys $4, Domestic Pints $150 Hurricanes $5 5564 Carolina Beach Road, (910) 452-1212

Call 791-0688 Deadline every Thurs., noon!

Offering a variety of craft beer, ciders and wine

—Ted’s Fun on the River, 2 Castle St.; 910-231-3379

—Holiday Inn Resort, 1706 N. Lumina Ave.

Chris Lane in Concert (7pm; $25-$30; Country)

Kilbeggan (7pm; $3; Irish)

UNCW String Ensemble (7:30pm; $6)

—UNCW Beckwith Recital Hall, 5270 Randall Drive

—Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre, 1941 Amphitheater Drive

Tainted Cabaret (8pm; $10-$12)

The Rhythm Bones (7pm; $3; Funk)

Singer-Songwriter Showcase Hosted by Jake Newman (9pm; TBD)

—Ted’s Fun on the River, 2 Castle St.; 910-231-3379

Exacta Duo (7pm; TBD; Rock)

—Bill’s Front Porch, 4328 Market St.

—Juggling Gypsy, 1612 Castle St.; 910-763-2223

—The Whiskey, 1 S. Front St.

MONDAY, MARCH 19

National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba (7:30pm; $40-$60)

Port City Trivia w/Dutch (7pm; Free)

—Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St.; 910-632-2241

Trivia from Hell’s (7:30pm; Free)

UNCW 36th Annual JazzFest Presents the Rahsaan Barber Sextet (7:30pm; $6)

—Hell’s Kitchen, 118 Princess St.; 910-763-4133

College Night (8pm; Free)

—UNCW Kenan Auditorium, 601 S. College Road; 910-962-3500

Piano Jazz (8pm; Free)

—Bottega Art & Wine, 723 N. Fourth St.

Live Music with Plenty Pastures (8pm; TBD; Folk) —Flytrap Brewing, 319 Walnut St.

Radar’s Clowns of Sedation (10pm; TBD; Blues)

—Buffalo Wild Wings, 140 Hays Lane #B15

—The Whiskey, 1 S. Front St.

Open Mic Hosted by James Jones (8pm; Free)

—Juggling Gypsy, 1612 Castle St.; 910-763-2223

TUESDAY, MARCH 20 Comedy Bingo (6pm; $2)

—Dead Crow Comedy Room, 265 N. Front St.

—The Whiskey, 1 S. Front St.

The Dixieland Allstars (6pm; TBD; Jazz)

SATURDAY, MARCH 17

Trivia with Sherri ‘So Very’ (7pm; Free)

St. Patrick’s Day Festival (12pm; Free) —Riverfront Park, 5 N. Water St.

St. Patty’s Afternoon Jam w/Dubtown (3pm; Free; Rock, Jam)

—Rucker John’s, 5564 Carolina Beach Road —Local’s Tavern, 1107 New Pointe Blvd.

Seahawk FAM & UNCW Presents: Third Coast Percussion (7:30pm; $5-$40)

—Wrightsville Beach Brewery, 6201 Oleander Drive

—UNCW Kenan Auditorium, 601 S. College Road; 910-962-3500

Sunset Cruise with Live Music by Monica Jane (6:30pm; $27; Singer-Songwriter)

The Drum Circle with Drum & Dance Downtown (7:30pm; Free)

Live Music: Tom Gossin (7pm; Free; Singer-Songwriter)

DJ Elementary (10pm; Cover TBD)

—Wilmington Water Tours, 212 S. Water St.

—Holiday Inn Resort, 1706 N. Lumina Ave.

John Toppings ‘Desperado’ (7pm; $3; Variety) —Ted’s Fun on the River, 2 Castle St.; 910-231-3379

Justin Fox (7pm; TBD; Singer-Songwriter) —Bill’s Front Porch, 4328 Market St.

Soul-R Fusion (8pm; Free)

—Fermental, 7250 Market St.; 910-821-0362

Live Music with Susan Savia (8pm; TBD; Variety) Backup Planet St Patrick’s Day Party! (10pm; TBD; Rock, Funk) —The Whiskey, 1 S. Front St.

SUNDAY, MARCH 18

Sunday Brunch with Live Music by Tyler McKaig (10:30am; $18; Singer-Songwriter) —Blockade Runner Beach Resort, 275 Waynick Blvd.

Seahawk FAM & UNCW Presents: Third Coast Percussion (2pm; $5-$40)

—UNCW Kenan Auditorium, 601 S. College Road; 910-962-3500

12 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

Bluegrass Sunday (6pm; Free)

—Platypus & Gnome, 9 S. Front St.

—Flytrap Brewing, 319 Walnut St.

(as little as $29 a week!)

—Old Books on Front St., 249 N. Front St.; 910-76-BOOKS —Satellite Bar & Lounge, 120 Greenfield St.; 910399-2796

Live Music: Two of a Kind (7pm; Free; Rock) $3.50 Red Oak Draft $4 Wells 65 Wings, 4-7pm

Books, Beer & Jazz Piano (3pm; Free)

FRIDAY, MARCH 16

Cafe Nouveau (7pm; TBD; Jazz)

FRIDAY

$3 Fat Tire & Voo Doo $5 Jameson • $2 Tacos Pub Trivia on Tuesday Live music from Rebekah Todd WEDNESDAY

—Hell’s Kitchen, 118 Princess St.; 910-763-4133

—The Calico Room, 107 S. Front St.; 910-762-2091

—Palm Room, 11 E. Salisbury St.; 910-509-3040

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21

Trivia Night w/Party Gras Entertainment (7pm; Free) —Hoplite Pub and Beer Garden, 720 N. Lake Park Blvd.

Jazz Piano with James Jarvis (7pm; Free)

—The Blind Elephant, 21 N. Front St. Unit F

Trivia with Sherri ‘So Very’ (7pm; Free)

—Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery, 11 Van Campen Blvd.

Laura McLean Singer/Songwriter Showcase (7pm; $3) —Ted’s Fun on the River, 2 Castle St.; 910-231-3379

UNCW New Music Festival (7:30pm; $6)

—UNCW Beckwith Recital Hall, 5270 Randall Drive

6th Annual Carolina Comedy Cup (9pm; $5)

—Lazy Pirate Island Sports Grill, 701 N. Lake Park Blvd.; 910-742-8055

Extreme Music Bingo w/Party Gras Entertainment (10pm; Free) —Fox and Hound, 920 Town Center Drive; 910-509-0805

CONCERTS OUTSIDE OF SOUTHEASTERN NC

SHOWSTOPPERS

WAR & LEISURE: R&B singer Miguel continues his “War & Lesisure” tour with a stop at The Fillmore in Charlotte on March 28. Photo by Steve Jennings.

NEIGHBORHOOD THEATRE NORTH DAVIDSON ST., CHARLOTTE, NC (704) 358-9298 3/14: Little Stranger and ¡Mayday!

3/15: Jessica Lea Mayfield and T. Hardy Morris 3/16: The New Familiars and Bob Margolin 3/17: Marvelous Funkshun and Ike Stubblefield 3/18: Mary Lambert and Mal Blum 3/21: Melvin Seals & JGB 3/22: Katastro and Tropidelic 3/24: Caleborate THE FILLMORE 820 HAMILTON ST., CHARLOTTE, NC (704) 916-8970 3/15: Guerra de Chistes 3/16: Matisyahu 3/18: Above & Beyond 3/20: Mat Kearney 3/27: Dashboard Confessional 3/28: Miguel THE UNDERGROUND-FILLMORE 820 HAMILTON ST., CHARLOTTE, NC (704) 916-8970 3/16: Chicago Rewired 3/17: The English Beat 3/20: New Politics 3/23: K.Flay MOTORCO MUSIC HALL 723 RIGSBEE AVE., DURHAM, NC (919) 901-0875 3/15: Mac Sabbath and Mega Colossus 3/16: Rebirth Brass Band and The Get Right Band 3/18: Wild Child and Family & Friends 3/20: Porches and Girl Ray 3/21: Hollie Cook, Dub Addis and DJ Bug Spray 3/22: Iya Terra and Treehouse!

LINCOLN THEATRE 126 E. CABARRUS ST., RALEIGH, NC (919) 821-4111 3/15: John Kadlecik Band 3/16: J. Roddy Walston and the Business 3/17: ID, Barnacle, BOI, Mr. Monopoly and XTALE 3/21: New Politics and Dreamers & The Wrecks 3/22: The Crystal Method CAT’S CRADLE 300 E. MAIN ST., CARRBORO, NC (919) 967-9053 3/14: Brew Davis and The High Top Boys (back) 3/16: Diali Cissokho, Kaira Ba and more 3/16: Kyle Petty and David Childers (back) 3/17: The Bad Checks and Dex Romweber (back) 3/18: Men I Trust and Dead Bedrooms (back) 3/19: Born Ruffians and Fleece (back) 3/20: Shame and Snail Mail and Bat Fangs (back) 3/21: Moose Blood and Lyrdia & McCafferty 3/21: Courtney Marie Andrews and more (back) 3/22: Marti Jones and Don Dixon (back) 3/23: Kyle Craft and Erie Choir (back) 3/23: Of Montreal and Mega Bog THE ORANGE PEEL 101 BILTMORE AVE., ASHEVILLE, NC (828) 398-1837 3/15: SoMo, Caye and Kid Quill 3/16: SOJA and RDGLDGRN 3/17: Wild Child and Family & Friends 3/18: Ozomatli and The Get Right Band 3/23: The Breakfast Club HOUSE OF BLUES - MYRTLE BEACH 4640 HWY 17 S, NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (843) 272-3000 3/15: The Avett Brothers 3/18: Matisyahu

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 13

ARTS>> ART

PERSISTENT MEMORIES:

Barbara Michael and Evin Leek share war-torn experiences of other cultures though photography and painting

I

school supplies.

BY: JAMES MCCREA

t can be difficult for any of us to truly identify with people in distant countries who deal with catastrophe. In the face of news coverage that reduces death tolls to unfathomable numbers as a means to accompany highly politicized op-ed jargon, how can we really know what it’s like to persist as a people who undergo decades of misfortune? How can we even begin to know what was lost after such struggles began? Barbara Michael and Evin Leek have each spent years thoroughly ingraining themselves in two very different cultures wracked by crisis. They both evoke their experiences— and those of their friends abroad—through artistic expression.

Michael has been fascinated by different cultures since childhood, and she launched into a long career as a cultural anthropologist.

She pays special attention to art and expression, evidenced by blending the two seemingly disparate studies in her documentary

IN THE WAKE OF CATASTROPHE: Evin Leek paints the defiant stance of a Guatemalan woman in “Luisa.” Courtesy photo.

filmmaking. In Michael’s hands the camera is for creative expression but also a valuable tool for anthropology.

“I’ve had a camera ever since I was in grade school,” she reminisces. “I saved up Wheaties box tops, spent another 50 cents, and I got a little black-and-white plastic camera when I was about 8 or 9. I often took the camera with me for whatever I did. For anthropologists a camera is a tool to record things you want to remember that you can’t take back with you—like how houses are built and how ceremonies actually look. It’s a really important field tool.”

Michael landed in Yemen after winning a Fulbright Scholarship to examine a slice of Middle Eastern culture. She remained in the capital city Sana’a for three years while working as a consultant to Rädda Barnen, a Swedish section of the International Save the Children Alliance. In between her tasks as scholar and advisor, she explored the city, armed only with a camera. Of the area’s myriad exotic sights, Michael found particular interest in local artisans who handwrought the kind of everyday items Americans normally buy in giant hardware stores.

“I tried to take as many photographs as I could of craftsmen and things that were being made because I had a sense it might not last,” Michael explains. “Cultures change so fast, especially with globalization. Going to the trouble of making a hand-carved door is something typically superseded by something else.”

Michael’s photos capture facets of everyday Yemeni culture, from the colorful architecture of Sana’a to its bustling streets, filled with merchants of all stripes. Among them, clusters of children smile in attempts to sell anything they can get their hands on, often in an effort to buy

14 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

“The little boys sold things on the streets,” Michael recalls fondly. “I always got a big kick out of them because they were really persistent salesmen, but they were also really cute and fun. I would often see the same boys, so we got to be friends. A couple of them in particular— and I suppose it fits many of them—were selling things in order to pay school fees or buy clothing for school. One of the little boys told me that; a couple of weeks later I ran into him, and he was all dressed up in his new school outfit, with matching shirt and pants and a little cap. He was so proud of himself because he sold enough chewing gum and other things to buy that outfit.”

After three eventful years in Yemen, Michael returned to the States for a steady teaching job.

Shortly thereafter, the country was rocked by tumult, ranging from the Arab Spring demonstrations in 2011, to the onset of a civil war which seemingly persists in modern day. As much as she loved her time in Yemen, she feels grateful to have left while it was still possible to buy a plane ticket.

Leek’s paintings provide a stark contrast to the subtle optimism that creeps up through the cracks of Michael’s Yemeni memories. She first volunteered in Guatemala after graduating from high school, and she makes a point to return every few years to keep up relief efforts. One of her tasks is assisting elderly women who have been separated from their families.

Guatemala emerged from a 40-year-long civil war in 1997, which only further displaced a population already battered by devastating weather. Between seemingly endless warfare and mudslides, entire families have been broken apart. Some don’t know where their loved ones went—or even what happened to them.

Specifically, Leek’s oil paintings capture the emotional Guatemalan landscape as etched upon the faces of the widowers she befriended.

With meticulous detail, Leek renders survivors’ faces with heavy interwoven lines beneath their harrowed eyes. Scant light rests upon their pronounced cheekbones and glimmers in their distant eyes. The women often stand in front of vast garments, emblazoned with colorful geometric patterns. Sometimes they sit in dilapidated homes of planks and sheet metal.

Sometimes only darkness accompanies them.

housing for some of them, but for most of them, they come in three days a week to [get] food or medicine. Sometimes we’ll visit their homes and bring them whatever they need. A lot live in little houses made of bamboo and sheet metal, with dirt floors. It’s definitely eye-opening to see how they live down there, but they all have a pretty optimistic mindset, considering.”

Both Leek and Michael were unaware of each other’s work until WHQR organized this show. Both artists submitted proposals to the radio station, with the end-result being a display of pre- and post-war imagery, sharing a few salient commonalities.

“They thought our work would pair well together, and I think it really does,” Leek exclaims.

“We both focus on how traditions shape culture, how they’ve been fading in recent years, and how that’s affected them. We found a common ground there, because they’re very different cultures from different parts of the world, but they do have a lot of similarities. We both feature articles of clothing, and you can see traditional clothes they wear. Weaving is a big part of both cultures, as are merchants. They both have their share of hardships.”

Similarly, Michael views Leek as a peer—not only artistically but academically. Michael claims her an anthropologist, even.

“Arts are part of what cultural anthropologists study,” Michael tells, “and sometimes they’re a part of what archaeologists study, looking at cave art and things like that. Particularly, for a cultural anthropologist, art can be either representational or symbolic, and understanding it in terms of how it’s used, as well as how it’s produced and who are the people that do it, is something really of interest. [Leek] has that ability to really be empathetic and integrate with people, and that shows up in her paintings.”

A proceed of all sales from the displayed work go to various organizations that provide relief efforts in these struggling countries.

DETAILS:

Holding Onto Tradition: A View of Changing Cultures

Photographs and Paintings by Barbara Michael and Evin Leek MC Erny Gallery at WHQR 254 N. Front St. On display until April 13 “These women are older and have trouble Reception: Fri., Mar. 23, 6-9 p.m. taking care of themselves,” Leek describes. www.whqr.org/term/mc-erny-gallery “So, the purpose of the center is to provide www.evinleek.com

WHAT’S HANGING AROUND THE PORT CITY

GALLERYGUIDE ARTEXPOSURE! 22527 Highway 17N, Hampstead, NC (910) 803-0302 (910) 330-4077 Tues. - Sat. 10am - 5pm (or by appt.) www.artexposure50.com

CHARLES JONES AFRICAN ART 311 Judges Rd., Unit 6-E cjart@bizec.rr.com (910) 794-3060 Mon. – Fri. 10am - 12:30 pm 1:30 pm - 4 pm One-man show “Escape into Plein Air” Open other hours and weekends by apfeatures Robert Rigsby. The show will pointment www.cjafricanart.com highlight oil paintings from Rob’s 6 month trip visiting all fifty national parks. Rob also wrote a book about his journey and it is available under the same name on Amazon.

ART IN BLOOM GALLERY 210 Princess St. Tues. - Sat. 10am - 6pm (or by appt., Sun. and Mon.) (484) 885-3037 www.aibgallery.com

“Ink on Paper by Bob Bryden” & “Photographic Reflections by Harold Hodges” is a new exhibit combining the work of two artists working in two very different media.

The exhibit dates are March 16th - April 28th. Join us for the opening reception on Friday, March 23rd, 6-9 p.m. during Downtown Wilmington’s Fourth Friday Gallery Night. Visit with artists and enjoy refreshments with live music by Rebekah Todd.

Established in October 2015, Art in Bloom Gallery is in a renovated 19th century horse stable in historic downtown Wilmington. The gallery presents an eclectic mix of original paintings, ceramics, sculpture, blown glass, stained-glass mosaics, photography, mobiles, jewelry, limited-edition prints, and mixed media by established and emerging artists.

African art: Museum quality African Art from West and Central Africa. Traditional African art for the discerning collector.

Cureent Exhibition: Yoruba beadwork and Northern Nigerian sculpture. Appraisal services, curatorial services and educational exhibitions also available.

Over 30 years experience in Tribal Arts.

Our clients include many major museums.

EXPO 216 216 N. Front St, Wilmington, NC (910) 769-3899 Wed. – Sun., Noon – 6 PM www.expo216.com

Over 5,000 square feet in historic downtown of thought-provoking art and fashions! Expo 216’s one-year expositions are theme-driven: currently addressing Death & Dying . Works by local artists, Joan McLoughlin, Niki Hildebrand, Chad Starling, and many more will intrigue you. Fashions such as Flatliner and The Cyclist’s Widow will stun you. Exhibits, such as The History of Funeral Care and Mourning Practices, provide an educational element.

Expo 216 is a supporter of the Wilmington music scene and provides live music during the Fourth Friday Gallery Night. Expo 216 is a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

NEW ELEMENTS GALLERY 271 N. Front St. (919) 343-8997 Tues. - Sat.: 11am - 6pm (or by appt.)

In addition to our gallery at 210 Princess www.newelementsgallery.com

ART OF FINE DINING www.aibgallery.com

Street, Art in Bloom Gallery partners with local businesses to exhibit original art in other locations. Current exhibits at other locations include: “Between You and Me: Bradley Carter at The District” with paintings at The District Kitchen and Cocktails,1001 N. 4th St. “In the Light: New Paintings by Debra Bucci” & “Art Explosions by Jeffery Geller” at Waterline Brewing Company, 721 Surry St. “Water and Sky” with paintings by Janette K. Hopper at Pinpoint Restaurant,114 Market St. “Ordinary Beauty, Closely Observed: Scanographs by Susan Francy” at Platypus & Gnome Restaurant, 9 S. Front St.

New Elements has been offering the best of regional and national fine art and craft since 1985. We invite you to learn more about the artists we represent, featured exhibitions, and gallery news. We regularly update the work available online, so return often to view our many different selections if you can’t drop into the gallery.

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“Morning Has Broken” features works by Janet Parker. Come see Janet’s bold use of color and texture to reveal local marsh creeks and structures.

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Wilma Daniels Gallery would like to welcome the first show of 2018, The Photo Invitational: Out of the Pines. Out of the Pines features work in photography by instructors from North Carolina Colleges and Universities. Featured artists are: Erin Arsenault, Kevin Eams, Dhanraj Emanuel, and Jay Capers, Randolph Community College; Jeff Murphy, Heather Freeman, Aspen Hochhalte, and Ann Kluttz, UNCC; Rose Jerome, Winston-Salem State; Courtney Johnson, UNCW; Daniel Josip Kariko and Angela Franks Wells, ECU; Larry Lean, University of Mount Olive; Jennifer Mace, CFCC; Leigh Ann Parrish, Western Carolina University; Richard Tichich, Western Carolina University; Charity Valentine, Pitt Community College; Will Willner, Wake Forest University; Joe Young, Catawba Vally Community College; Scot Taylor and Ryan Adrick, Carteret Community College.

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ARTS>>THEATRE

LURKING IN THE LEAR:

Shakespeare’s text on ageing parents hits home with Dram Tree

BY: GWENYFAR ROHLER

D

ram Tree Shakespeare returns to the McEachern’s Warehouse with King Lear, directed by Jamie Rocha Allan.

Written later in his career, most likely during the early reign of King James I and IV, Lear looks closely at the impact of an executive officer’s actions on a united or divided kingdom.

James I of England was ruling over three kingdoms: Scotland (of which he was James VI), England and Ireland (the Welsh would want to be mentioned here as well, though by the early 1600s, they seem to be viewed sort of the way Americans view Puerto Rico now).

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“King Lear” is a show that has come back into fashion with many parallels drawn to Brexit and the impact it is having on dividing a modern Europe and Britain. There are the inescapable parallels felt in an America where the executive branch of government is controlled by a bully whose shifting whims have far-reaching impact into people’s daily lives. It

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gives the appearance that he is bequeathing real government power to his children.

Allan has eschewed such short cuts and chose instead to focus on the heart of the show. He grounds the production firmly in Shakespeare’s setting of early England and consequently puts the focus squarely on family life. There are parts that—though everyone is dressed in the garb of Britons and speaking in iambic pentameter—could come straight out of a Mario Puzzo novel.

King Lear (Jerome Davis) is an ageing warlord king who embarks upon what looks like the 8th century version of creating a living trust. He bequeaths his kingdom to his daughters, first asking them to declare their love and admiration for him in return for a portion of the land equal to their declarations. Goneril (Maggie Miller) and Regan (Alissa Fetherolf) are happy to play the game. You want declarations of unbounded love in exchange for land and power? They can do that in abundance.

But the youngest, Cordelia (Grace Carlyle Berry), is not prepared to make any such declaration. Her father entreats her, promises her the biggest slice of the pie, does everything short of begging her to tell the whole court how much she adores him. But still she refuses to play his game.

The court around Lear attempt to argue for a little bit of thought and consideration before taking a bold step. The Duke of Kent (Quentin Proulx), especially, makes a strong case to reconsider. But like any petty tyrant, when facing a public rebuttal (read: humiliation), Lear digs in his heels and banishes Kent.

The court is in uproar, and as if things couldn’t get worse, the Duke of Gloucester (John Denison) is about to find himself on the receiving end of a horror unleashed by his illegitimate son, Edmund (Tyler Crittenden).

Crittenden gives an admirable turn as a sociopath: He cares not for anyone but himself, nor does he care about the swath of destruction he cuts through the world. Dead bodies?

Meh. Ruined lives and reputations? Well, they shouldn’t have been standing between him and his avaricious goals, now should they?

Clearly, they are only getting what they deserve. It’s recognizable to anyone who has spent unfortunate time with someone suffering from this mis-wiring. Edmund sets his legitimate brother, Edgar (Jordan Wolfe), against their father.

Meanwhile Lear has decamped for Goneril’s household, as he is now splitting his time between the two daughters to whom he has

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bequeathed his realm.

The first half of the show is tough to watch for anyone who has been through the ageing and death process with relatives no longer able to care for themselves. At intermission I turned to look at my date and commented it was no different than taking away my parents’ car keys and driver’s license. What Allan has brought out of the script is a very relatable process of trying to preserve family and its financial resources for the next generation. But in the case of this family, business happens to be the kingdom and the next generation include two mean girls who are so obsessed with their own desires, they are missing a larger picture about the impact of their actions.

Miller and Fetherolf are a terrifying duo, and it would take someone incredibly brave or foolish to step between them. It’s like “Heathers” but with actual weaponry and authority over a nation instead of just high school. The only person not taken in by them or scared of them appears to be Goneril’s husband, the Duke of Albany, played by Don Baker. Baker is riveting as Albany and completely convincing, especially in his refusal to be a victim of his wife’s schemes. The triangle between Gloucester and his sons further emphasizes the problems of ageing family members, and the motivations of their caretakers. Wolfe’s Edgar is a study of saintliness—the lengths he will go to in an effort to protect his father, not his inheritance, his father. It’s nothing short of inspiring. Watching his transformation from a well-dressed, trusting nobleman’s son, who has never known anything but luxury and ease, to a poor beggar living in a hovel, pretending to be crazy in order to keep near his estranged father, demonstrates a strong mastery of craft.

There is no portion of the stage Wolfe leaves untouched or unexplored in his demonstration of madness. The other actors recoil from him with “there but for the grace of God go I” plainly writ across their faces. The irony they are traveling with a king who is steadily losing his wits is not helping matters.

Randy Davis give us the fool, the court clown, tasked with speaking truth to power but cloaked in a joke. In Shakespeare the fool can steal the scene, be insincere, or be ineffective.

Or the actor can make Davis’ choice: speak the truth, but do so with the humorous twinge of masculine love. Davis’ fool has no way to tell Lear he cares for him directly. His actions can show far more than empty words of court flatterers (or Lear’s own family). He handles it deftly, with grace and humor. If anything, the empathy he and Proulx’s Kent bring to the

show, makes the brutality of Goneril and Regan more awful (and believable) in contrast.

If the first half of the show encompasses possibly the most poorly thought-out retirement planning in dramatic literature, the second half turns into an energy-infused horror film, beginning with the blinding of Gloucester.

Events move rapidly in the second half as Edmund’s treachery bears its evil fruit on every branch of the tree. Jerome Davis’ poor Lear can not seem to separate reality from hallucination and cannot decide what to believe.

That is the core of the horror film genre: What is real? What is not? It is a poignant situation that strikes at the heart of anyone who has faced a relative with dementia.

Set designer Max Lydy evokes the age with locust poles as frame supports on white canvas walls which double as projection screens to help move locations. It’s an effective way to deal with the physical, as well as emotional journey the group is thrust into; it is a journey, they are all on together, like it or not.

When I was younger I loved “King Lear.” It was one of the first of Shakespeare’s plays I read on my own. I identified clearly with Cordelia and romanticized her journey and sacrifice. In the last few years, I have avoided the piece; it hit a little too close to home. Reconnecting with it now, I marvel at how perfect a portrait the Bard painted of the fear of ageing and our own mortality—of family and the lengths people will go to for love, as well as the degradation people will sink to for greed.

Allan and the cast touch the compass points clearly, and gently make Shakespeare’s text come to life.

It is a text that encompasses so many details, like when Lear bids the men protecting him into the hovel to escape a storm ahead of him. It is the ageing military commander: The troops eat first. Davis infuses the moment with enough humor and light heartedness to not drag himself and his companions into painful, regretful longing for what has been lost. But it hangs there, just above their heads, and though he smiles, they all know it.

DETAILS: King Lear

Through Mar. 25, 7:30 p.m.; additional matinee, Sun., 3 p.m.

McEachern’s Warehouse 121 Front St. Tickets: $21 www.dramtreeshakes.org

ARTS>>THEATRE

PATRIARCHAL PAIN:

Fracaswell Hyman captivates in Big Dawg’s ‘Fences’

S

BY: GWENYFAR ROHLER

omeone asked me recently if I enjoy writing theatre reviews.

“When the magic happens, I love it,” I responded.

August Wilson’s “Fences,” starring Fracaswell Hyman, at the Cape Fear Playhouse on Castle Street, answers the questions perfectly.

Live theatre continues to captivate and fascinate because it presents an opportunity for something beyond entertainment—a moment when audiences feel their souls touched and changed by a shared experience. Contributing to this is August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning script, which truly is stunning. Yet, it is also intimidating, and in the wrong hands could easy turn into a parody rather than allegory.

Wilson wrote a cycle of 10 plays to chronicle the African-American experience in the 20th century. The shows center in and around Pittsburgh (except the last, which takes place in Chicago). He uses a microcosm to explore issues of the century and changes it has wrought.

Scott Davis has created a hyper-realistic set for the yard of the Maxson family home: a tree with a rag to practice batting, a brick façade and porch, and lean-to shed for storing the tools needed to build a fence around the property. Complete with a clothesline and a couple of benches for sitting, it looks move-in ready— certainly a home that someone loves.

Indeed both Troy Maxson (Fracaswell Hyman) and his wife, Rose (Angela C. Gray), have lavished tremendous effort and resources to carve out a little corner of the world for their family. Rose is a homemaker and takes her job very seriously. Part of her job is to be an audience for her husband, Troy. Troy has a huge personality, and takes up every inch of space in the house and in their lives. He is expansive, a raconteur, and he needs adulation. As an African-American man working as a garbage collector in the 1950s, the only place he can receive respect and admiration for his accomplishments is at home—and he expects it in abundance to make up for the grueling degradation he goes through each day when he leaves the house in an effort to put food on the table.

Jim Bono (Maxwell Paige) is Troy’s oldest friend, and shares his daily experiences and hauls other people’s trash. The men have an easy comfort of long-standing friendship, of shared hardship and of mutual affection.

Paige’s Bono is a quiet, thoughtful man who looks up to his friend, but worries his pride might be his downfall. Each appraising glance, each

careful study of his feet, while he tries to make sense of Troy’s latest scheme, and the subsequent battle that moves across Paige’s face is a portrait of a performance of great depth and subtlety.

Now in his late ‘50s Troy has been around long enough to have fathered two sons (that he knows of): Lyons (Benjamin P. Hart), a sometime musician now in his 30s; and Cory (Damecco Mahatha), a rising high-school football star. As if Troy’s life wasn’t complicated enough, he has the struggles of putting up with a teenager. Cory, the younger generation, has very different ideas about the world and his future than his father does. It’s is an old story and has played out in every household in the world to some degree.

Hyman’s Troy is a complex person. Part of him knows, for all the love Rose has showered on Cory, the world is going to knock him down and try to destroy him when he gets out there. A good job, a high-school diploma and thick skin are the things he can arm Cory with before he leaves the house. It is far more than Troy had when he was thrust, unprepared and unsuspecting, upon the world. The good Lord willing, it might be enough to keep Cory out of jail and away from the mistakes Troy made.

One of the mistakes was believing sports could take him somewhere better than where has wound up. That disappointment, that pain is what he wants to shield Cory from enduring.

Also—though he won’t admit it to himself— part of him is jealous Cory is finding success in a world Troy should have achieved in. He does want better for his son than hauling garbage, but he also wants his son to look up to him. Expecting appreciation from a teenager is a lost cause; it seems like so many things in Troy’s life are.

For many actors, the easy mistake with Troy would be to begin as a bully and from a place of anger. But Hyman does not make that mistake; he gives Troy a full range of human emotion and experience. He is loud, He is a show-off.

He needs to blow off steam at the end of the week—who doesn’t? But he also has tenderness, remorse, worry, and lots of romance.

Just ask Rose.

Gray’s Rose genuinely loves Troy, and has worked hard to build a life with him and for him. After almost two decades, they still flirt and carry on, and she worries over him like no one else. Do not make the mistake of thinking Rose is not a person without power of her own. Where Cory is concerned, she will fight to death, if need be, and she has a wide range of tools in her armory.

For all Troy tries to do to toughen up Cory, so he can face an unforgiving world, he has only tenderness and endless patience for his brother, Gabriel (Juan B Fernandez). Gabe has a metal plate in his head from a war injury and it has left him a gentle child who tries to protect people from hellhounds that only he can see— but that doesn’t make them any less frightening.

There is a real bond of love between the brothers, and watching Hyman’s face when Gabe comes into give Rose a rose is nothing short of heartbreaking.

It is interesting the show opened the same weekend as “King Lear” (see review on previous page). The scripts share so many same elements and themes, including a fool who speaks the truth, an ageing patriarch trying to provide for the next generation, and losing a battle with himself, and a family struggling to understand the ways they love each other.

The show is one to remember for years to come. It can take audiences that long just to sort through all the nuances of the performances, easily. That may be the greatest compliTroy Maxson was originated on Broadway by ment to pay a cast.

James Earl Jones and immortalized on film by Denzel Washington. It is a role that comes with heavy expectations, and many potential pitfalls.

Fences I would put Fracaswell Hyman’s performance up next to either well-known actors without a March 15-18 and 22-25, 8 p.m. or doubt. He holds is own and gives us an original 3 p.m. matinees on Sun. interpretation that’s palpably real and flawed— Cape Fear Playhouse he’s a man up against a dealer with a stacked 613 Castle St. deck. Hyman must be exhausted physically and spiritually by the end of each performance. Tickets: $18-$25 I certainly was just watching him. www.BigDawgProductions.org

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ARTS>>THEATRE

STAYING POWER:

Nancy Murray talks her famed siblings and her own performance as ‘Catherine of Siena’

L

BY: NIKKI KROUSHL

ong before “SNL,” “Caddyshack” or “Ghostbusters,” Bill Murray began his career portraying St. Joseph in a nativity scene in his childhood home’s basement—so says Nancy Murray, his sister and a Dominican Sister of Adrian, Michigan. The Wilmette, Illinois, Murray children—which include another famed actor, Brian Doyle-Murray—had a theatrical upbringing: They sang, acted and choreographed constantly because of patriarch Edward Murray.

“My father liked classical music and showtunes,” Nancy says. “We used to do a lot of ‘Carousel,’ ‘My Fair Lady,’ ‘Sound of Music,’ ‘Music Man,’ ‘West Side Story.’”

The early exposure influenced both siblings. Decades later, while her brother cracks jokes on the big screen, Nancy has become a jet-setting actress who performs hundreds of one-woman shows per year,

including an upcoming performance in Wilmington on March 15. “Catherine of Siena: A Woman for Our Times” tells the story of the titular woman’s life.

Her show began in 2000, after the death of Sr. Kathy Harkins, another Dominican sister and Murray’s drama teacher. Harkins had committed to performing a show in October, but passed away in April. Murray was asked to step in.

Catherine was a prominent historical figure and Catholic saint born in the 14th century. She was a theologian, philosopher and mystic who held influence over the pope himself. She was born in the Italian city of Siena, had her first vision of Christ at the age of 6, and dedicated herself to a religious order of St. Dominic at the age of 16. Murray began to relate to Catherine of Siena because she, too, came from a big Catholic family—although Murray only has 8 siblings, while the 14th-century saint had 23.

Murray starts every show entering from behind the audience. She proceeds to a stage, each side set with a table, chair, glass of water, and assortment of flowers. One side is simple, meant to emulate the poor beginnings of

“I knew I couldn’t do what she did,” Murray says. “She had so many props, tape recorders, slides from Europe . . . I couldn’t do all that. So I wrote a new script.”

CHARACTER VARIETY: Nancy Murray will take on Catherine of Siena and the numerous folks who influenced her life for one night only at UNCW. Courtesy photo

Catherine’s life; the other is set with brocade or upholstery to signify the grandeur and glory of the papal seat in Avignon, where Catherine went to persuade Pope Gregory XI to return to Italy. The show begins with Catherine’s childhood and moves through her adolescence and womanhood, with Murray speaking both as Catherine and a variety of characters who appear in her life.

Murray isn’t afraid to involve her spectators.

“The audience becomes a part of the program,” she elaborates. “They become my family, my patients, the members of the women’s group [Catherine] entered.”

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Like Catherine of Siena, Murray was young (only a year out of high school) when she joined the Adrian Dominican sisters. As Dominicans, the sisters are part of an “order of preachers” and have a mission to “seek truth, make peace, and reverence life.” The first thing Murray did as part of the order was go to college. She majored in drama at Barry University in Miami and later completed a master’s degree in pastoral studies from Loyola University. Over the course of her career, she has taught theatre and worked with inner-city parishes in Chicago, but now she spends most of her time touring internationally. For Murray, performance is a form of preaching—an extension of her order’s purpose.

Harkins had written a show from the perspective of Catherine of Siena’s best friend; Murray chose to do it as Catherine herself. She also cut the list of props to a few pieces of furniture and removed the technology.

Fifteen years, 17 countries and 40 states later, Murray has performed hundreds of shows and never written down Catherine’s script. “It’s constantly evolving,” she explains. She has performed in gymnasiums and cafeterias, for parishes, nursing homes, and even huge events like World Youth Day. This week she will take over UNCW’s Lumina Theater as a guest of the UNCW Catholic Campus Ministry for their annual Alan J. Dash Lecture. “[Performing] is a way of reflecting on life,” Murray says. “[Catherine is] a character from the 14th century I’m able to make relevant today. No matter how modern and sophisticated we can become, there’s still some basic similarities of growing up and human nature. People loved her and hated her, wanted to have her killed, wanted to be with her, were inspired by her, were motivated or threatened [by her]. She had that kind of power.”

DETAILS:

Catherine of Siena: A Woman of Our Times

Mar. 15, 7-9:30 p.m.

Fisher Student Center Lumina Theater 1006, UNCW campus Tickets: Free 910-792-0507

REEL TO REEL

ARTS>>FILM

POWER THRILLS:

films this week ACE FILMS

New espionage film ‘Red Sparrow’ entertains and engages

I

Fisher Student Center Lumina Theater 1006 UNCW campus

BY: ANGHUS

love some good, old-fashioned espionage—the cloak-and-dagger movies wherein every character engages in some precision-level maneuvers, like a deadly game of chess. Highly trained spies engage in a battle of wits and try to stay one step ahead of agencies that are one bad decision away from revoking their license to kill and murdering them in cold blood.

We don’t get enough of these movies, so IO was pleased as punch to check out the new thriller “Red Sparrow.”

Dominika (Jennifer Lawrence) is a typical ridiculously good-looking Russian star ballet dancer with her whole life ahead of her. What could possibly go wrong? Her career is decimated by a horrific injury that leaves her with precious few options. Dominika’s Uncle Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a big-time muckity muck with Russian intelligence. He arranges for Dominika to seduce a politician and switch out his cell phone with a state-controlled duplicate. Unfortunately, it’s just the first of many lies Ivan will tell Dominika. The actual plan is to have her distract him with her beauty while an assassin shows up and chokes him to death mid-coitus. Dominika has two options: Be trained as a weapon for the government or be executed.

Dominika is sent to the world’s most joyless finishing school to become a “sparrow”—a lethal, manipulative, mind-game-playing super agent who can get under anyone’s skin. Her training is an assault on both her senses and psyche. The goal is to turn young men and women into the fiercest, feistiest sexually aggressive weapons in the international spy game. Soon enough, she’s off to Budapest to try and engage rebellious CIA operative Nate (Joel Edgerton) in a cat-and-mouse game to find out who is playing whom. Thankfully, they’re both gorgeous human beings and make the game more like a sexy tango between two top-tier manipulators.

Much of the movie comes down to the concept that sparrows can’t be trusted—no matter what Dominika is telling Nate and the American intelligence agents, she is probably lying. Nate wants to believe her because … well, she’s super hot and into him. I’m not saying I’d betray my country for a night of sweaty wrestling with Jennifer Lawrence, but I could at least consider it would be tempting.

Fortunately, the movie keeps Dominika’s intentions relatively unclear until the end, as she tap-dances back and forth over the line between our side and theirs. What is her end

March 16, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.: “Coco” follows an aspiring musician, Miguel, who’s confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music. He enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.(Rated G, 105 min.)

SEX POT: Jennifer Lawrence turns in a stellar performance in ‘Red Sparrow,’ with a power-play sex scene for the books. Photo: 20th Century Fox

game? Is she really trying to break free from her Russian handlers, or is she playing the long con to find the name of the mysterious mole, code-named “Marble.”

There are very few movies today that manage to shock or surprise. Anyone who spends as much time watching movies as I do, one would think I’d have seen it all. “Red Sparrow” contains a moment that literally made my jaw drop. During her re-education, Dominika participates in a series of sex-education classes for the psychotic, where she learns how to wrap men around her finger. In one scene, she is asked to have sex in class, with another agent who attempted to rape her. She takes off her clothes, lays back on a desk and then delivers the most ice-cold takedown of her male counterpart when she realizes he can’t get it up when he isn’t in a position of power.

It’s a great scene; it absolutely flabbergasted me. Not “great” like the final scene of “The Godfather” or the opening of “Good Burger,” but “great” as in “I can’t believe I’m seeing this happening in a major motion picture!”

There’s a lot about “Red Sparrow” I liked— the acting is solid. J-Law does an admirable job as a cold, heartless ice pick of a human being. Joel Edgerton does a good job playing the titular Steve Trevor-type of the movie.

The film tries to play out the story in a cerebral fashion. It’s more Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy than Atomic Blonde, and I appreciate the effort. It’s also a gorgeous looking film with some beautiful cinematography. It is by no

means an exceptional movie, but I was highly entertained by the antics and surprised how far the movie was willing to go to portray the stark, frightening world of the conspiracy game being played by competing nations. “Red Sparrow” is a bleak, tense, engaging, and entertaining thriller not for the faint of heart.

DETAILS:

Red Sparrow Rated R Directed by Francis Lawrence Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts

CINEMATIQUE

Thalian Hall • 310 Chestnut St. 7 p.m. • $7

April 2-4 (additional 4 p.m. screening on April 4): “Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool” will be shown in Thalian Hall’s Main Stage Theatre. Based on Peter Turner’s memoir, the film follows the playful but passionate relationship between Turner and the eccentric Academy Award-winning actress Gloria Grahame in 1978 Liverpool. What starts as a vibrant affair between a legendary femme fatale and her young lover quickly grows into a deeper relationship, with Turner being the person Gloria turns to for comfort. Their passion and lust for life is tested to the limits by events beyond their control. (Rated R, 106 min.)

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■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Daily Specials, Gluten Free Menu, Gourmet Hot Chocolates, Outdoor Patio, New Artist event first Friday of every month and Kids Menu.

■ WEBSITE: www.bluesurfcafe.com

BLUEWATER WATERFRONT GRILL Enjoy spectacular panoramic views of sailing ships and the Intracoastal Waterway while dining at this popular casual American restaurant in Wrightsville Beach. Lunch and dinner are served daily. Favorites include jumbo lump crab cakes, succulent seafood lasagna, crispy coconut shrimp and an incredible Caribbean fudge pie. Dine inside or at their award-winning outdoor patio and bar, which is the location for their lively Waterfront Music Series every Sunday April - October. Large parties welcome. Private event space available. BluewaterDining.com. 4 Marina Street, Wrightsville Beach, NC. (910) 256-8500.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon-Fri 11a.m. - 11 p.m.; Sat & Sun 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Wrightsville Beach CAM CAFÉ ■ FEATURING: Waterfront dining CAM Café, located within the CAM delivers delightful sur■ MUSIC: Music every Sunday in Summer prises using fresh, local ingredients. The café serves lunch ■ WEBSITE: www.bluewaterdining.com with seasonal options Tuesday thru Saturday, inspired BLUE SURF CAFÉ “small plates” on Wednesday nights, an elegant yet apSophisticated Food…Casual Style. We offer a menu that proachable dinner on Thursday and brunch every Sunday. has a heavy California surf culture influence while still re- Look for a combination of fresh, regular menu items along taining our Carolina roots. We provide a delicate balance of with daily specials. As part of dining in an inspiring setflavors and freshness in a comfortable and inviting setting. ting, the galleries are open during CAM Café hours which We offer a unique breakfast menu until noon daily, includ- makes it the perfect destination to enjoy art of the plate ing specialty waffles, skillet hashes and unique breakfast along with the art of the museum. 3201 S 17th St. (910)

20 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF LM RESTAURANTS 777-2363.

■ SERVING LUNCH, BRUNCH & DINNER: Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 11am-2pm; Thursday evening, 5pm-9pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: www.camcafe.org ELIJAH’S Since 1984, Elijah’s has been Wilmington, NC’s outdoor dining destination. We feature expansive indoor and outdoor waterfront dining, with panoramic views of riverfront sunsets. As a Casual American Grill and Oyster Bar, Elijah’s offers everything from fresh local seafood and shellfish to pastas, sandwiches, and Certified Angus Beef selections.

We offer half-priced oysters from 4-6 every Wednesday & live music with our Sunday Brunch from 11-3. Whether you are just looking for a great meal & incredible scenery, or a large event space for hundreds of people, Elijah’s is the place to be.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun-Thurs 11:30-10:00; Friday and Saturday 11:30-11:00 ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown Wilmington Kids menu available HENRY’S A local favorite, Henry’s is the ‘place to be’ for great food, a lively bar and awesome patio dining. Henry’s serves up American cuisine at its finest that include entrees with fresh, local ingredients. Come early for lunch, because it’s going to be packed. Dinner too! Henry’s Pine Room is ideal for private functions up to 30 people. 2508 Independence

Boulevard, Wilmington, NC. (910) 793.2929.

SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun. - Mon. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Tues.- Fri.: 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Sat.: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Daily blackboard specials.

■ WEBSITE: www.henrysrestaurant.com HOLIDAY INN RESORT Oceans Restaurant located in this oceanfront resort is a wonderful find. This is the perfect place to enjoy a fresh Seafood & Steak dinner while dinning outside overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Chef Eric invites you to experience his daily specials in this magnificent setting. (910) 256-2231.

1706 N. Lumina Ave, Wrightsville Beach.

■ SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER: Sun.-Sat. ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Wrightsville Beach ■ FEATURING: Waterfront dining ■ WEBSITE: www.holidayinn.com HOPS SUPPLY CO. The combination of chef-inspired food and our craft bar makes Hops Supply Co. a comfortable and inviting gastropub that attracts guests of all types – especially a local crowd who can feel right at home whether ordering a classic favorite or trying a new culinary delight! At HopsCo, we are dedicated to the craft of excellent cuisine and delivering hops in its most perfect form, exemplified by our selection of craft beers. As hops are the heart of flavor for beer, our local seasonal ingredients are the soul of our culinary inspired American fare. 5400 Oleander Dr. (910) 833-8867.

■ OPEN: Mon-Thurs 10:57 am - 10 pm; Fri-Sat 10:57 am - 11 pm {Serving Brunch 10:57am – 3pm & bar open until midnight}; Brunch ALL DAY Sunday 9:57am – 10pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: www.hopssupplycompany.com

calling 910-399-4701.

■ OPEN LUNCH AND DINNER: Tues.-Sun., 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington ■ WEBSITE: www.nichewilmington.com

JOHNNYLUKES KITCHENBAR Good eats, good drinks, and great times is what JohnnyLukes KitchenBar is all about. JohnnyLukes KitchenBar serves Wilmington, NC a variety of 19 rotating craft beers on tap, a hand selected eclectic American wine list, fun cocktails, and of course, exceptional food. Our two-story layout brings the best of both worlds under one roof.

Downstairs at JohnnyLukes KitchenBar pair your beer or wine with our Parmesan Crusted Pork Chop, Chicken Pot Pie, Ribeye, or one of our many main entrees and sharable plates. Or, join us upstairs at JL’s Loft and pair a beer with one of our multiple burgers, JL’s roast beef sandwich, meatball sandwich, or one of our many appetizers (we recommend both!). So next time you are looking for a new and exciting restaurant in Wilmington, NC where you can experience both great craft beer and amazing food, be sure to head over to JohnnyLukes KitchenBar and JL’s Loft! 5500 Market Street, Suite 130. (910)-769-1798 ■ OPEN: JohnnyLukes KitchenBar: Mon to Sun: 11:30am to 10pm; JL’s Loft: Mon to Sun: 11:30am to 2am ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: North Wilmington ■ WEBSITE: www.johnnylukeskb.com

PINE VALLEY MARKET Pine Valley Market has reigned supreme in servicing the Wilmington community for years, securing encore’s BestOf awards in catering, gourmet shop and butcher. Now, Kathy Webb and Christi Ferretti are expanding their talents into serving lunch in-house, so folks can enjoy their hearty, homemade meals in the quaint and cozy ambience of the market. Using the freshest ingredients of highest quality, diners can enjoy the best Philly Cheesesteak in Wilmington, along with numerous other sandwich varieties, from their Angus burger to classic Reuben, Italian sub to a grown-up banana and peanut butter sandwich that will take all diners back to childhood. Served among a soup du jour and salads, there is something for all palates. Take advantage of their take-home frozen meals for nights that are too hectic to cook, and don’t forget to pick up a great bottle of wine to go with it. 3520 S. College Road, (910) 350-FOOD. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Fri.10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Closed Sun. ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Daily specials and take-home frozen meals ■ WEBSITE: www.pinevalleymarket.com

KURE BEACH DINER George and Frankie Turner opened the Kure Beach Diner in 2012. Once located beside the old 1923 Kure Beach Pier, once Hurrican Hazel wiped out the two-story building, the pier house tackle shop moved across the lane and housed the Seaside Café. The stories of the original days and of the beach in a bygone era are still told on the Kure Beach Diner’s walls, which today is known for some of the best grits and hushpuppies around. The laidback local joint prides itself on its old-school vibe, serving American food from morning to night. 101 K Ave, Kure Beach, (910) 458-8778 ■ SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER: Breakfast is served 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. daily. Lunch and dinner are served 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Kure Beach ■ WEBSITE: wwwfacebook.com/Kure-Beach-Diner-276729072381968 THE LAZY PIRATE The Lazy Pirate is a place where the food will hold your tastebuds down and tickle them silly, as drinks flow like an ice cold river. The menu is delicious—not pretentious.

After having an ice-cold beverage—virgin or not—you can start a culinary safari with one of our delicious homemade appetizers. The epicurean’s adventure will continue with a main entree, ranging from stacked juicy burgers to fresh seafood, as well as exquisite specialty items. The diner’s last stop on this tantalizing trip, which is literally the icing on the cake, will come with a plethora of scrumptious homemade desserts only Willy Wonka could match. It’s all to be enjoyed inside or in our outside courtyard, where games and activities will make you feel like a kids again! 701 N Lake Park Blvd, Carolina Beach, 458-5299 ■ SERVING LUNCH AND DINNER: Open Monday through Thursday, 5-10 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, noon - 11 p.m. through April 30, 2018.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Pleasure Island ■ WEBSITE: www.lazypiratesportsgrill.com ■ WEBSITE: www.littledipperfondue.com NICHE Niche Kitchen and Bar features an eclectic menu, a large wine list, and a warm and inviting atmosphere. Close to Carolina Beach, Niche has a great selection of dishes from land to sea. All dishes are cooked to order, and Sundays features a great brunch menu!

Niche’s heated covered patio is perfect for anytime of the year and great for large parties. And their bar has a great assortment of wines, even offered half off by the glass on Tuesdays-Thursdays. Open Tues. - Sun. 11 a.m. 10 p.m. Reservations are encouraged and can be made by

RISE Serving up the best dang biscuits and donuts in Wilmington, Rise is not any typical breakfast spot. Our donut menu includes an assortment of ‘old school, new school, and our school’ flavors; and our buttery, flaky biscuits filled with country ham, bacon, sausage, fried chicken, and fried eggplant “bacon” are crave-worthy. Lunch is on the Rise with our new chicken sandwiches on potato rolls and fresh salads. 1319 Military Cutoff Rd. (910) 239-9566 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.- Sun. 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Wrightsville Beach ■ WEBSITE: http://risebiscuitsdonuts.com ROADHOUSE OF WILMINGTON Roadhouse is an American-style restaurant and focuses on homemade, classic dishes, cooked to order, using fresh ingredients. They are located at in the old Saltworks building on Wrightsville Avenue and open at 8:00 a.m. for breakfast and lunch, and 5:00 p.m. for dinner. Breakfast is served 8:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., lunch from 11:30 p.m.

- 4:00 p.m. Look for daily specials and other important information online at www.facebook.com/roadhousewilmington, or call (910) 765-1103. Please, no reservations.

■ SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER: 8 a.m. breakfast and lunch; 5 p.m. dinner ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: facebook.com/roadhousewilmington SPOONFED KITCHEN & BAKE SHOP Newly opened Spoonfed Kitchen & Bake Shop is bringing their love for great food and customer service to Wilmington! Spoonfed Kitchen & Bake Shop specializes in creating wholesome, delightful foods to feed your lifestyle. Please join us in our cafe for breakfast, lunch & weekend brunch.

We offer coffee & pastries, great foods to go from our deli & freezer cases (appetizers, salads, entrees & sides), bakery items (scones, cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies, pies & more), gluten-free bakery items, and specialty market, cheeses & beverage. Catering is also available for all budets from personal to corporate to events. #feedyourlifestyle. 1930 Eastwood Road, Suite 105, Wilmington, NC 28403, (910) 679-8881. Open Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Sat. - Sun. 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

■ SERVING BREAKFAST & LUNCH ■ SERVING BRUNCH: Sat. & Sun. 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Wrightsville Beach ■ WEBSITE: www.spoonfedkitchen.com

Cozy watering hole that specializes in North Carolina brewed craft beer and cocktails.

• 16 NC brews • Bar games on tap • Free popcorn • 8 big screen TV’s machine • Sports packages

Ch eers!

Trivia Night & FREE Wings Every Tuesday @ 9pm Sip & Spell Adult Spelling Bee Every Wednesday @ 9pm Free Hot Dog Station and Pot Luck Every Sunday 106 N 2nd Street (Located next to 2nd Street parking deck)

Hours of operation: Mon. - Fri. 2:00pm-2:00am Sat. & Sun. noon-2:00 am Check us out on

THE TROLLY STOP Trolly Stop Hot Dogs is a five-store franchise in Southeast-

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 21

ern North Carolina. Since 1976 they have specialized in storemade chili, slaw and various sauces. As of more recently, select locations (Fountain Dr. and Southport) have started selling genuine burgers and cheese steaks (Beef & Chicken). Our types of hotdogs include beef & Pork (Trolly Dog), all-beef, pork smoked sausage (Carolina Packer), Fat Free (Turkey) & Veggie. Recognized as having the Best Hot Dog in the Best of Wilmington Awards in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Call Individual Stores for hours of operation or check out our website at www.trollystophotdogs.com. Catering available, now a large portion of our business. All prices include tax. Call Rick at 297-8416 for catering and franchise information.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER ■ LOCATIONS: Wilmington, Fountain Dr. (910) 452-3952 Wrightsville Beach (910) 256-3921 Southport (910) 457-7017 Boone, NC (828) 265-2658 Chapel Hill, NC (919) 240-4206 ■ WEBSITE: www.trollystophotdogs.com

ASIAN

fer your favorite hibachi meals and some of our originals like our pineapple won tons. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for the most up to date information on Hibachi To Go. Always fresh, great food at a super good price. Hampstead Phone: 910.270.9200. • Ogden Phone: 910.791.7800 Wilmington Phone: 910-833-8841 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Open 7 days 11am-9pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown, North Wilmington, Hampstead ■ WEBSITE: www.hibachitogo.com INDOCHINE RESTAURANT & LOUNGE If you’re ready to experience the wonders of the Orient without having to leave Wilmington, join us at Indochine for a truly unique experience. Indochine brings the flavors of the Far East to the Port City, combining the best of Thai and Vietnamese cuisine in an atmosphere that will transport you and your taste buds. Relax in our elegantly decorated dining room, complete with antique Asian decor as well as contemporary artwork and music. Our diverse, friendly and efficient staff will serve you beautifully presented dishes full of enticing aromas and flavors. Be sure to try such signature items as the spicy and savory Roasted Duck with Red Curry, or the beautifully presented and delicious Shrimp and Scallops in a Nest. Be sure to save room for our world famous desert, the banana egg roll! We take pride in using only the freshest ingredients, and our extensive menu suits any taste. After dinner, enjoy specialty drinks by the koi pond in our Asian garden. Located at 7 Wayne Drive (beside the Ivy Cottage), (910) 251-9229.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Tues.- Fri. 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.; Sat. 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. for lunch. Mon.- Sun. 5 p.m.

– 10 p.m. for dinner.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: www.indochinewilmington.com

HIBACHI TO GO Hibachi To Go is a locally owned, family business serving only the freshest ingredients with three locations. We invite you to try our menu items at either our Hampstead drivethru location, where you can walk-up, take-out, or call in and pick up your meal or our Ogden location with dine-in or take-out options. Our new Wilmington location (894 South Kerr Avenue) offers dine-in, take-out or drive-thru service.

We’re convenient for lunch and dinner. Open 7 days 11 am - 9 pm. Our popular Daily Lunch Specials are featured Monday-Saturday for $4.99 with selections from our most popular menu items! We always have fresh seafood selections at Hibachi To Go, like delicious hand peeled shrimp, NIKKI’S FRESH GOURMET fresh local flounder and always a fresh catch fillet in-house. For more than a decade, Nikki’s downtown has served We scratch make every item on our menu daily. We of- diners the best in sushi. With freshly crafted ingredients

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614 South College Road | 910.399.3366 | www.okamirestaurant.com 22 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

making up their rolls, sushi and sashimi, a taste of innovation comes with every order. Daily they offer specialty rolls specific to the Front Street location, such as the My Yoshi, K-Town and Crunchy Eel rolls. But for less adventurous diners looking for options beyond sushi, Nikki’s serves an array of sandwiches, wraps and gyros, too. They also make it a point to host all dietary needs, omnivores, carnivores and herbivores alike. They have burgers and cheesesteaks, as well as falafal pitas and veggie wraps, as well as an extensive Japanese fare menu, such as bento boxes and tempura platters. Daily dessert and drink special are also on order. Check out their website and Facebook for more information. 16 S. Front St. (910) 771-9151.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Thurs., 11am10pm; Fri.-Sat., 11am-11pm; Sun., 12pm-10pm. Last call on food 15 minutes before closing.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ WEBSITE: www.nikkissushibar.com/ OKAMI JAPANESE HIBACHI STEAK HOUSE We have reinvented “Hibachi cuisine.” Okami Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse is like no other. Our highly skilled chefs cook an incredible dinner while entertaining you on the way. Our portions are large, our drinks are less expensive, and our staff is loads of fun. We are committed to using quality ingredients and seasoning with guaranteed freshness. Our goal is to utilize all resources, domestically and internationally, to ensure we serve only the finest food products. We believe good, healthy food aids vital functions for well-being, both physically and mentally. Our menu consists of a wide range of steak, seafood, and chicken for the specially designed “Teppan Grill.” We also serve tastebud-tingling Japanese sushi, hand rolls, sashimi, tempura dishes, and noodle entrees. This offers our guests a complete Japanese dining experience. Our all-youcan-eat sushie menu and daily specials can be found at www.okamisteakhouse.com! 614 S College Rd. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Thurs., 11am2:30pm / 4-10pm; Fri., 11am-2:30pm / 4pm-11pm; Sat., 11am-11pm; Sun., 11am-9:30pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: www.okamisteakhouse.com SZECHUAN 132 Craving expertly prepared Chinese food in an elegant atmosphere? Szechuan 132 Chinese Restaurant is your destination! Szechuan 132 has earned the reputation as one of the finest contemporary Chinese restaurants in the Port City. Tastefully decorated with an elegant atmosphere, with an exceptional ingenious menu has deemed Szechuan 132 the best Chinese restaurant for years, hands down. 419 South College Road (in University Landing), (910) 799-1426.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Lunch specials ■ WEBSITE: www.szechuan132.com YOSAKE DOWNTOWN SUSHI LOUNGE Lively atmosphere in a modern setting, Yosake is the delicious Downtown spot for date night, socializing with friends, or any large dinner party. Home to the neverdisappointing Shanghai Firecracker Shrimp! In addition to sushi, we offer a full Pan Asian menu including curries, noodle dishes, and the ever-popular Crispy Salmon or mouth-watering Kobe Burger. Inspired features change weekly showcasing our commitment to local farms. Full bar including a comprehensive sake list, signature cocktails, and Asian Import Bottles. 33 S. Front St., 2nd Floor (910) 763-3172.

■ SERVING DINNER: 7 nights a week @ 5PM; Sun-Wed until 10pm, Thurs until 11pm, Fri & Sat until Midnight.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING: 1/2 Price Sushi/Appetizer Menu nightly from 5-7, until 8 on Mondays, and also 10-Midnight on Fri/Sat. Tuesday LOCALS NIGHT - 20% Dinner Entrees.

Wednesday 80S NIGHT - 80s music and menu prices.

Sundays are the best deal downtown - Specialty Sushi

and Entrees are Buy One, Get One $10 Off and 1/2 price Wine Bottles. Nightly Drink Specials. Gluten-Free Menu upon request. Complimentary Birthday Dessert.

■ WEBSITE: www.yosake.com. @yosakeilm on Twitter & Instagram. Like us on Facebook.

YOSHI Yoshi Sushi Bar and Japanese Cuisine offers something the greater Wilmington area has never seen before. We are seeking to bring true New York Style Sushi to Wilmington, with classic sushi and sashimi, as well as traditional rolls and some unique Yoshi Creations. We offer a variety of items, including Poke Bowls and Hibachi - and we also are introducing true Japanese Ramen Bowls! Come try it today! 260 Racine Dr, Wilmington 28403 (910)799-6799 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun. 12pm-11pm, Mon.-Thurs. 11am-10pm, Fri.-Sat. 11am-11pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: www.yoshisushibarandjapanesecuisine.com

BAGELS

BEACH BAGELS Beach Bagels is the best spot for breakfast and lunch in Wilmington. Serving traditional New York Style Bagels is our speciality. We boil our bagels before baking them, which effectively sets the crust and produces a perfect bagel made with love. Don’t forget about our selection of custom sandwiches that are always made to order. Try out our breakfast options like The Heart Attack filled with Egg, Country Ham, Bacon, Sausage, and American Cheese, or the Egg-White Dun-Rite with Egg Whites, Avocado, Pepper Jack Cheese, Spinach, and Tomato. Our Boar’s Head meats & cheeses are the perfect accoutrements for assembling the perfect sandwich, every time! Check out our Cuban Chicken Lunch Sandwich, complete with Boar’s Head Chicken Breast, Ham, Swiss, Pickles, Lettuce, Mayo, and Yellow Mustard. You can also make your own!

Not in the mood for a bagel? Don’t worry, we have ciabatta bread, croissants, Kaiser rolls, biscuits, wraps, salads, bowls, omelettes, and more! Make your lunch a combo for $1.50 more, and get a small drink, potato salad or chips, and a pickle spear. Visit us at 5906 Oleander Drive or 7220 Wrightsville Avenue right before the drawbridge to Wrightsville Beach. Look out for our third location, coming to Monkey Junction soon!.

■ SERVING BREAKFAST & LUNCH ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown and Wrightsville Beach ■ FEATURING: Homemade bagels, biscuits, croissants, sandwiches, and more!

■ WEBSITE: www.BeachBagels.biz ROUND BAGELS AND DONUT Round Bagels and Donuts features 17 varieties of New York-style bagels, baked fresh daily on site in a steam bagel oven. Round offers a wide variety of breakfast and lunch bagel sandwiches, grilled and fresh to order. Round also offers fresh-made donuts daily! Stop by Monday Friday, 6:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., and on Sunday, 7:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.

■ SERVING BREAKFAST & LUNCH ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Homemade bagels, cream cheeses, donuts, sandwiches, coffee and more ■ WEBSITE: www.roundbagelsanddonuts.com

CARIBBEAN

JAMAICA’S COMFORT ZONE Tucked in the U-shape of University Landing, a block from UNCW is Wilmington’s fave Caribbean restaurant, serving diners for over nine years. Family-owned and -operated, Jamaica’s Comfort Zone provides a relaxing atmosphere along with a blend of Caribbean delights. Our guests have graced us with numerous compliments over the years: “explosive Caribbean culinary experience”; “every year we are here on vacation—you are our first stop”; “flavors just dance in my mouth.” From traditional Jamaican break-

fast to mouth-watering classic dishes such as Brownstew chicken, curry goat, oxtail, and jerk pork, our selections also include many vegetarian and select seafood options. Student meal options are $6.99, and catering options are available. University Landing, 417 S. College Road, Wilmington SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Tues-Sat., 11:45am9pm. Closed Sun. and Mon. NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown WEBSITE: www.jamaicascomfortzone.net, and follow us on Facebook or Twitter JAMAICA HOUSE SPORTS BAR AND GRILL Jamaica House provides diners with the real taste of the island! They offer a wide variety of Caribbean dishes, such as oxtail, curry goat jerk chicken, rice and beans, steamed cabbage, beef or chicken patty, and more!

Their chefs and staff are dedicated to give you a real Jamaica experience every single time you walk through the door. 2206 Carolina Beach Rd. (910) 833-8347 SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Buffet hours are Tues. - Thurs., 11 a.m. - 8 p.m., Fri. and Sat., 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Sun., 12 p.m. - 8 p.m.

NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington

DINNER THEATRE

THEATRENOW TheatreNOW is a performing arts complex that features weekend dinner theater, an award-winning weekly kids variety show, monthly Sunday Jazz Brunches, movie, comedy and live music events. Award-winning chef, Denise Gordon, and a fabulous service staff pair scrumptious multi-course themed meals and cocktails with our dinner shows in a theatre-themed venue. Dinner theater at its best! Reservations highly suggested. 19 S. 10th Street (910) 399.3NOW (3669). Hours vary.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Dinner shows, jazz brunches, and more ■ WEBSITE: www.theatrewilmington.com

FONDUE

THE LITTLE DIPPER Wilmington’s favorite fondue restaurant! The Little Dipper specializes in unique fondue dishes with a global variety of cheeses, meats, seafood, vegetables, chocolates and fine wines. The warm and intimate dining room is a great place to enjoy a four-course meal, or indulge in appetizers and desserts outside on the back deck or in the bar while watching luminescent jellyfish. Reservations are appreciated for parties of any size. Located at the corner of Front and Orange in Downtown Wilmington.

138 South Front Street. (910) 251-0433.

■ SERVING DINNER: 5pm Tue-Sun; Seasonal hours are open 7 days a week, Memorial Day through October ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING: Tasting menu every Tues. with small plates from $1-$4; Ladies Night every Wed; $27 4-course prix fixe menu on Thurs.; “Date night menu,” $65/couple with beer and wine tasting every Fri. and half price bottles of wine on Sun. ■ MUSIC: Mondays and Memorial Day-October, 7-9pm THE MELTING POT Fondue is a meal best enjoyed with friends and family, so bring them along when visiting The Melting Pot. At our gourmet fondue restaurant, we provide a full fourcourse fine-dining treat for hungry guests. We are an excellent choice for diners looking who want to have a few drinks with bites of chocolate and cheese. No matter the mood, we have something for all tastes. The dining adventure starts with a bubbling pot of cheese, blended and seasoned table-side. Seasoned veggies and artisanal breads can be dipped into a choice cheese, while freshly made salads cleanse the palate. Entrees are customizable, and we finish off the evening with

decadent chocolate fondue. What’s not to love? 855 Town Center Dr., (910) 256-1187 ■ SERVING LUNCH AND DINNER: Open Mon. - Thurs., 5 p.m. - 10 p.m., Fri., 4 p.m. - 11 p.m., Sat., 12 p.m. - 11 p.m., and Sun., 12 p.m. - 9 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: North Wilmington, Mayfaire ■ FEATURING: Fresh veggies and meats, cheeses and breads, chocolates and other sweet treats for dipping evening of dinnertime fun.

■ WEBSITE: www.meltingpot.com

IRISH

THE HARP Experience the finest traditional Irish family recipes and popular favorites served in a casual yet elegant traditional pub atmosphere. The Harp, 1423 S. 3rd St., proudly uses the freshest ingredients, locally sourced whenever possible, to bring you and yours the most delicious Irish fare!

We have a fully stocked bar featuring favorite Irish beers and whiskies. We are open every day for both American and Irish breakfast, served to noon weekdays and 2 p.m. weekends. Regular menu to 10 p.m. weekdays and 11 p.m. weekends. Join us for trivia at 8:30 on Thursdays and live music on Fridays – call ahead for schedule (910) 7631607. Located just beside Greenfield Lake and Park at the south end of downtown Wilmington, The Harp is a lovely Irish pub committed to bringing traditional Irish flavor, tradition and hospitality to the Cape Fear area.

■ SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Greenfield Lake/Downtown South ■ FEATURING: Homemade soups, desserts and breads, free open wifi, new enlarged patio area, and big screen TVs at the bar featuring major soccer matches worldwide.

■ WEBSITE: www.harpwilmington.com SLAINTE IRISH PUB Slainte Irish Pub in Monkey Junction has traditional pub fare with an Irish flair. We have a large selection of Irish whiskey, and over 23 different beers on draft, and 40 different craft beers in bottles. They have a large well lit outdoor patio with a full bar also. Come have some fun!

They currently do not take reservations, but promise to take care of you when you get here! 5607 Carolina Beach Rd. #100, (910) 399-3980 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 11:30 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington, Monkey Junction ■ FEATURING: Irish pub grub, whiskeys, beer, wine, and fun.

■ WEBSITE: www.facebook.com/slaintemj

From daily specials during lunch and dinner to a friendly waitstaff ensuring a top-notch experience, whether dining in, taking out or getting delivery, to generous portions, the Antonio’s experience is an unforgettable one. Serving subs, salads, pizza by the slice or pie, pasta, and more, dine-in, take-out and delivery! 3501 Oleander Dr., #2, and 5120 S. College Rd. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Sun., open at 11:30 a.m.)

■ NEIGHBORHOOD DELIVERY OFFERED: Monkey Junction and near Independence Mall ■ WEBSITE: www.antoniospizzaandpasta.com THE ITALIAN BISTRO The Italian Bistro is a family-owned, full-service Italian restaurant and pizzeria located in Porters Neck. They offer a wide variety of N.Y. style thin-crust pizza and homemade Italian dishes seven days a week!

The Italian Bistro strives to bring customers a variety of homemade items made with the freshest, local ingredients.

Every pizza and entrée is made to order and served with a smile from our amazing staff.

Their warm, inviting, atmosphere is perfect for “date night” or “family night.” Let them show you why “fresh, homemade and local” is part of everything they do. 8211 Market St. (910) 686-7774 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sun.brunch, 10 a.m.

- 2 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Porters Neck ■ WEBSITE: www.italianbistronc.com FAT TONY’S ITALIAN PUB Fat Tony’s has the right combination of Italian and American influences to mold it into a unique family-friendly restaurant with a “gastropub” feel. Boasting such menu items as Veal Saltimbocca, Eggplant Parmigiana, USDA Prime Sirloin, and

award-winning NY style hand-tossed pizzas, Fat Tony’s is sure to be a crowd-pleaser. Their appetizers range from Blue Crab Dip to Grilled Pizzas to Lollipop Lamb Chops.

Proudly supporting the craft beer movement, they have an ever-changing selection of microbrews included in their 27-tap lineup – 12 of which are from NC. They have a wide selection of bottled beers, a revamped wine list, and an arsenal of expertly mixed cocktails that are sure to wet any whistle. Fat Tony’s offers lunch specials until 3pm Monday through Friday and a 10% discount to students and faculty at CFCC. They have two pet-friendly patios – one looking out onto Front Street and one with a beautiful view of the Cape Fear River. With friendly, excellent service and a fun, inviting atmosphere, expect to have your expectations exceeded at Fat Tony’s. Find The Flavor…..Craft Beer, Craft Pizza!

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Monday-Thursday 11 am-10 pm; Fri.-Sat., 11 am-Midnight; Sun., noon-10 pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ WEBSITE: www.fatpub.com ■ FEATURING: Daily lunch specials until 3pm and late night menu from 11pm until closing.

SLICE OF LIFE “Slice” has become a home away from home for tourists and locals alike. Our menu includes salads, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, homemade soups, subs and, of course, pizza. We only serve the freshest and highest-quality ingredients in all of our food, and our dough is made daily with purified water. Voted “Best Pizza” and “Best Late Night Eatery.”All ABC permits. Visit us downtown at 125 Market Street, (910) 251-9444, in Wrightsville Beach at 1437 Military Cutoff Road, Suite 101, (910) 256-2229 and in Pine Valley on the corner of 17th and College Road, (910) 799-1399.

■ SERVING LUNCH, DINNER & LATE NIGHT: 11:30 a.m.-3 a.m., 7 days/week, 365 days/year.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown,

HOPLITE IRISH PUB AND RESTAURANT Now in its eighth year, Hoplite Irish Pub and Restaurant is Pleasure Island’s favorite neighborhood spot for great food, gathering with friends and enjoying drinks. Their outdoor patio fills with sounds of local musicians on Fridays and Saturdays, as well as karaoke on Tuesdays and trivia on Wednesdays.

Offering reasonably priced homemade comfort-style pub grub, folks can dine on chicken salad sandwiches, Shepard’s Pie, Angus beef burgers, veggie burger, shrimp ‘n’ grits, homemade mac ‘n’ cheese balls, fresh-battered onion rings, fresh-made daily desserts, and so much more.

720 N Lake Park Blvd., (910) 458-4745 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Open Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until midnight.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Pleasure Island ■ WEBSITE: www.hopliterestaurant.com

ITALIAN

ANTONIO’S Serving fresh, homemade Italian fare in midtown and south Wilmington, Antonio’s Pizza and Pasta is a family-owned restaurant which serves New York style pizza and pasta.

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Downtown and Wilmington South.

■ FEATURING: Largest tequila selection in town!

■ WEBSITE: www.grabslice.com FREDDIE’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT Freddie’s Restaurant has been serving the Pleasure Island area since 1995. While well-known for their large portions of classic Italian food, anyone who has dined at Freddie’s will recommend their staple item: a large bonein pork chop. It’s cut extra thick from the center and has become the signature dish, served in a variety of ways, such as with cherry peppers and balsamic glaze. With traditional red -and-white-checkered tablecloths, Frank Sinatra playing in the background, Freddie’s has the reputation as one of the area’s most romantic eateries.

And they’re open year-round, seven days a week at 4:30 p.m. Call for reservations for parties of five or more. 111 K Ave., (910) 458-5979 ■ SERVING DINNER: Opens daily, 4:30 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Kure Beach ■ WEBSITE: www.freddiesrestaurant.com

Specials: TUES NIGHT: 1/2 Price wines by the glass WED NIGHT: 1/2 Price Draft beers

Dinner Daily: Tuesday - Saturday starting at 5pm Sunday Brunch: 10am-2pm featuring DIY Mimosa = 1 bottle of sparkling wine and a mason jar of hand squeezed OJ

www . rxwilmington . com

421 c astle s t • (910) 399-3080 F acebook : Facebook . com / rxwilmington / or Follow us on instagram rxrestaurantandbar

A TASTE OF ITALY Looking for authentic Italian cuisine in the Port City? Look no further than A Taste of Italy Deli. Brothers, Tommy and Chris Guarino, and partner Craig Berner, have been serving up breakfast, lunch, and dinner to local and visiting diners for twenty years. The recipes have been passed down from generation to generation, and after one bite you feel like you’re in your mamas’ kitchen. Along with the hot and cold lunch menu, they also carry a large variety of deli sides and made-from-scratch desserts. Or, if you’re looking to get creative in your own kitchen, A Taste of Italy carries a wide selection of imported groceries, from pasta to olive oils, and everything in between. And last but certainly not least, allow them to help you make any occasion become a delicious Italian experience with their catering or call ahead ordering.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Monday-Friday 8:00am8:00pm, Saturday 8:30am-7:00pm, Sunday 9:30am4:30pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: www.atasteofitalydeli.com ■ FEATURING: Sclafani goods, Polly-O cheese, Ferrara Torrone and much, much more!

Always a vegan/vegatarian/gluten free option

125 Grace Street • (910) 622-2700 Mon-Sat., 11 a.m. - 4 p.m

sammies. soups. salads. sides. wraps

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ORGANIC

LOVEY’S NATURAL FOODS & CAFÉ Lovey’s Natural Foods & Café is a true blessing for shoppers looking for organic and natural groceries and supplements, or a great place to meet friends for a quick, delicious and totally fresh meal or snack. Whether you are in the mood for a veggie burger, hamburger or a chicken Caesar wrap, shoppers will find a large selection of nutritious meals on the a la carte Lovey’s Cafe’ menu. The Food Bar—which has cold, organic salads and hot selections—can be eaten in the newly expanded Lovey’s Cafe’ or boxed for take-out. The Juice Bar offers a wide variety of delicious juices and smoothies made with organic fruits and vegetables. Specializing in bulk sales of grains, flours, beans and spices at affordable prices. Lovey’s has a great selection of local produce and receives several weekly deliveries to ensure freshness. Lovey’s also carries organic grass-fed and free-range meats and poultry. wheatfree and gluten-free products are in stock regularly, as are vegan and vegetarian groceries. Lovey’s also carries Wholesome Pet Foods. Stop by Lovey’s Market Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 am to 6 p.m.. Located at 1319 Military Cutoff Rd in the Landfall Shopping Center; (910) 509-0331.

“You’ll Love it at Lovey’s!”

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Café open: Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sat. & Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.(salad bar open all the time). Market hours: Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: North Wilmington in the Landfall Shopping Center ■ FEATURING: Organic Salad Bar/Hot Bar, Bakery with fresh, organic pies and cakes.

■ WEBSITE: www.loveysmarket.com

SEAFOOD

LA COSTA MEXICAN RESTAURANT With three locations to serve Wilmingtonians, La Costa is open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m with lunch specials. Their full dinner menu (from 3 p.m. on) offers the best in Mexican cuisine across the city. From top-sellers, like fajitas, quesadillas and burritos, to chef’s specialty items, like molcajete or borrego, a taste of familiar and exotic can be enjoyed.

All of La Costa’s pico de gallo, guacamole, salsas, chilechipotle, enchilada and burrito sauces are made in house daily. Add to it a 16-ounce margarita, which is only $4.95 on Mondays and Tuesdays at all locations, and every meal is complete.

Serving the Port City since1996, folks can dine indoors at the Oleander and both Market Street locations, or dine alfresco at both Market Street locations. 3617 Market St.; 8024 Unit 1 Market St.; 5622 Oleander Dr. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun-Thurs until 11 a.m. 10 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. until 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown and Ogden ■ WEBSITE: www.lacostamexicanrestauranwilmington. com

CAPE FEAR SEAFOOD COMPANY Founded in 2008 by Evans and Nikki Trawick, Cape Fear Seafood Company has become a local hotspot for the freshest, tastiest seafood in the area. With its growing popularity, the restaurant has expanded from its flagship eatery in Monkey Junction to a second location in Porter’s Neck, and coming soon in 2017, their third location in Waterford in Leland. “We are a dedicated group of individuals working together as a team to serve spectacular food, wine and spirits in a relaxed and casual setting,” restaurateur Evans Trawick says. “At CFSC every dish is prepared with attention to detail, quality ingredients and excellent flavors. Our staff strives to accommodate guests with a sense of urgency and an abundance of southern hospitality.” Cape Fear Seafood Company has been recognized by encore magazine for best seafood in 2015, as well as by Wilmington Magazine in 2015 and 2016, and Star News from 2013 through 2016. Monkey Junction: 5226 S. College Road Suite 5, 910-799-7077. Porter’s Neck: 140 Hays Lane #140, 910-681-1140. Waterford: 143 Poole Rd., Leland, NC 28451 ■ SERVING LUNCH AND DINNER: 11:30am-4pm daily; Mon.-Thurs.., 4pm-9pm; Fri.-Sat., 4pm-10pm; Sun., 4pm8:30pm.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown, north Wilmington and Leland ■ WESBITE: www.capefearseafoodcompany.com

LOS PORTALES Taqueria Los Portales has been open since 2006, and serves street food from their heritage. It’s a perfect stop for diners looking for a great traditional Mexican dinner, with fast service in a family friendly atmosphere! The variety of meats used to prepare their tacos is the characteristic that sets the taqueria apart from other Mexican restaurants!

1207 S. Kerr Ave. 910-799-5255 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Daily 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown

CATCH Serving the Best Seafood in South Eastern North Carolina. Wilmington’s Native Son, 2011 James Beard Award Nominee, 2013 Best of Wilmington “Best Chef” winner, Chef Keith Rhodes explores the Cape Fear Coast for the best it has to offer. We feature Wild Caught & Sustainably raised Seafood. Organic and locally sourced produce & herbs provide the perfect compliment to our fresh Catch.

Consecutively Voted Wilmington’s Best Chef 2008, 09 & 2010. Dubbed “Modern Seafood Cuisine” we offer an

MEXICAN

Check out our daily/weekly specials

■ WEBSITE: www.taquerialostportales.com

array Fresh Seafood & Steaks, including our Signature NC Sweet Potato Salad. Appetizers include our Mouth watering “Fire Cracker” Shrimp, Crispy Cajun Fried NC Oysters & Blue Crab Claw Scampi, & Seafood Ceviche to name a few. Larger Plates include, Charleston Crab Cakes, Flounder Escovitch & Miso Salmon. Custom Entree request gladly accommodated for our Guest.

(Vegetarian, Vegan & Allergies) Hand-crafted seasonal desserts. Full ABC Permits. 6623 Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28405, 910-799-3847.

■ SERVING DINNER: Mon.-Sat. 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: North Wilmington

from scratch items. We count on our local fishermen and farmers to supply us with seasonal, North Carolina favorites on a daily basis. Adorned walls include awards such as 3 time gold medalist at the International Seafood Chowder Cook-Off, Entrepreneur of the Year, Restaurant of the Year and Encores readers’ choice in Best Seafood to name a few. 1206 N. Lake Park Blvd. (910) 458-7761 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 7 days 11 am – 9 pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Carolina Beach ■ FEATURING: Award-winning chowder, local seafood and more!

■ WEBSITE: www.MikesCfood.com

■ FEATURING: Acclaimed Wine ■ WEBSITE: www.catchwilmington.com

OCEANIC Voted best seafood restaurant in Wilmington, Oceanic provides oceanfront dining at its best. Located in Wrightsville Beach, Oceanic is one of the most visited restaurants on the beach. Choose from a selection of seafood platters, combination plates and daily fresh fish. For land lovers, try their steaks, chicken or pasta dishes. Relax on the pier or dine inside. Oceanic is also the perfect location for memorable events, such as wedding ceremonies & receptions, birthday gatherings, anniversary parties and more.

Large groups welcome. Private event space available. 703 S. Lumina Avenue, Wrightsville Beach. (910) 256.5551.

■ SERVING LUNCH, DINNER & SUNDAY BRUNCH: Mon – Sat 11am – 11pm, Sunday 10am – 10pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Wrightsville Beach ■ FEATURING: Dine on renovated Crystal Pier.

■ WEBSITE: www.OceanicRestaurant.com

List

DOCK STREET OYSTER BAR Voted Best Oysters for over 10 years by encore readers, you know what you can find at Dock Street Oyster Bar. But we have a lot more than oysters! Featuring a full menu of seafood, pasta, and chicken dishes from $4.95-$25.95, there’s something for everyone at Dock Street. You’ll have a great time eating in our “BohemianChic” atmosphere, where you’ll feel just as comfort able in flip flops as you would in a business suit. Located at 12 Dock St in downtown Wilmington. Open for lunch and dinner, 7 days a week. (910) 762-2827.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 7 days a week.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING: Fresh daily steamed oysters.

■ WEBSITE: www.dockstreetoysterbar.net MICHAEL’S SEAFOOD’S RESTAURANT Established in 1998, Michael’s Seafood Restaurant is locally owned and operated by Shelly McGowan and managed by her team of culinary professionals. Michael’s aspires to bring you the highest quality and freshest fin fish, shell fish, mollusks, beef, pork, poultry and produce.

Our menu consists of mainly locally grown and made

THE PILOT HOUSE The Pilot House Restaurant is Wilmington’s premier seafood and steak house with a touch of the South. We specialize in local seafood and produce. Featuring the only Downtown bar that faces the river and opening our doors in 1978, The Pilot House is the oldest restaurant in the Downtown area. We offer stunning riverfront views in a newly-renovated relaxed, casual setting inside or on one of

our two outdoor decks. Join us for $5.00 select appetizers 7 days a week and live music every Friday and Saturday nigh on our umbrella deck. Large parties welcome. Private event space available. 910-343-0200 2 Ann Street, Wilmington, NC 28401 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun-Thurs 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm and Sunday Brunch 11am-3pm. Kids menu ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Riverfront Downtown Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Fresh local seafood specialties, Riverfront Dining, free on-site parking ■ MUSIC: Outside Every Friday and Saturday ■ WEBSITE: www.pilothouserest.com SHUCKIN’ SHACK Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar has two locations in the Port City area. The original Shack is located in Carolina Beach at 6A N. Lake Park Blvd. (910-458-7380) and our second location is at 109 Market Street in Historic Downtown Wilmington (910-833-8622). The Shack is the place you want to be to catch your favorite sports team on 7 TV’s carrying all major sports packages. A variety of fresh seafood is available daily including oysters, shrimp, clams, mussels, and crab legs. Shuckin’ Shack has expanded its menu now offering fish tacos, crab cake sliders, fried oyster po-boys, fresh salads, and more. Come in and check out the Shack’s daily lunch, dinner, and drink specials. It’s a Good Shuckin’ Time!

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Carolina Beach Hours: Mon-Sat: 11am-2am; Sun: Noon-2am, Historic Wilmington: Sun-Thurs: 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat: 11am-Midnight.

■ NEIGHBORHOODS: Carolina Beach and Downtown ■ FEATURING: Daily lunch specials. Like us on Facebook!

■ WEBSITE: www.TheShuckinShack.com SOUTH BEACH GRILL South Beach Grill has served locals and guests on Wrightsville Beach since 1997 with consistent, creative

cuisine—Southern-inspired and locally sourced, from the land and sea. Diners can enjoy a great burger outside on their patio for lunch or experience the unique, eclectic, regional dinners crafted by their chef. The chef’s menu highlights the bounty of fresh Carolina coastal seafood right at their front door. South Beach Grill overlooks the scenic anchorage on Banks Channel, located on beautiful Wrightsville Beach, NC, located across from the public docks at Wynn Plaza. The best sunsets on Wrightsville Beach! The restaurant is accessible by boat!

Serving lunch and dinner daily. Limited reservations accepted. 100 South Lumina Ave., Wrightsville Beach, (910) 256-4646 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Open daily, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Mondays.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Wrightsville Beach ■ FEATURING: Homemade, Southern-inspired fine cuisine, with the freshest ingredients, for both lunch and dinner.

■ WEBSITE: www.southbeachgrillwb.com STEAM RESTAURANT AND BAR Steam is bringing American cuisine to Wilmington using locally sourced goods and ingredients. With an extensive wine and beer selection, plenty of cocktails, indoor/outdoor seating, and beautiful views of the Cape Fear River, Steam is the area’s new go-to restaurant.

Reservations recommended. Open seven days a week!, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. 9 Estell Lee Pl, (910) 726-9226 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Lunch: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Dinner: 5 p.m. - 11 p.m. Bar: 11 a.m.-Until. Menu Bar: 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ WEBSITE: www.steamrestaurantilm.com

SANDWICHES

HWY 55 BURGERS, SHAKES AND FRIES

Italian Sandwiches • Meatballs Spaghetti • Party Catering Breakfast All Day 1101 S College Rd. • (910) 392-7529 www.atasteofitalydeli.com encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 25

Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries in Wilmington—on Carolina Beach Rd.—is bringing a fresh All-American diner experience with never-frozen burgers, sliced cheesesteaks piled high on steamed hoagies, and frozen custard made in-house every day.

Founded in Eastern North Carolina in 1991, Hwy 55 reflects founder Kenney Moore’s commitment to authentic hospitality and fresh food. Lunch and dinner is grilled in an open-air kitchen, and they serve you at your table—with a smile. 6331 Carolina Beach Rd., (910) 793-6350 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Monday - Sunday 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. .

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Delicious burgers and homemade shakes!

■ WEBSITE: www.hwy55.com/locations/wilmingtoncarolina-beach-rd J. MICHAEL’S PHILLY DELI The Philly Deli celebrated their 38th anniversary in August 2017. Thier first store was located in Hanover Center—the oldest shopping center in Wilmington.

Since, two more Philly Delis have been added: one at Porters Neck and one at Monkey Junction.

The Philly Deli started out by importing all of their steak meat and hoagie rolls straight from Amoroso Baking Company, located on 55th Street in downtown Philadelphia! It’s a practice they maintain to this day.

We also have a great collection of salads to choose from, including the classic chef’s salad, chicken salad, and tuna salad, all made fresh every day in our three Wilmington, NC restaurants. 8232 Market St., 3501 Oleander Dr., 609 Piner Rd. ■ OPEN: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Monday - Thursday, 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Friday - Saturday.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Porters Neck, North and South Wilmington, ■ WEBSITE: https://phillydeli.com

MUNCHIES The most unique restaurant in Wilmington is Munchies.

Located adjacent to the UNCW campus, Munchies provides a new take on classic American fare. Selling items unavailable anywhere else such as the famous “Fat Sandwiches”, decadent milk shakes, and fried desserts set Munchies apart, while the incredible flavor of traditional items such as burgers and wings make Munchies stand out. Open until 3 am daily, and offering dine in, take out, and delivery options, as well the choice of ordering online, Munchies is a new American classic for todays modern world. Perfect for lunch, dinner or a late night snack, and totally customizable, Munchies makes sure you get your food, your way, all day. 419 S. College Rd., Unit 35, 910798-4999. Dine in. Delivery. Take out ■ OPEN LUNCH AND DINNER: 12pm - 3 am daily ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: munchiesfoodco.com ON A ROLL Roll on into OAR—a fusion of American-Jewish-Italian deli fare, interspersed in seasonal specialties with a Southern accent.

Every customer will receive freshly made-to-order sandwiches, wraps and salads, with the freshest of ingredients, all to ensure top quality. And when the place is hopping, it is well worth the wait.

Whether choosing to dine in or take out—we deliver!— On a Roll is the downtown deli to enjoy homemade grub.

Come make us your favorite! 125 Grace Street, (910) 622-2700 ■ SERVING LUNCH: Open Mon-Sun., 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

24-hour catering available.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ WEBSITE: Check us out on Facebook!

The most authentic Greek food in town.

• Gyros slow cooked on a spit • Greek salads fresh made to order

FAST • HEALTHY • AUTHENTIC 26 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

SOUTHERN

CASEY’S BUFFET In Wilmington, everyone knows where to go for solid country cooking. That place is Casey’s Buffet, winner of encore’s Best Country Cookin’/Soul Food and Buffet categories. “Every day we are open, somebody tells us it tastes just like their grandma’s or mama’s cooking,” coowner Gena Casey says. Gena and her husband Larry run the show at the Oleander Drive restaurant where people are urged to enjoy all food indigenous to the South: fried chicken, barbecue, catfish, mac‘n’cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken‘n’dumplings, biscuits and homemade banana puddin’ are among a few of many other delectable items. 5559 Oleander Drive. (910) 798-2913.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesdays.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Pig’s feet and chitterlings.

■ WEBSITE: www.caseysbuffet.com RX RESTAURANT & BAR Located in downtown Wilmington, Rx Restaurant and Bar is here to feed your soul, serving up Southern cuisine made with ingredients from local farmers and fishermen.

The Rx chef is committed to bringing fresh food to your table, so the menu changes daily based on what he finds locally. Rx drinks are as unique as the food—and just what the doctor ordered. Join us for a dining experience you will never forget! 421 Castle St.; 910 399-3080.

■ SERVING BRUNCH & DINNER: Tues-Thurs, 5-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5-10:30pm; Sun., 10am-3pm and 5-9pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ WEBSITE: www.rxwilmington.com

SPORTS BAR

CAROLINA ALE HOUSE Voted best new restaurant AND best sports bar of 2010 in Wilmington, Carolina Ale House is the place to be for award-winning food, sports and fun. Located on College Rd. near UNC W, this lively sports-themed restaurant.

Covered and open outdoor seating is available. Lunch and dinner specials are offered daily, as well as the coldest $2 and $3 drafts in town. 317 South College Road. (910) 791.9393.

■ SERVING LUNCH, DINNER & LATE NIGHT: 11am-2am daily.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: 40 HD TVs and the biggest HD projector TVs in Wilmington.

■ WEBSITE: www.CarolinaAleHouse.com

TAPAS/WINE BAR

THE FORTUNATE GLASS WINE BAR The Fortunate Glass is an intimate venue showcasing globally sourced wines, plus creative small plates and craft beers. The serene ambiance is created by the beautiful wall mural, elegant glass tile bar, castle rocked walls and intimate booths. There are wines from all regions, with 60 wines by the glass and 350 wines available by the bottle.

The food menu consists of numerous small plates, fine cheeses, cured meats and decadent desserts that will compliment any wine selection.

■ SERVING DINNER & LATE NIGHT: Tues. - Thur., 4 p.m.

- midnight; Fri., 4 p.m. - 2 a.m.; Sat., 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. - midnight.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown, 29 S Front St. ■ FEATURING: Weekly free wine tasting Tues., 6 - 8 p.m.

Small plates, and wine and beer specials.

■ WEBSITE: www.fortunateglass.com

ALL YOU CARE TO TASTE 60 BEERS/40 BOURBONS p LOTS OF BBQ p TASTING THEATER CLASSES p ARTISTS & BREWERANIA p SHRINE OF SWINE p LIVE MUSIC p CONTESTS & MUCH MORE!

TICKETS START AT ONLY $25!

Proceeds Benefit

WWW.BEERANDBOURBON.COM Please no pets or weapons. Show is rain or shine. Tickets are non-refundable & subject to tax. Advance ticket sales close 03/23/18. Please drink responsibly.

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 27

28 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

NIP SIP

GRUB & GUZZLE>>REVIEW

SUMMER PO-MANCE:

foodtastic events PIZZA PUTT

Nakedfin whips up bodacious bowls of flavor

T

BY: ROSA BIANCA

hough we thoroughly appreciate the sushi bars and seafood joints galore that line our sandy streets, our beach town has been pining for poke.

For folks not up on the trend, let’s get the enunciation out of the way so you don’t walk into the hip new eatery and ask to be poked.

Poke (pronounced POH-keh) essentially means “slice of cut” in Hawaiian when referring to raw chunks of marinated fish, served over rice and topped with crunchy veggies and succulent sauces. Having personally been to Hawaii almost a dozen times, I can report from actual island experience there is nothing like downing a magnificently fresh concoction of crimson Ahi, dressed in a spicy, citrusy glaze, enjoyed on a sunny beach. The fact someone has finally brought the concept to Wilmington (we are a water town, after all), well, we have just one thing POKE BOWL FRESHNESS: Build your own bowl to say: mahalo. at ILM’s only poke restaurant, featuring the freshest

Folks just need to hang a right off East- vegetables and fish in town. Photo by Ashley Wixon wood Road—as if headed to the beach from downtown—to catch Nakedfin Poke tuna, salmon, jalapeño, cucumber, green Bowl. The restaurant itself mirrors the onion, Sriracha mayo, avocado, and crispy food: clean, simple, fresh. The small din- onions. “Raw or pickled jalapeño?” the poke ing area in the tropical café is adorned with producer asked. Once again, mahalo. wooden walls and thin surfboards doubling It’s always a plus in my book when I’m as tables. There isn’t even an uninviting soda machine. Instead there are three prompted with a question like this instead crystal-clear jugs of freshly flavored fruit of having to request it myself. Even with the drinks, like lemonade and coconut water sweeter peppers, the combination is righteously spicy in a good way. Both the tuna mixed with pineapple juice. and salmon are exactly what I crave when The menu is an uncomplicated mix of sig- I’m eating seafood in such a rare form. Neinature bowls and build-your-own offerings. ther has a fishy flavor and are simply scented Although there isn’t a great view of the vibrant by the salty ocean—particularly the salmon mixtures being tossed behind the counter- pieces, which can often be overly pungent. top, one peek at Nakedfin’s Instagram page Big beautiful buttery chunks take on the chile (@nakedfinpoke) will tempt all hunger pangs flavor of the mayo like a pro. with colorful creations of salmon, seaweed The second order from my group becomes and summer. a “make-your-own” with similar ingrediSeeing as Nakedfin serves quick, counter- ents to the Heatwave. The main difference: style meals, I decided to take mine to-go. My husband wants seaweed. Word to the The ordering process is as straightforward wise: be mindful of the ingredients for the as the menu (and similar to what can be ex- bowl. There’s a “seaweed flake” topper and pects at a Chipotle/Moe’s/Qdoba). Someone a “seaweed salad” splurge that comes tohandles the base and protein, another takes ward the end. My husband expected a little over with sauces and toppings, and then it’s extra freshness from a handful of seaweed checkout time at the register. salad and instead opened his dinner and exclaimed, “What the hell are these little black Final destination: fork-to-mouth. crumbles on top?” Regardless, we both think I decide on a signature item: the large the briny flakes add a nice crispy addition to Heatwave. As a first-timer, the friendly and the overall texture. knowledgeable staff guide me through the I decide to customize my favorite Hawaidifferent sizes and portions. The spicy bowl ian flavors in one mouthful and go a little comes over sushi rice and is topped with overboard with my build-your-own. Surf’s up,

brah. I’ve never been a big fan of rice so being able to choose mixed greens or chopped kale as a base is a treat.

Everything is made to order, so on top of my greens comes tuna, avocado, seaweed salad, pineapple, mango, toasted coconut, green onions, citrus ponzu sauce, and Nakedfin heat sauce. I enjoy being able to tailor the dish to my picky palate.

The outcome: Everything melds together beautifully. The greens on the bottom soak up the bright ponzu sauce, and the tender tuna takes in the creamy, spiced white-base sauce. The nutty, toasted coconut flakes transport me right back to Hawaii. It is the perfect pre-beach bite (even though I ate it on my couch in sweatpants with 40-degree weather outside).

The woman ringing me up is kind and super helpful, which leads me to believe she may be the owner. My only grumble comes in the side of LOLO chips (multi-color tortilla chips she uses as their base sometimes and as a dipper), which never make it into my bag. To be fair, I wasn’t paying attention to if she put them in but sill disappointment set in a little. Again, though, Nakedfin is new, so the system isn’t perfect ... yet.

As for the food, I give it high marks all around. Need a nosh to take to the beach?

Any of Nakedfin’s bowls are a bodacious choice. For smaller appetites, they even offer an avocado boat “snack” with one protein, a sauce, and two toppers. Where else in town can I get that many high-quality ingredients for such a low price? Oh, and the freshly infused drinks? Addictive.

Once again: Mahalo, Nakedfin. I look forward to our summer romance, err, po-mance.

DETAILS:

Nakedfin Poke Bowl

420 Eastwood Rd., Ste. 113 Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Sun., 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

(910) 769-1852 www.nakedfinpoke.com

Mar. 24, 6 p.m.

The Children’s Museum of Wilmington 116 Orange St. Tickets: $24-$100 www.facebook.com/ events/2015580932018763/

It’s the adult’s turn to play! Bring your friends, play putt-putt, drink free beer, and eat pizza all at the Children’s Museum of Wilmington.

Pizza Putt is one of the Children’s Museum’s annual fundraisers and all proceeds benefit the Museum.

We compile Wilmington’s best local craft beer and pizza for attendees to experience. Pizza Putt gives you an excuse to enjoy some of life’s greatest pleasures all at the same time – Pizza, Beer, and Golf (well, it’s putt-putt but who’s checking)!

Don’t miss this year’s Pizza Putt!

Must be 21 years or older to participate.

OYSTER ROAST Mar. 25, noon Palate 1007 N. 4th St. Tickets: $10

Wilmington Cooperative School is hosting their annual ALL YOU CAN EAT Oyster Roast ($10 suggested donation) along with a Folk Jam compliments of Port City Folk School, and Local Art raffle, tickets are only THREE dollars. All Proceeds benefit Wilmington Cooperative School to enrich student Art and Cultural studies.

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2018 WINNERS — AS VOTED ON BY ENCORE READERS! The annual encore Best Of awards were given out on Saturday, February 24, at Brooklyn Arts Center, in our annual celebration of 141 winners!

The part was a fundraiser for DREAMS of Wilmington—the winner of 2018’s Best Local Nonprofit—which works with at-risk youth in arts education, teaching dance, music, art, media, and so much more. We are happy to annoounce we raised $8,000 for them. Over the next five weeks, encore will write about every 2018 winner and publicize pictures from the party, courtesy of Chris Brehmer Photography.

Below is the list of every winner! Cheers and congrats to all!

RADIO STATION THE PENGUIN 98.3

media, arts, entertainment

RECORD STORE GRAVITY RECORDS TATTOO PARLOR ARTFUEL INC. THEATRE COMPANY THALIAN ASSOCIATION

BOOK STORE OLD BOOKS ON FRONT ST.

KIDS CLOTHING STORE ONCE UPON A CHILD

BOTTLE SHOP FERMENTAL

LAW FIRM DAVID & ASSOCIATES INJURY ATTORNEYS

CAR WASH CRUISERS CAR WASH AND DETAIL CENTER CHIROPRACTOR SITO CHIROPRACTIC

MASSAGE THERAPIST MARY BETH REDMAN MASSAGE/BODYWORK AUTO MECHANIC BLACK’S TIRE & AUTO SERVICE

ARCADE/GAME ROOM THE BLUE POST

THEATRE PRODUCTION YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

ART GALLERY BOTTEGA ART & WINE

THEATRE VENUE THALIAN HALL

ARTIST SARAH RUSHING

THESPIAN TONY RIVENBARK

BAND/PERFORMER L SHAPE LOT

TOURIST ATTRACTION NC AQUARIUM AT FT. FISHER

BOWLING ALLEY CARDINAL LANES SHIPYARD

TOUR OF WILMINGTON HAUNTED PUB CRAWL

COMEDY TROUPE PINEAPPLE-SHAPED LAMPS

WEBSITE PORTCITYDAILY.COM

DANCE CLUB IBIZA NIGHTCLUB

WRITER GWENYFAR ROHLER (ENCORE)

ESTHETICIAN MARCELLA HARDY (TANGLEZ)

PERSONAL TRAINER LAMAINE WILLIAMS (TRAIN WITH LAMAINE)

DJ DJ BATTLE

WRITE-IN CATEGORY PARTY ENTERTAINER: NO SLEEVES MAGIC

FARMERS’ MARKET RIVERFRONT FARMERS’ MARKET

SHOPPING PLAZA MAYFAIRE TOWN CENTER

PLACE FOR A FIRST DATE THE LITTLE DIPPER

PRINT SHOP DOCK STREET PRINTING CO.

FLORIST JULIA’S FLORIST

REAL ESTATE INTRACOASTAL REALTY

GARDEN STORE THE PLANT PLACE

SHOE STORE SOUL SHOETIQUE

GIFT SHOP BLUE MOON GIFT SHOPS

SPA HEAD TO TOE DAY SPA & SALON

GOLF COURSE BEAU RIVAGE GOLF & RESORT

SURF SHOP SWEETWATER SURF SHOP

GOURMET STORE PINE VALLEY MARKET

TANNING SALON TANGLEZ OF WILMINGTON

GYM O2 FITNESS

PLACE TO BUY USED CAR AUTO WHOLESALE

HAIR SALON ROCKIN’ ROLLER SALON

VETERINARIAN COLLEGE RD. ANIMAL HOSPITAL

HEALTH FOOD STORE TIDAL CREEK CO-OP

WEDDING VENUE AIRLIE GARDENS

HOTEL BLOCKADE RUNNER

WOMEN’S CLOTHING ISLAND PASSAGE

FILMMAKER MEGAN PETERSEN INDEPENDENT FILM WE ONLY WENT OUT AT NIGHT PLACE TO BUY MUSIC INSTRUMENTS FINKELSTEIN’S PLACE FOR KARAOKE THE REEL CAFE POOL HALL THE BLUE POST LIVE MUSIC VENUE GREENFIELD LAKE AMPHITHEATER MORNING RADIO SHOW MORNING CHILL (PENGUIN, 98.3) MUSEUM CAPE FEAR MUSEUM LOCAL NEWSCAST WECT (NBC) LOCAL NEWSCASTER FRANCES WELLER (WECT) RADIO PERSONALITY BEAU GUNN (PENGUIN, 98.3)

humanitarian & environmental ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP KAREN BEASLEY SEA TURTLE RESCUE & REHABILITATION CENTER LOCAL HUMANITARIAN BO DEAN NONPROFIT DREAMS OF WILMINGTON

goods & services ADULT STORE ADAM & EVE

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE THE HEMP FARMACY ANTIQUE SHOP THE IVY COTTAGE PLACE TO BOARD A PET PUPS PLAY AND STAY BOARDING, DAYCARE & GROOMING

30 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

CONSIGNMENT/RESALE - CLOTHES THE FAIRY CIRCLE CONSIGNMENT/RESALE DECOR THE IVY COTTAGE DENTIST BOZART FAMILY DENISTRY DOCTOR DR. HOLDSWORTH (WILMINGTON HEALTH) DOG GROOMER

VON BARKEE’S DOG SPA & BAKERY

JEWELER PERRY’S EMPORIUM

MEN’S CLOTHING BLOKE APPAREL & SUPPLY MORTGAGE COMPANY ALPHA MORTGAGE MOVING COMPANY TWO MEN AND A TRUCK NAIL SALON LUXE NAILS PLACE TO BUY A NEW CAR STEVENSON HONDA

food & drink

BUFFET, CHICKEN, SOUL FOOD CASEY’S BUFFET BURGER, FRIES PTS OLDE FASHIONED GRILLE

APPETIZERS FRONT STREET BREWERY

ATMOSPHERE, RESTAURANT OVERALL, THAI RESTAURANT INDOCHINE THAI & VIETNAMESE

BURRITO FLAMING AMY’S BURRITO BARN

BAGEL BEACH BAGELS

CATERING SERVICE, GOURMET STORE PINE VALLEY MARKET

BAKERY, DESSERTS APPLE ANNIE’S BAKE SHOP

CHAIN RESTAURANT PANERA BREAD

BARBECUE JACKSON’S BIG OAK BARBECUE

CHEESESTEAK J. MICHAEL’S PHILLY DELI

BAR SATELLITE BAR & LOUNGE

CHEF KEITH RHODES (CATCH )

BARTENDER TRISTA NICOSIA (GOAT AND COMPASS)

CHINESE RESTAURANT DOUBLE HAPPINESS COFFEE SHOP BITTY & BEAU’S COFFEE

BEER LIST CAPE FEAR WINE & BEER

DELI A TASTE OF ITALY

BISCUIT, DINER THE DIXIE GRILL BREAKFAST CAST IRON KITCHEN BREWERY WILMINGTON BREWING CO. BRUNCH SWEET N SAVORY CAFE

FOOD TRUCK CATCH THE FOOD TRUCK

OYSTERS DOCK STREET OYSTER BAR

FRENCH FOOD CAPRICE BISTRO

PIZZA, LATE-NIGHT EATERY SLICE OF LIFE PIZZERIA & PUB

HOT DOG TROLLY STOP

RIBS POOR PIGGY’S BBQ AND CATERING

ICE CREAM KILWIN’S ICE CREAM, CHOCOLATES & FUDGE

SALADS CHOPT CREATIVE SALAD CO.

INDIAN FOOD TANDOORI BITES

SEAFOOD CAPE FEAR SEAFOOD CO.

ITALIAN OSTERIA CICCHETTI

SPORTS BAR THE COPPER PENNY

JAPANESE RESTAURANT YOSAKE DOWNTOWN SUSHI LOUNGE

STEAK PORT CITY CHOP HOUSE SUSHI NIKKI’S SUSHI

MEDITERRANEAN FOOD OLYMPIA

TACOS K38 BAJA GRILL

LATIN/MEXICAN K38 BAJA GRILL

VEGETARIAN SEALEVEL CITY GOURMET

DONUT BRITTS DONUT SHOP

LUNCH, SUB/SANDWICH SHOP, HOMEMADE SOUP CHOP’S DELI

FAST FOOD CHICK-FIL-A

NEW RESTAURANT SAVOREZ

FINE-DINING EATERY RX RESTAURANT AND BAR

OUTSIDE DINING BLUEWATER WATERFRONT GRILL

k n Tha , u yo

! n o t ing

Wilm

We look forward to stuffing you full with the BEST BURRITO in town as long as you’ll let us!

WAITSTAFF THE COPPER PENNY WINE LIST THE FORTUNATE GLASS WINGS HELL’S KITCHEN

Serving the Wilmington Area Since 1973 110 Dock Street Wilmington, NC 28401 (910) 763-8476

www.dockstreetprinting.com THANK YOU ENCORE READERS!!

For Voting us “BEST PRINT SHOP” 13 YEARS RUNNING!

Fast, Affordable Digital Color Traditional, Quality Single & Multi-Color Offset Business Cards • Rack Cards • Brochures • Postcards • Posters Let us make good impressions for you with:

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flamingamysburritobarn.com

Your pet friendly, people friendly print shop!

FREE OFF-STREET CUTOMER PARKING • Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5pm Convenient Paid Parking For All Mon-Fri 6pm - 7am & All Weekend encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 31

goods & services

VETERINARIAN: COLLEGE ROAD ANIMAL HOSPITAL

36% votes

2018 marks year three that College Road Animal Hospital has taken Best Veterinarian on our readers’ poll. Their services are aplenty at both locations (which includes Carolina Beach Animal Hospital). They offer extended hours for urgent care, Monday through Friday (6 - 11 p.m.) and on Sundays (10 a.m. - 4 p.m.), and they provide flexible financing. Plus, this year, they have alternative medicinal care for their patients.

“Dr. Kim Smith now offers veterinary acupuncture services,” assistant office manager Angela West says. “It is a tool that can be used in conjunction with conventional medicine to improve a pet’s quality of life in many disease processes and in preventative medicine.”

They cover the basics of immunization and wellness care, but offer nutritional counseling, behavioral medicine, dental care, digital radiology, specialists, and more. Plus, they’ve extended their exotic medicine services at both College Road and Carolina Beach Animal Hospitals. Folks line up to bring their reptiles, bunnies, rats, gerbils,

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: THE HEMP FARMACY

50% votes

FUR THE LOVE OF PETS: The folks from College Road Animal Hospital score win number three for the Best Veterinarian category. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

sugar gliders, ferrets, and birds, in addition to Fito and Milo.

“The most important aspect for us to continue being a successful veterinary practice is providing progressive medicine for our patients, where emphasis is placed on exceptional client services and education, to increase the health and well-being of our patients,” West continues.

Their wellness plans helps clients split up costs to afford larger services rendered, whether it’s an X-ray or emergency surgery.

It helps CRAH and CBAH continue to provide the best care without stressing patients who fear their pets health will be at risk because of financial worries.

The vet also works with local rescue programs. They also oversee their own, CRAH

HEMPED UP: Joe Lupton, manager of the S. College Rd. store, and Chelsea Wetherell, marketing director, are all smiles for The Hemp Farmacy’s first win. Photo by Shea Carver

A new kid is in town and taking the Best Alternative Medicine category by storm in its first year. The Hemp Farmacy opened two stores in Wilmington in 2017—one downtown on Grace Street and the other on South College Road. They sell non-psychotropic products made of hemp and cannabidiol (CBD)— which means it’s all-natural and won’t have the aftereffects of marijuana simply because there is no THC involved.

“The Hemp Farmacy is the first business of its kind on the East Coast and provides the region with high-quality, in-demand CBD and hemp products,” according to marketing director and events coordinator Chelsea

Wetherell.

Since the 2014 Farm Bill, section 7606, passed, universities and state departments of agriculture have grown hemp for research purposes and commercial uses under pilot programs. In 2018, all 50 states allow folks to buy, possess and sell hemp and CBD products.

Why is this a big deal? Quite simply, the uses of hemp are far and wide and have been around for ages. In the 1800s, hemp was used as the primary source to make textbooks. Today, in NC, farmers are undergoing a pilot program to get approval to grow hemp to make paper rather than rely on trees.

32 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

As well, it’s a great source for textile, biofuel and even food, but at The Hemp Farmacy its natural healing properties are the reason most folks buy the dietary supplements. “We have a system of receptors in our body specifically for the metabolization of cannabinoids,” Wetherell tells.

Whether buying topical products to help with skin issues or tinctures to help with migraines or edibles for anxiety, products galore can be found. Better yet, folks don’t need a medical card, prescription or special permission to utilize The Hemp Farmacy services.

“Our line of U.S.-produced products are researched, reviewed and tested by our knowledgeable staff before being sold,” Wetherell says. To be clear, however, Farmacy staff are not doctors, and they are not making recommendations for products for a specific condition. “We are not allowed to comment on our customer’s results,” Wetherell clarifies. “The FDA regulates what representations we can make regarding

Pet Rescue, to ensure continued efforts are always at the forefront to save, rehabilitate and adopt animals.

“We hold many special events to raise money for CRAH &and CBAH’s Paws rescues,” West notes. “The events that we hold are typically our annual dog wash, yard sales, and other exciting fundraisers.”

Folks can keep up to date by checking out their website at www.collegeroadanimalhospital.com. Also found here will be products and services they recommend and offers on rebates and specials, as well as updates on their loyalty rewards programs.

Other veterinarians ranking high with their furry lovin’ is Paws and Claws Animal Hospital (34%) and A Country Veterinarian Clinic (30%).

product, as well as places limitations on testimonials from satisfied customers.”

Though insurance does not cover The Hemp Farmacy products, the Farmacy offers monthly savings and generates discounts to veterans and first responders. Their focus is to offer the best service, which also includes educating the public. Their Facebook often features classes and lectures being offered on hemp and CBD, plus they provide live video regarding products and information on topics like “How to refill your vape pen.”

“Historically tinctures have been our most popular products because they are easy to use and discrete,” Wetherell says. “However, since The Hemp Farmacy began selling hemp flowers in November, they have become a favorite among our customers.”

Other place taking top votes per Best Alternative Medicine are Wilmington Acupuncture Clinic (24%) and McKay Healing Arts (26%).

43% votes

SALON: ROCKIN’ ROLLER SALON When it comes to hot tresses, there are many folks in Wilmington to turn to in order to keep the best kept locks looking shiny and perfectly coiffed. On encore’s readers’ poll, we have a new contender cutting their way into first place: The Rockin’ Roller Salon.

abilities, limitations of their hair or anything else that might affect the outcome, and also knowing that I stay current on my education.”

The salon is constantly evolving visually as well. Local art adorns their walls and they are considering the addition of nail services again.

Made up of eight hair stylists, make-up artists, “We hope to have more stylist go for master an esthetician, and administrative folks, the Kerr colorist training with Goldwell,” owner James Avenue salon has been known for their edgy ap- Lewis says. proach to hair design and their under-the-radar, While the clientele praises the work, the stylists word-of-mouth praise since they opened a depraise the work dynamic and environment that cade ago. In 2018 their appeal continues to rise constantly invigorates their passion and creativwith a boldness our readers are taking to most ity. “It is awesome that I have a wonderful place brilliantly. Stylist Cindy Emerson attributes the to come to work,” stylist Dylan Sabo says. “I love popularity to Rockin’ Roller’s willingness to remeeting and working with people. This job allows main fresh on the front lines. me to get challenged on different levels. It also “This industry is always evolving,” she says. makes me feel ecstatic when the client loves “Education is the key, and attending classes on the work I put into their hair and make them feel new products and new techniques helps keep beautiful or handsome.” you up to date on constant changing trends.”

But service isn’t only available to folks in store.

Currently, they’re servicing a lot of wants Stylists make sure once customers get outside and needs for balayage, blonding and texture. the store, they’re also informed on the best pracClients are going platinum in order to sport the tices in keeping their hair healthy. “Trust your stylmermaid look, oil slick, opaque, or smoky pas- ists at home recommendations,” Blythe Lundy tels. Their clientele spans the ages too, from advises. “We take into consideration your indiages 4 to 84. vidual lifestyles and hair needs when we recommend products.”

“Some are conservative, while others are looking for something crazy and shocking,” stylThe Rockin’ Roller also work with our comist Lauren Ricker notes. “I think they trust me as munity at large and local nonprofits. They donate a stylist because I am always honest about my money made from teal fusions and bracelets to

HEALTH FOOD STORE: TIDAL CREEK CO-OP The old saying “you are what you eat” is cliché, even if true. Many of us still hanging on to new year’s resolutions know how to be healthy means starting with food. According to our readers, the best place to keep to those goals is Tidal Creek Co-Op. Founded in 1982 as a community-owned food store, Tidal Creek has worked to source quality natural foods, supplements and other health items at a good price. They strive to showcase artisan products that are “local, sustainably produced, healthful, humanely raised and reflect fair trade practices,” according to their missions statement. Co-manager Anthony Garguilo says his favorite part about working at the co-op are customers.

39% votes

They’re hoping 2018 marks the first year of many to begin their Best Of collection, as awards decorate walls of local businesses with the famed “e.” “It is a good way for new and veteran residents to discover local businesses they might not have heard of but have earned votes from Coastal Horizons annually. Plus, each Octoloyal customers that show that they provide great ber the donate money made from pink fusion quality of customer service,” Lundy says. “We’re to American Cancer Society. “We always carry happy to be among them.”

Toys for Tots box in the shop in December,” Other hair salons snipping on the poll are Lewis continues. “We also have a few stylist who Tanglez of Wilmington (42%) and Brush Sahave donated their time to Nourish NC.” lon (15%).

ROCKIN’ CREW: Staff from the Rockin Roller Salon take home their first win as Best Hair Salon in encore’s 2018 readers’ poll. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

“The biggest addition for 2018 is probably our new Saturday Farmers’ Market,” Garguilo says. “Late last year, we were approached by a group of the area’s best local and organic farmers, who asked us about hosting a produceronly market, which we naturally obliged!”

Called simply “Wilmington Farmers’ Market,” it is different from others of its ilk because it features food produced by local vendors. In addition, Tidal Creek hosts a monthly craft fair and goat yoga.

“Goat Yoga is a trip,” Garguilo admits. It’s a monthly gathering of yoga practitioners and four-hoofed climbers from Be Life Farms. Be Life is just one of many local producers that partner with Tidal Creek.

“We are a community at Tidal Creek, and a “It’s really something to be able to work with true small business,” he tells. “Our customers shop with us because they love and trust us— veteran farmers like Stephan at Black River and Meg Shelton at Shelton Herb farm, and watch and the feeling is mutual!” the mentoring and support they provide to the The co-op contains 1,700 members current- next generation. “Kyle Stenerson of Humble ly, which continues to grow. “Being an owner Roots, and Morgan Milne, a.k.a. Red Beard, of Tidal Creek saves you money, supports a are amazing young folks carrying on the tradilocal business that truly does good in our com- tion, and providing us with literally the best food munity, and means you own a grocery store!” money can buy.”

Garguilo says. “How great is that?”

As for rumors the market might be moving to Members receive discounts and rewards, a new location, they tell encore for now they’re but Garguilo points out how members also staying put. They want to get back to the basics. share in profits. “When we make a profit, Gar“Our board has made the decision to focus guilo says, “we give dividend checks back to on strengthening our core business on Oleanour owners!” der, and really giving back to our community our Although Tidal Creek’s mission has re- top priorities,” Garguilo notes, “and that’s where mained the same over the years, they’ve add- we are putting all of our energy right now.” ed new ways to get the community involved.

Other health-food stores topping the poll are They host markets, exercise classes, tastings, Whole Foods (29%) and Lovey’s Market (32%). dinners, and more for the community at large.

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 33

CAR WASH: CRUISERS CAR WASH & DETAIL CENTER It’s pollen season, y’all, and in addition to the itching and sneezing, all of Wilmington cars are covered in the yellow stuff already. Cruiser’s Car Wash can’t help with allergies, but according to our readers, they can get that ride dusted off better than anywhere else in town.

Since they opened in 1998, Cruisers has grown to include two full-service locations and two express locations throughout southeastern NC. Their full service locations offer detailing, shampooing and odor removal, headlight restoration, and now dent removal.

“Last spring we sent Felix, our general manager, to paintless dent removal school, Cruisers president Clayton Gsell says.

“Paintless dent removal, or PDR, is a process that enables us to remove dents from the ‘inside out’ of a vehicle’s body. Instead of spending thousands of dollars at a body shop, we can remove dents for as little as $100.”

They also recently added to their family of businesses Coastal Glass Tinting, a company that has been operating in Wilmington for over 38 years. It has allowed them to offer time- and money-saving options for customers.

“We now offer special-package pricing between Cruisers and Coastal Tint,” Gsell

55% votes

says. “We also have complete detailing services at Coastal Tint so many of our customers drop off their vehicles for tint and get it detailed as well. It’s a great time-saver for our customers.”

The center of Cruisers philosophy is and always will be customer service. They want every person, local and tourist alike, to leave happy and know they can depend on Cruisers after every day-trip to the beach, or pollen rainfall with every season change, or even the occasional snow fall. The Cruisers staff keeps top of mind how vehicles are among people’s most important investments. Thus, every vehicle is treated with utmost care.

Cruisers also understands the importance of giving back to their community at large.

They continuously support local charities, according to Gsell.

“Currently, we work with Lower Cape Fear Hospice, the Cape Fear Council of the Boy Scouts, The American Heart Association, She Rocks, and a number of smaller charities.”

And as a constant gratitude of support, Cruisers also offers free washes to veterans every Veterans’ Day.

Other car washes scrubbing onto the poll are Mister Sudzy Car Wash and Detail Center (20%) and Buff Masters Car Wash (25%).

EVERYBODY’S CRUISIN’: Greg Powell, Tatiana Venable and Felix Emeka from Cruisers Car Wash and Detail Center are keep vehicles spin-and-span and collecting e’s in the process for being top-notch in their field. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

JEWELER: PERRY’S EMPORIUM Each year, if it snows in [pick somewhere cold in America] on Christmas Day, Alan Perry and his team of jewelers have a massive engagement ring giveaway. It’s part of their marketing genius to create a brand and keep customers benefitting from lifelong partnerships with Wilmington’s Best Jeweler. Perry’s Emporium has paid for ??? rings from this campaign. But what they’ve gained in return are community adoration.

But it isn’t only engagement rings Alan Perry is known for. He also carries a large line of other highly revered jewelry, from bracelets to necklaces, earrings to watches, and beyond. “We just picked up ELLE, which is a sterling silver fashion line,” marketing manager Kayla Millie tells. “Alan, [and his sons] Jordan, and Josh just went to a show in Atlanta and picked up a bunch of different men’s jewelry, and colored gemstone jewelry, like jade and sapphire.”

Just in the past month, they’ve received dozens of loose diamonds to help evolve their already large and impressive collection. Much like the snow campaign, their “Rainy Day Diamond Guarantee” means refunds are given on engagement rings when it showers on the day of the big dance.

“It must rain an inch here at Perry’s on your wedding day,” Millie tells. “We also have our trade-up policy, where if you buy your diamond from us, whether it’s a diamond to go in an engagement ring, diamond studs, or a diamond pendant, you can trade it in the future for a bigger diamond.

We will give you credit from the price of your old diamond toward your new one.”

34 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

Their constant discounted programs mean lovers get the most for their buck. Engagement ring purchases receive 20 percent off

47% votes wedding band purchases as well. Plus, they carry a slew of designers, like Hearts on Fire, Sylvie, Simon G., Gabriel & Co, and ArtCarved, as well as Triton and Benchmark. And if vintage is the way a bride prefers to showcase her style, Perry’s can help. They have a wide variety of estate bridal offerings.

“Because we offer so many loose diamonds to complete the semi-mounts we carry, you can completely customize your engagement ring to be what you want it to be,” Millie verifies. “Our estate collection has always been a top seller for us. We have antique and vintage pieces that are timeless and affordable and come from almost every decade and every style.”

Because of living on the coast, men aren’t left out of the jewelry equation in town. Fishermen and outdoorsmen who need sturdy watches in harsh environments can find REACTOR—a top seller of Perry’s since theyr’e the only jeweler carrying them on the East Coasts.

While selling the best and most beautiful gems, jewels, gold and silver remains top priority, Perry’s give-back to the community at large keeps him popular beyond shiny, sparkly wares. He offers a helping hand with numerous nonprofits like Cape Fear Literacy Council, American Red Cross, PEO of Southport, Operation Pretty Things, Ducks Unlimited, several church organizations, and First Fruit Ministries.

“We’ve given away over 1 million dollars in the past 26 years to charities,” Millie tells. “ Alan is a big believer in giving back to where you live. Typically we give donations or sponsor events hosted by organizations, and Alan will often act as the auctioneer if there is an auction for a charity.”

Other jewelers stamping our poll are Reeds Jewelers (31%) and Cape Fear Jewelry and Antiques (22%).

BOTTLE SHOP: FERMENTAL A bottle shop has a pretty clear purpose: They must stock bottles of alcoholic beverages and sell them to people. But the best bottle shops don’t stop there when deciding how to conduct business. They take “stocking” a step further and begin “curating.” They listen to their customers and pay attention to industry trends, in order to put together a collection of beers and wines that will provide a lot of choices, but more importantly the right choices for each and every imbiber.

For over five years, Fermental has strived to be the among the best. When they opened their business on the North Market Street corridor in a 1940’s bungalow, they were pretty much the only game in the area. But they were surrounded by residential communities and ripe opportunities for future growth. Owner Steven Gibbs has embraced the neighbors who have made hanging out at Fermental a part of their routine. But it doesn’t stop there.

“We also host a good amount of other area locals from Monkey Junction to downtown, alongside tourists from neighboring big cities,” he clarifies of their vast clientele.

“We are a local small business that offers a unique, unassuming, laid-back environment.”

During a Friday night visit, an equal number of college-aged patrons, Marines, young families with kids, grandparents with grandkids, and retirees who seemed thankful to have no kids in tow all shared the same space—smiles, sips and laughter included.

39% votes Fermental serves beer and wine, of course, but patrons will never get a sense they’re in a spot their kids shouldn’t be. In fact, games are aplenty, from bocce ball to horse shoes, giant Jenga, Bahamian ring game, and plenty of board games indoors.

Folks pack picnics and gather in the beer garden to hear live music. Others line up at the food trucks on Fridays and Saturdays to nosh on locally made vittles. “We try to stay busy with fun,” Gibbs clarifies. “As the weather warms up, live music continues on Thursday nights with food trucks as well as the occasional Sunday shows.”

Upcoming at the space will be a St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Saturday, March 17. Fermental will go green with a naturally dyed Pisgah Brewing Cream Ale. Their hop infusion chamber will include whole leaf Cascade hops in an IPA to offer a bit o’ extra green hoppiness; Port City Puffs & Stuffs will be parked to serve up grub, while Soul R Fusion takes the stage at 8 p.m. On March 21, they will welcome Sweetwater Brewing Company and showcase beers on draught, bottles and promotional items, along with rare beers and daily favorites. Vittles food truck will be there at 7 p.m. and Kyle Lindley will play at 7 p.m.

Fermental has six brews on tap in-house, as well as special-order kegs, not to mention over 1,000 beer options and new varietals and labels of wine, sake and mead, starting at $4.99. Plus, they host wine tastings every Friday at 6 p.m.

For buyers with a little more bang in their pockets, luxury homes (over $1 million) were on an upswing in 2017 and as a result have reduced the surplus of listings. “Despite a significant number of luxury home sales, however, the amount of inventory is such that it remains a buyer’s market (inventory exceeds demand),” Slacum tells.

Currently, Intracoastal has about 1,728 listings in our three-county area. With their copious resources and easy-to-make transactions, Intracoastal realtors remain wellconnected and go above and beyond what it takes to make clients happy. They even merge friendships most of the time.

As for first-time buyers looking for tips, Slacum says get pre-approved mortgage rate first in order to know what properties are available for said budget. If folks have bad credit scores, then find a mortgage lender who will have programs to help repair their credit. “ Also, first-time buyers – and any buyer,

ment,” Gibbs tells. “One of the original goals of Fermental was to create a place that we would want to go every day.”

Other bottle shops popping votes on the list are Palate (24%) and Hey! Beer (37%).

“We are a local, small business that offers a unique, unassuming, laid back environ-

REAL ESTATE COMPANY: INTRACOASTAL REALTY “The market is on fire, and we’re seeing low inventory and multiple offer situations on properties in many price segments,” Lake Slacum tells encore about southeastern NC’s housing market. In fact, folks looking to purchase a home under $400,000 will find low inventory and high demand. “Intracoastal Realty’s average selling price in New Hanover County for 2017 was $370,605,” Slacum tells.

GOLD IN A BOTTLE: Dr. Kristen Gibbs, co-owner of Fermental, takes the first “e” for Best Bottle Shop 2018. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

54% votes

for that matter – should download the Intracoastal HomeSpotter App to search for properties,” Slacum instructs. “It’s a great tool and is so convenient to search for properties on a mobile phone or tablet. There is nothing else like it in this marketplace. The homespotter”feature is something even Zillow doesn’t have!”

Slacum says it’s a great time to purchase a home, since APRs are near historic lows still, even comparing with data going back to the 1970s. A half-percentage of an increase can result in a few 100 bucks added to a monthly mortgage payment. “The time to buy is now while rates are low, because they won’t remain there forever,” he tells.

Aside from overseeing a strong business model, Intracoastal Realty also believes in strengthening its community. They donate to over 70 charities annually, and their why founder Jim Wallace established his own 501(c)(3) in 2005 called “Teacher’s Fund.” It helps area instructors the opportunity to afford school supplies and books they need for success in the classroom.

“To date, the Teacher’s Fund has awarded over 1,400 grants in excess of $300,000 and benefitts more than 150,000 students,” Slacum says.

Other real-estate agencies taking votes are Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage (30%) and Regina Drury Real Estate (16%).

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 35

USED CAR DEALERSHIP: AUTO WHOLESALE

47% votes

SURF SHOP: SWEETWATER SURF SHOP

“Our customers deal with the same person from the beginning to the end of the buying experience,” Tracy says.

Tracy spends a lot of his time sourcing inventory, and remaining selective about it. Auto Wholesale only sells newer, low-mileage cars, all at the right price. Why do they do things differently? According to Tracy, consistency is key.

WINNING WHEELS: Paul Tracy and his staff from Auto Wholesale score another Bestie from the 2018 Best Of readers’ poll. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

Car-buying is an experience most of us don’t look forward to since the process has a reputation of being arduous: figuring out what you want, finding it locally, getting a price negotiated, and getting it financed. The pricenegotiation part is what most dread, but Auto Wholesale—Wilmington’s Best Used Car Dealership—largely takes that process out of the equation.

“We offer a no-haggle buying experience,” owner Paul Tracy says with pride. Essentially, that means there’s no wheelin’’ and dealin.’ And there’s no “I have to ask my manager about this price” nonsense either.

“Same consistency that we’ve had from day one,” he tells. “We’re still doing the same things because they have been proven to work!”

Auto Wholesale’s inventory is changing daily as more cars are sold. Those sales are made easier by a seamless financing system.

“All of the salesmen help the customers get their financing done,” Tracy praises. “We are well-versed in the different credit situations, so we are here to help customers get into the car of their dreams.”

Tracy says their top sellers are Hondas and Toyotas, but their inventory is large with all top-grade makes and models equaling $2 million in inventory currently on the lot.

Other used dealerships riding the polls are Jeff Gordon Chevrolet (26%) and Bruce Cavenaugh’s Automart (27%).

Sweetwater Surf Shop keeps washing up on the Best Of shores annually and storming the Best Surf Shop category.

Its Wrightsville Beach location makes it a prime spot for folks looking to get the latest threads in surf ware, from bathing suits to board shorts, dresses to tanks, shirts, shoes, hats, sunglasses, and the like from brands like Vans, Reef, Hurley, Sanuk, and Toms.

“Eco-friendly products are becoming more and more important to us, and we are striving to bring in more eco-friendly brands in clothing, sunscreen, etc.,” says Danielle Bourgeois, owner of Sweetwater.

Just as well, the surf shop launched its own line of clothing a few years ago with screenprinted and embroidered tees. The customers took to the shop’s surf brand and so Sweetwater expanded their inventory to include men’s walk shorts, knit shirts, board shorts, dresses, and tops, among other items.

“Our brand compliments the other surf brands we carry,” Bourgeois tells, “but at a better price. Often customers come in looking for the surf brands but also want a good deal. Plus, so many of our customers like to represent the Sweetwater name.”

Their upcoming annual Swim Soiree will feature all spring 2018 swimwear for men, women and children at 20 percent off. Plus

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A Taste of Award-Winning Seafood VOTED BEST SEAFOOD

BY ENCORE, STAR NEWS AND WILMINGTON MAGAZINE READERS!

WITH THREE LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU...

Monkey Junction 5226 S. College Road Suite 5 Wilmington, NC 28412 910-799-7077 Porters Neck 140 Hays Lane #140 Wilmington, NC 28411 910-681-1140 Waterford 143 Poole Road Belville, NC 28451 910-399-6739 CAPEFEARSEAFOODCOMPANY.COM

43% votes

they event will have raffle items, a DJ, snacks and drinks, and other freebies. The event takes place March 15, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Aside from its popular clothes, the store has hundreds of surf boards and skate boards for sale, too. For folks who don’t want to purchase a board, they do have surf board rentals, body board, and SUP rentals, as well, for a day, half-day or even by the week. They also can point folks in the right director for recommended surf lessons.

Pros who want to show off their technique can go ahead and mark August 17 - 19 as the dates for their annual O’Neill/Sweetwater PRO-AM (keep up to date on the event at www.sweetwatersurfshop.com).

Sweetwater has been taking home the “e” for more than a decade now, with the last eight wins coming consecutively. Bourgeois attests their popularity to offering great products and deals, but also because they family-owned establishment focuses on community and events.

“We will have a Soft Top Surf contest at the end of April,” she teases. “The date is yet to be determined.”

Other surf shops riding the waves onto our poll are Hot Wax (30%) and South End Surf Shop (27%).

NEWSCASTER: FRANCES WELLER Sitting down before, after or during dinner for the local news, night after night, is a part of many household routines. In Wilmington loyal viewers continue to trust and welcome WECT’s Frances Weller into their homes to

41% votes

deliver news of the day.

“I love the fact we are given the responsibility of informing our viewers about what’s going on in our community, state, nation and world,” Frances Weller says.

very grateful.”

arts, media, entertainment

WECT (NBC affiliate) has been a broadcasting staple in the area for decades. Weller is partial to their “Plaid Pack” reports as of late, which are monthly segments to spotlight different cancers. Sponsored

by New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Weller produces four reports a month that include educational and informative testimonials from people impacted by various cancers. The goal is to spread awareness. “We give out actual Plaid Packs of useful information,” she adds. “The packs are given out by request.”

As of late, reporting on the opioid epidemic has proven to be one of the greatest challenges in Weller’s years on the job. A 2016 study found Wilmington to be the number one city in opioid addiction. Weller and company continue to dig for answers on how it’s affecting the community and more so how to end it.

WELLER WINS: Frances Wellers scores another Best Newscaster win for the Best Newscast in Wilmington, WECT. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

NEWSCAST: WECT It seems we can no longer talk about journalism these days without someone crying “fake news!” It was a trend and challenge WECT’s news director, Scott Saxton, acknowledged last year. It continues to challenge his news team to rise above, even as they pick up another Best Local Newscast “e” for 2018. Saxton says they never rest on their laurels.

“We need to make sure we are solid in our information and we are confident in what we are reporting,” he says. “Consistency helps. People know what to expect from us. I can’t get in everyone’s minds, but I think now more than ever there is great confusion about what is real and what is fake, in terms of information sharing. Social media has created an industry of fake news that makes it hard at times to even agree on a basic set of facts.”

Still, locals know WECT’s team lives here, and shares the same frustrations and celebrates the same wins as the community on which they report. Saxton felt a particular sense of pride they offered with coverage of last year’s Wells Fargo Golf Championship because of its impact on greater Wilmington. Pooling all their resources to bring as many angles and as much compelling content as possible, Saxton is most amazed by the teamwork his group shows during major weather events.

“While we were fortunate enough to not have a hurricane in our region last season, we had some close calls,” he remembers. “There is the commitment on behalf of our meteorologists to make sure our community is prepared.”

WECT is hard at work trying to find answers with their investigative assignments. For exam-

“I’m deeply honored to win this award,. I laughingly say the encore awards are our version of the Academy Awards. The pride in receiving that plaque, in my book, is in line with being awarded an Oscar. I am

As well, WECT is producing a documentary set to debut on April 4—the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination.

“The documentary will highlight the fact Dr. King was scheduled to be in Wilmington the night he was killed,” Weller details. “We hope to circulate the documentary in area schools for educational purposes.”

Away from the anchor desk, Weller is known for her community involvement, a la Fran’s Fans and Weller’s Wheels. It strengthens her connections to local viewers but more so the community at large. Yet, she gives credit to the entire news team for their dedication to Wilmington news.

“We have a great team that works hard to deliver a quality broadcast,” Weller adds.

“We are the trusted station and we’re extremely proud of that position. . . . [We] report the facts. Our viewers have built a trust and that’s invaluable to my tenure.”

WECT’s Jon Evans (36%) and WWAY’s Randy Aldridge (23%) also made our readers’ poll for Best Local Newscaster

70% votes ple, Casey Roman’s “Fly A Sign” spent time getting to know who citizens often see on side of the road with signs asking for money, work or any helping hand. “Her approach was compassionate but also illuminating,” Saxton tells.

“As journalists, we are charged with giving voice to communities that may not be typically heard. By shining light on issues in our community, we can help lead to a greater understanding and a better place to live.”

With changing lifestyles, Saxton acknowledges people don’t consume their news the same way as they used to. Rather than sitting down at 6 p.m. each evening, they can (and often do) absorb headlines anywhere from the palm of their hands. “That’s a big challenge!” he explains. “This is not the same industry it was in 2008 or 1998. You have to be willing to adapt and anticipate change to be a success.”

WECT also has new leadership under Vice President and General Manager Mark Mendenhall, who is a 20-year veteran on the business side of broadcast. They plan to build upon their ROKU channel and reach customers through the Amazon Echo this year. “We continue to add products onto new delivery systems,” Saxton adds. “We are also working on many long-form stories that don’t necessarily fit into the traditional newscast setting.”

Viewers may tune into morning, midday or evening newscasts on TV, or read and watch the latest stories posted daily to www. wect.com, Facebook, Twitter and social media apps.

News consumers also tune into WWAY (33%) and WSFX (7%) for Best Newscast.

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 37

food & beverage PHILLY CHEESESTEAK: J. MICHAEL’S PHILLY DELI The Philly cheesesteak is a quintessential American classic that can cause quite a few uproars and battles when debating who has the best. Though we aren’t on “Cheesesteak Row” in South Philly, where half the neighborhood goes to Geno’s and the other half to Pat’s, we do have three eateries battling for the title Best Cheesesteak on the encore readers’ poll: The Copper Penny, Port City Cheesesteak and J. Michael’s Philly Deli. The latter takes home the inaugural category win for its almost 40-year run on Wilmington’s restaurant scene.

We are excited to be a part of this as we are an old Wilmington company,” J. Michael Huston says. “I was checking on the longevity of some of our employees and we have over 600 years of experience—some of our staff has been with us for over 37 years. That’s pretty amazing!”

“The Philly Deli,” as it’s known to locals in ILM, has been in business since 1979, with its first store opening in Wilmington’s oldest shopping center, New Hanover Center. The flagship store still serves folks daily, with Monkey Junction and Porter’s Neck locations being added over the years. “We are honored Wilmington has recognized our restaurant for the best cheesesteak,” Huston says. “We take great pride in our products.”

In fact, J. Michael’s orders rolls directly from a 114-year-old business outside of Philadelphia, the Amoroso Baking Co. They’re wellknown and respected for their bread that cuddles the custom-sliced steaks, like the ones J. Michael’s uses

Island Passage Elixir 4 Market Street • 910.762.0484 Island Passage Lumina Station 1900 Eastwood Rd. • 910.256.0407 Return Passage 302 N. Front Street • 910.343.1627 38 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

“Our meat is from the highest grades of beef,” Huston adds. And while folks up north may prefer the fermented Cheese Wiz on their steaks, in ILM, J. Michael’s custom blends and creates his own sauce. “We use a special blend of block white cheeses shredded and melted to a creamy texture so that can be then poured over each sandwich.”

Folks who don’t eat red meat can opt for thinly sliced chicken or even go for a “veggie steak” version of the Philly. Plus, J. Michael’s has added to their menu over the years so folks of all appetites can enjoy something.

They have hoagies and grinders, combined with a variety of meats and cheeses, and loaded with lettuce, tomato and onions, oil and vinegar and spices.

“Hoagies are served cool and grinders are bake in the oven,” Huston explains. “We also

45% votes

HOW SWEET: Kristen Broome and Daniel Eiler accept the awards for Apple Annie’s. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

have wonderful salads—chef salad, chicken salad, tuna salad and egg salad, all made in house.”

For carb-watchers, J. Michael’s does any of their Phillies on a salad, so the bread can be sidelined for a thinner waistline.

They do soups, like French onion, broccoli and cheese, potato and bacon, and chicken noodle. And, of course, they have a Philly chili. “We plan on running weekly specials on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday with some fantastic deals for lunch combos, saving our customers much money for a limited time beginning next month,” he says.

Aside from serving lunch and dinner seven days a week, and overseeing three restaurants, Huston makes time to give back to his community at large any chance he can. He works closely with PTAs in the NHC school system and does promo nights to raise money for their activities.

“We also help at the public school level with the program called ‘occupational course of study,” he explains, “where students from local schools come in and work in our restaurant to develop tools to help them when they graduate from school and go to the workplace. It has been very successful and we have actually hired several of these fine students.”

Huston has served on the board of the Domestic Violence Shelter and Services for over 28 years, and at Philly Deli they recognize veterans with discounts, as well as first responders, Boomers and nonprofits organizations.

The Copper Penny (41%) piled onto the poll alongside Port City Cheesesteak (14%).

THAI, RESTAURANT OVERALL, ATMOSPHERE: INDOCHINE

71% votes

55% votes

48% votes

What could possibly be added to the “I constantly rotate my huge collection of menu of Indochine Thai and Vietnamese paintings by well-known artists and I am always that doesn’t tantalize already? Well, Korean on the hunt for new and interesting statues to dishes, for one. bring from Vietnam,” she details. “I was blessed “I love experimenting with both traditional to have the life experience of being raised in and trendy entrees from all over the world,” In- both Saigon and France. I was always fascidochine owner Solange Thompson says. “We nated with the local interior design and with food recently added Japchae, a Korean stir-fry dish, styling. That fascination has been translated into what you experience when you walk through the to our lunch specials menu.” doors of Indochine. I love to fine-tune the design Thompson’s attention to every detail at In- of our dining rooms, garden and dishes.” dochine is what keeps it topping the encore While the restaurant itself is beholden of polls year in, year out. For 17 years now, they’ve won the Best Thai Cuisine and for beauty and serenity, the food keeps diners hap12 Best Atmosphere and Best Restaurant pily sated and returning. Naturally, Thompson Overall. Their full parking lot of diners, day orders only the highest quality ingredients that and night, every day of the week, is indication her chefs from all over the world utilize to cull enough their popularity is beyond a mere poll appetizing curries, noodle dishes, soups, sushi, and specialty creations. of voters; its citywide.

“Our Thai curry continues to be one of the “We have added a new deck in our garden for guests to enjoy cocktails while waiting for a most popular items on our menu,” Thompson tells. “The roasted duck with red curry features table,” Thompson says. marinated duck, pineapple, lychee and tomato, Born in Vietnam, Thompson has been a and pairs beautifully with the medium spice of Wilmington restaurateur for numerous de- the coconut curry to create a dynamite dish. This cades now, operating smaller eateries in the is a staff favorite. Of course, our Pad Thai is a ‘80s and ‘90s before opening Indochine at 7 fan favorite and our Vietnamese pork meatballs Wayne Drive in 2000. She has evolved the continue to impress.” restaurant over many years of honing the Indochine is a family affair as well, wherein menu to perfection, training a staff in the most professional manner, and expanding the din- every staff member becomes an extension of the love Thompson and her daughter, manager ing area into an outdoor oasis.

Marie Bartsch, have for the business. Just the “I do research during my travels to find what same, Thompson’s sister, niece and nephew is trending in both Vietnam and Thailand, so I work at the establishment to, with family memcan bring that aesthetic back to Wilmington,” bers often coming by for tea. It’s a hub for family, she tells. in fact, and it extends to their customers.

It shows in the restaurant, which looks like “This familiarity with our guests and our staff more like a history or art museum. They have contributes to them being very loyal to us in artifacts from around the world, plus hand- return,” Thompson praises. “We try to keep our painted murals in the garden, all accompanied finger on the pulse of Wilmington and what our by traditional Asian music constantly on rota- customers want and need and then give that tion throughout the restaurant’s numerous in- to them.” door and outdoor eating areas.

biscuits, diner: dixie grill Dixie Gril has been a staple of Wilmington’s dining scene for many decades now, and its popularity continues to soar for its diner vibe and its hot breakfast items, including their homemade biscuits. It makes sense it continues to get numerous hits on encore’s readers’ poll, year in, year out. 2018 welcomes two wins for the downtown Market Street eatery: Best Diner and Best Biscuits.

With its laid back atmosphere, it’s no wonder waiting lines pour onto the cobblestone streets on weekends, as diners look to nosh on their famed items, like Louisiana hash and bacon-cheddar scramble. However, one’s mistaken not to try their cheesy shrimp and grits,topped with crispy bacon, shrimp, Roma tomatoes, and scallions served with an eggs and a biscuit. The buttermilk fluff of their crumb tastes lip-smacking good, gobbed with butter nonetheless. And their banana-pecan French toast will leave mouths watering with honey-roasted pecans and bananas layered between maple syrup.

36% votes

17 YEARS OF WINNING: The crew at Indochine are 17 years strong on the Best Of poll and continue their run in 2018. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

As well, they go beyond the norm of viewing Indochine as merely a restaurant. It’s home.

And they nourish it as such, which means they aren’t looking to expanding into more than one location any time soon.

“We do not want to ever spread ourselves too thin,” Thompson divulges. “We just want to do our best at this one location and provide a beautiful and unique experience for our guests. It has evolved over the years to

become a one-of-a-kind atmosphere. It has developed organically with the help of many creative and talented employees . . . At times the restaurant industry can be high stress and thankless. They stick with me long term. And that is the highest compliment. I try to reward their hard work and loyalty as often as possible.

I am thankful for them.”

Other eateries taking votes in Thai category are Southern Thai (14%) and Thai Spice (15%), with Restaurant Overall votes going to Rx (23%) and Cast Iron Kitchen (22%), and Atmosphere going to Smoke on the Water (27%) and Bluewater Waterfront Grill (25%).

36% votes

While breakfast and biscuits top the Southern vibe of the menu, their lunch menu also keeps diners happily sated. A Dixie Burger tempts every tastebud, grilled on the flat top and served a variety of ways, whether traditionally topped with lettuce, tomato and onion, or packed to the nine in their Stafford Burger, made with apple-sage pork, sausage, and ground sirloin. And did we mention they have a bar? They offer $5 mimosas and Bloody Marys, as well as beer and wine to take the diner experience to new levels of enjoyment.

Led by chef and owner Brian Mayberry (who also just opened Roadhouse on Wrightsville Avenue and Capricho taco stand in downtown Wilmington), every order comes with careful attention and lots of savory scrumptiousness.

Other diners on the poll include Jimbo’s (41%) and White Front (14%), while other biscuit contenders are Rise (30%) and Spoonfed Kitchen and Bake Shop (13%).

3 locations to serve you Hanover Center 3501 Oleander Drive 910-763-6466

Monkey Junction 609 Piner Rd 910-332-5555

Porters Neck 8232 Market Street 910-686-0070

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 39

BEST SEAFOOD:

60% votes

CAPE FEAR SEAFOOD COMPANY We all know living near the coast has its perks. There’s the weather, the watersports and, of course, fresh seafood. Essentially, we can get tuna and mahi that was swimming in our ocean just hours earlier at the flit of a wrist. According to our readers, the best place in town to take advantage of the freshest fish and seafood, made in a variety of ways, is at one of three local Cape Fear Seafood Companies.

Founded in 2008 by husband-and-wife team Evans and Nikki Trawick, with a single location in Monkey Junction, Cape Fear Seafood Company can now be found in Waterford and Porters Neck, too. According to Evans, each location has its own unique twist as a result of their talented head chefs.

Chef Christopher Estelle in Monkey Junction has an Asian/Cajun background and comes up with top-notch specials in the company, while Jeremy Black in Waterford “can cook a piece of fish like nobody’s business,” according to Trawick. Black just sold out two back-to-back Italian-themed wine dinners, which the restaurant occasionally hosts at its locations.

“Chef Bret Chamberlain in Porters Neck is the newest addition to our culinary team,” Trawick adds. “He brings with him an affinity for knives and a little Southwest flair to our Southern style.”

One of the best ways to find out what to order on a first visit to a Cape Fear Seafood Company is to ask the owner. Trawick says his go-tos are the shrimp and grits and the fresh catch. “If I am feeling adventurous, I will choose one of the wonderful specials from any of our kitchens.”

In coming months, Trawick says each of his locations will be offering seasonal spe-

cials, and this includes the cocktail list, too. They will be adding watermelon martinis with fresh fruits, and the food will always come with the freshest ingredients from land and sea. Trawick invites customers to check out their new menu, which just was put into effect in December.

“We’ve added housesmoked salmon cakes over fettuccine with a lemon-dill sauce, and a lobster and shrimp risotto dish that is out of this world,” he tells.

Trawick’s company also gives back to the community by working with various charities throughout the year, such as the American Heart Association. “My daughter Ande was born with HLHS 3 1/2 years ago,” he reveals, “and it has changed not only the way my family looks at life but my also the views of my extended 20-PLUS YEAR WIN: P.T.’s keeps topping our poll for Best Burger and Best Fries, as accepted by Aaron CSFC family as well.”

Biermann, Brandon Cheek and Zack Biermann. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography.

As for his restaurant’s multiple awards, including the past three accolades for Best Seafood on our poll, Trawick is full of gratitude and support from over the past decade.

55% 58% BURGERS AND FRENCH FRIES: “People like to see the awards when they’re vo vo te tes s dining with us,” he says. “I think it reinforces P.T.’S OLDE-FASHIONED GRILLE what they already know: CFSC is best place for seafood in southeastern NC.” When I arrived for the first time in the best possible way, and the toppings Other seafood restaurants hooking votes Wilmington in 1998, it was part of a re- were crisp and cold to contrast the beefy come from Catch Modern Seafood (30%) and cruiting trip. The UNCW Swim Team heat. The hand-cut fries were dusted with The Boathouse (10%). wanted to bring me to the coast. While I what’s become P.T.’s famed lemon-pepwas staying with the team in the dorms, per seasoning, something I had not tasted they said they were taking me to P.T.’s— before on a fried spud. a burger place. They also said I was goSince then, P.T.’s has grown to seven ing to like it enough to enroll at UNCW location and even has a food truck that the following year. goes to UNCW, which is making many a

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The team talked about P.T.’s as if it was the only restaurant in town serving up burgers, dogs, turkey, roast beef and grilled chicken sandwiches, even grilled cheeses. It was a simple but effective menu—and the team seemed offended I hadn’t heard about it from my hometown of Atlanta.

We traveled the short distance from campus to the flagship location on Fountain Drive. They purchased a pitcher of beer (I was not allowed to drink since I was 17 and under the careful supervision of college athletes who always followed the rules), and then they pointed to pads of paper menus strewn along the counter. I picked up the pencil and began circling menu items and toppings and sides for my burger. The atmosphere was casual, the restaurant was packed, and the staff was working the grill with precision.

I was impressed with the scene, but not as impressed as I was with the food. The burger was perfectly greasy in

student, once like myself, happy to have found such a gem. Based off Raleigh’s famed walkup window, Char-grill, P.T.’s burger many be a mainstay, but so is their hotdog. They’re butterflied, grilled crispy, and served on a hoagie bun.

Perhaps the reason they’ve only been beat out on encore’s poll once over the last 20 years is because they keep everything consistent. Little has changed on the menu since they opened 27 years ago, aside from the addition of vegetarian items to meet the growing dietary needs of its customers. Now when I visit P.T.’s, the experience is exactly the same as it was when I was a teen: a Wilmington institution.

Other burger joints flipping a vote on the poll come from Winnie’s Tavern (34%) and Tazy’s Burger and Grill (11%), while fries’ votes go to The Copper Penny (30%) and Brasserie du Soleil (12%).

photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 41

BREAKFAST: CAST IRON KITCHEN As the saying goes, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...”

Cast Iron Kitchen took home Best New Restaurant in 2017, and they’re continuing their winning pace to serve Wilmingtonians the absolute Best Breakfast, according to encore readers. In fact, breakfast is what they’re best known for, as they serve it from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sundays.

They source almost all their food from NC famers, fisherman and regional/local businesses to ensure they’re getting the freshest home-grown and cultivated items delivered straight to their customers’ tables. Actually, chef Josh Petty just unveiled his new menu three weeks ago and will continue to change it up around the end of spring, while keeping his favorites from the original menu and doling out seasonal dishes. The grub is so praised, they got a visit from one Guy Fieri at the end of January, when the Food Network star visited while doing charity fundraisers for GLOW. “We are looking forward to the airing of that show,” Petty says (dates for CIK have yet to be announced as of press time). “It showcases two of our menu favorites, The Dirty South Biscuit (served with Southern fried chicken tenderloin, bacon, runny egg, Muenster and pepper Jack cheeses, topped with sausage gravy) and Not My Momma’s

49% votes

Meatloaf Sandwich.”

Other customer faves come with the Southern staple shrimp and grits, as well as a red-eye pulled pork hash, served with eggs, pickled sweet peppers and Texas Pete hollandaise, and of course chicken and waffles.

Petty, who is seeped in the tradition of Southern cuisine but inspired by creatively updating it, will introduce a spin on Southern fried chicken, “using duck confit and deep frying it crispy, with local honey and fried cheese grits,” he explains.

Not a breakfast person? No problem, CIK offers so much more.

“Ironically, breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day and I rarely eat eggs,” Petty confesses. “That is why you can get breakfast, brunch and lunch anytime you are dining with us. My breakfast of champions would be a bacon cheeseburger with pimiento cheese, red onion, arugula and sweet and smokey BBQ sauce (egg maybe, just depends on the day).”

Lines often trail out of the Porters Neck restaurant, especially on weekends. To help man them and the wait time, CIK has installed a new guest manager system that will alert customers of the wait time and their place on the waiting list.

“Also we are working on unveiling a new area for our customers to wait on the week-

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER: encore’s Best Breakfast has a new winner in town: Cast Iron Kitchen, whose staff above, with owners Josh and Drea Petty (far left), celebrating at the annual Best Of party on Feb. 24 at Brooklyn Arts Center. Photo by Chris Brehmer Photography

ends,” he tells. “We are toying with the idea of a super micro market that features maybe one or two local artists, craftsmen, farmers, or a beverage company. We hope this will make the wait even more worth it and easier on our guests.”

Their appeal to a broad audience of all ages—whether tourists, locals or foodies—really inspires the CIK crew to up the ante with every diner’s experience. Petty says a quick compliment goes a long way in the food industry, which is always mired by a lot of moving parts.

“One of the best things about being the chef

and owner of CIK is when I see a guest looking all around and admiring the time and effort it took to create a dining room with character and a menu that has food to match that look and feel,” he tells. “The times a guest comes to the window or the kitchen door to thank us for a good experience [makes it worth it.] My family and staff at CIK makes me feel very privileged to do what I do. . . . Also, watch out next year we are going back to back Best Breakfast and sights set on Best Brunch, too.

Other breakfast houses racking up the numbers include Dixie Grill (35%) and Bon Appetite (16%).

FRENCH RESTAURANT: CAPRICE BISTRO “We would like to thank the community, our loyal customers, family and friends for voting us #1 best place to buy a preowned vehicle.”

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Our goal is to have the cleanest, nicest used cars at the best prices, along with making the buying process simple, easy, and transparent.

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NO HASSLE PRICING • SAVE BIG 6003 Market St. • (910) 792-6100 www.autowholesalenc.com 42 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

Nothing says délicieux better than fresh mussels in white wine and butter, thyme and lemon, or handmade pâté and salmon rilletes, served with a bold French wine and a basket of pomme frites. It can all be found at Wilmington’s Best French Restaurant, Caprice Bistro.

Located in the heart of downtown at the foot of Market Street, Thierry and Patricia Moity opened Caprice a few decades ago after running famed eateries like Patou Bistro in Charlotte, NC, and Cafe de Bruxelles in New York City.

With Patrician from the northern part of France near Belgium and Thierry from its central provinces, they strive to make cuisine that’s delectable without being intimidating. “Cooking is what I love most,” Chef Thierry tells us. It’s evident in every bite of their menu, whether enjoying a plate of fine cheeses and charcuterie, or sopping French baguette in their classic Waterzooi, an old standby, filled with an assortment of fish and seafood in a herb cream broth.

41% votes

them confidence to dine with us,” Chef Thierry tells of the numerous “e’s” they’ve collected over the years. Adding to their accolades is 2018’s Top 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the country, according to OpenTable. Whether dining downstairs in a cozy area, decorated with traditional white table cloths, or upstairs in their wine bar and lounge, punctuated by changing art on the walls and funky, metal tables and velvet, deep-hued couches, every seat in the house will be accompanied by unmatched cuisine and fine service.

While classic French cuisine always can be expected from the Moities, they source local produce whenever possible to make sure whatever diners order, it’s of the best ingredients. Special dinner menus prevail during Valentine’s, Bastille Day, and even Halloween. And their cocktail program will always impress, thanks to the mixologists behind the pine who pair just as many interesting flavors in a rocks glass as what’s delivered on every plate.

Other French eateries grabbing votes include Brasserie du Soleil (33%) and Our “People look at our awards and realize Crepes and More (26%) we have been here a long time, and it gives

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EXTRA>>BOOKS

CARPE LIBRUM

Nicholas Sparks books are like the Disney version of love stories

BY: GWENYFAR ROHLER

W

ilmington’s literary community keeps gaining accolades (two National Book Awards nominees in 2015) and attention in the press. With multiple established publishers in the state (Algonquin, Blair) and new smaller presses gaining traction (Eno, Bull City), it is timely to shine a light on discussions around literature, publishing and the importance of communicating a truthful story in our present world.

masculine emotions in the books.

I finally sat down and read my first Nicholas Sparks book last week. I selected “Message in a Bottle” because the heroes’ story is set in and around the Wilmington beaches, the timing with the bottle turning up on an Australian beach was a sort of eerie and unexpected treat.

The story begins with the heroine, Theresa Osborne, finding a message in a bottle on a beach in Cape Cod. It contains a heartrending letter written by a man to the woman he loves. Theresa is recently divorced and has primary custody of her son. It makes dating and the desire to get involved again with a man less than ideal. As the saying goes: Once bitten, twice shy. But the letter gets under her skin.

Welcome to Carpe Librum, encore’s biweekly book column, wherein I will dissect a current title or an old book—because literature does not exist in a vacuum but emerges to participate in a larger, cultural conversation. I will feature many NC writers; however, the hope is to place the discussion Using the resources of her job at the in a larger context and therefore examine Boston newspaper, she tracks the writer works around the world. to a small diving store near Wilmington, NC. Within a few days, she is stepping off the plane and browsing his store. He is, Message in a Bottle of course, gorgeous, reserved, tortured, Nicholas Sparks and deeply in love with his deceased Grand Central Publishing, 1998 “It was a day like any other day for me.” wife, but intrigued by a beautiful woman Brayden poured cream into a cup of decaf invading his world.

coffee and looked at Kitty. “I showed up for Commence romantic journey in stunningwork at the production office at 8 a.m. I had ly beautiful beach setting. no idea what had happened.”

I am late to the Nicholas Sparks party, but Last week The New York Times reported I now understand why the recipe for sucon the recovery on what is believed to be cess has borne so much fruit. To a certain the oldest message in a bottle on an Aus- extent, it is Disney World in book form: Evtralian beach. 131 years ago the bottle, eryone is beautiful, prosperous, and in spite with a rolled up piece of paper inside, was of their flaws (which will teach them and dropped off the side of a German ship. make them grow), they will find a love that Apparently, it was a common practice at will last eternity. the time. The message inside indicated They are modern-day fairy-tale romancwhere the ship was when the message es, filled with flourishes that can become was dropped into the ocean and requested amulets and talismans for people so easily: whomever finds it to contact the German an unexpected discovery of a bottle, a letter Naval Observatory or nearest German to a lost love, and in this book, a boat lovConsulate about the location of the find. ingly restored by hand. These are important The story in the paper got me thinking markers in our human journey. They let us about the book “Message in a Bottle,” by know who we are and remind us we can Nicholas Sparks, who lives in New Bern, continue to touch the past when we need it.

NC. Arguably Mr. Sparks is one of the I am not really the intended audience most commercially successful writers in for Nicholas Sparks’ work, but I am a very our state. His books have been turned into grateful recipient of his largess. As a result big-budget films, starring A-list actors (Paul of his books and subsequent films, we see a Newman, Robin Wright, Kevin Costner all constant stream of visitors to our area who appeared in the film adaptation of “Messpend money to take the Hollywood Locasage in a Bottle”). The films have provided tion Walking Tour, buy his books, stay in loincredible, ongoing tourist traffic from fans cal accommodations, eat here, and scoop who come to see the filming locations, and up souvenirs. The number of times a month walk the beaches where Sparks brooding I hear myself say “Fiction A through B and heroes sort out their deeply complicated,

release. But there it is: the stream of Sparks fans who come through town and leave their money here.

I do wish the NC legislature could understand how a very small business benefits from the initial rental of props for a film to its long-term tourism. Case in point: There is another “One Tree Hill” convention coming to the area this month. People from all over the world will flock here to stay and spend money, all to celebrate the show.

One of the cornerstones of Sparks’ work is the stunning scenery of coastal NC; he absolutely highlights it in his work. For all the lovers appear to be, the center of the story in “Message in a Bottle,” Wilmington and our surrounding beaches, are really the star—dunes, tides, sand, water, sun, moon, all comprising Wrightsville and Carolina beaches and the beautiful, mysterious underwater world of scuba diving. For readers around the globe, Sparks rekindles a belief in eternal love, but for the residents part of C was all rented for ‘Safe Haven,’” is of our coast, he has given us the more tanstill startlingly high, five years after the film’s gible gift of tourism dollars.

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CROSSWORD

Creators syndiCate CREATORS SYNDICATE © 2017 STANLEY NEWMAN

WWW.STANXWORDS.COM

4/23/17

THE NEWSDAY CROSSWORD

Edited by Stanley Newman (www.StanXwords.com)

THE SOONER YOU KNOW: Oklahoma-born notables

by Mark McClain ACROSS 1 The Simpsons shop owner 4 Four Corners state 8 Remini of The King of Queens 12 Constrict 17 Muffin flavor 18 Trivial 19 City west of Montgomery 20 Diva’s gig 21 Da Vinci Code director 23 Iraq invasion commander 25 How some ales are served 26 “Get your mitts off me!”

28 Logically sound 29 Most populous NATO member 30 Hunters’ org.

32 Naval commando 33 Govt. interest-paying investments 35 “This Land Is Your Land” songwriter 40 Contingencies 41 Surrender, so to speak 45 Quaint lodgings 46 Possible 51 Down cause 47 At the drop of __ 49 Affected emotionally 50 Born: Fr. 51 Minor misstatement 52 Literary category 54 Nixes 55 Mexican saloons 58 Country music superstar 61 Church official 62 Capture 64 Olympian forger 65 Hi-speed Internet service 66 Oil company, often 69 Two-part state

72 Hosp. tubes 75 Newest American Leaguers 77 Qt. fractions 78 Casino call 82 New York Yankees great 86 Escalator alternative 88 Pied-__ (second home) 89 “Work __ for yourself” 91 Intention 92 Word before show or sheet 93 Extreme enthusiasm 94 Family diagram 96 Christians of Egypt 98 Prefix meaning “soil” 99 Stage scenery 100 Fannie __ 101 Invisible Man author 104 Pitchfork parts 107 South American capital 108 Occupational suffix 109 Center starter 112 Absorb a loss 113 “__ you!” (“Make my day!”)

115 Players for runners 119 Country music superstar 122 Retail chain founder 124 Maui greeting 125 In the dark 126 Hefty volume 127 It means “air” 128 Star in Cygnus 129 Teachers’ deg.

130 Caviar source 131 “__-hoo!”

DOWN 1 Elvis __ Presley 2 Huff and puff 3 Releases, in melodramas 4 Ore diggers’ org.

5 Shade close to aqua 6 Keeps from spreading

Sunday

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TueSday

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72 73 74 76 79 80 81 83

Mosque officials Brief bios Unseen trail __-mo camera Nest material Grand-scale Keep an __ (monitor) Crunchy, in brand names 84 Distinctive period 85 “Father of Geometry” 87 Two-sided store section

90 Sailboat rigging supporters 94 Something thrown in anger 95 Sales districts 97 Ancient kilt-wearing ruler 98 Song’s broadcast exposure 100 Old Testament kingdom 102 In-crowd 103 Sci-fi princess 105 Get-well process

106 109 110 111 114 116 117 118 120 121 123

Made off with “By Jove!”

Blanched Nutrient in spinach Hermione in the Potter films Bulldog of the comics Major-__ __-Caps (cinema candy) Der, auf Englisch Be jocular Merge

Reach Stan Newman at P.O. Box 69, Massapequa Park, NY 11762, or at www.StanXwords.com WedneSday

737 3rd street $5 Mimosa $5 Bloody Mary 1/2 Price Wine

Monday

7 Wonderland croquet ball 8 Novelist Tolstoy 9 Horror film series addr.

10 Hydrogen/nitrogen compound 11 Barn area 12 Throng 13 UV index monitor 14 Outdoor blackboard info 15 Rankles 16 The Martian agency 17 Homie 19 Smirnoff rival 22 Nashville venue, for short 24 Is aptly sized 27 Acquire, as awards 31 Request for repetition 34 Composer Joplin 35 Flinch 36 300+-lb. NBA great 37 Nonstop 38 Study of cities 39 Tiny headphone 42 Don’t go to 43 Turns suddenly 44 Henry Ford II’s dad 48 Get well 49 Leaders of patriarchies 51 Combustion 53 L. Mead locale 54 Start of an ancient boast 56 TelePromp__ 57 Year-end temp job 59 Exams for would-be drs.

60 Fullerton campus 63 Name on 2016 bumper stickers 67 Kellerman of whodunits 68 Sussex scoundrel 70 Wooden wedge 71 Erstwhile space station

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HAPPENINGS & EVENTS ACROSS WILMINGTON

TO-DO CALENDAR

events

STARNEWS MEDIA THEATRE AWARDS

Mar. 14, 7:30pm: Seventh annual show honoring and celebrating Wilmington’s theater community. In addition to award presentations, the show will feature performances from the Best Play and Best Musical nominees. Chandler Davis hosts, and longtime area costumer Peggy Farrell will receive the Lela Thompson Award for Enduring Contribution to Wilmington Theater. 910-632-2285 or ThalianHall.org.

Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St.

DOWNTOWN ILM ST PAT’S DAY

Mar. 18: Guinness St. Patrick’s Day Festival and the Friends of the Hibernians Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade kick off with hour-long parade at 11am. Route starts off South on North Front, at Red Cross, bringing it south, then down Princess St. to Water, and then South, ending at Dock St. At noon, the festival begins at Riverfront Park, on Water St., in front of the Federal Building. Free and open to all, with live music from The Malones and Striking Copper. Irish dancers, cultural vendors, and food and beer sales. Traditional Irish dancing by the Walsh Kelly School of Irish Dance.

Parade: Steve McEnaney at (910)686-5498 or Steveandconniemc@aol.com. Festival: Chris Andrews at (216)374-8884 or citybuddha@hotmail.com.

ST. PATTY’S AT WBB

Mar. 17, 3pm: Dubtown Cosmonauts are throwing a day party in collaboration with Wrightsville Beach Brewery on St. Patrick’s Day Saturday.

Free outdoor concert from 3pm to 6pm with two full sets from local Wilmington jam band, The Dubtown Cosmonauts! Band’s first time performing at WB Brewery, which will serve fresh, local brews manufactured right here in town.

Daily specials, St. Patty’s Day party! Wrightsville Beach Brewery, 6201 Oleander Dr.

charity/fundraiser.

THIRD DREAM BUILDERS: ARTISTS WHO INSPIRE

Featuring visual art and performances from the amazing teaching artists of DREAMS of Wilmington, a nonprofit dedicated to serving youth in need through high-quality,free-ofcharge arts programming. Exhibit Opening and Reception: March 9, 6pm; performance at 7pm. On display through Apr. 15 in The Ruth & Bucky Stein Theatre at Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St.

GAME DAY FOR EDUCATION

Mar. 15, 10:30am: Enjoy a fun filled day playing the game of your choice—Mah Jongg, Bridge, Canasta, Mexican Train or any other game of your choosing. Bring the game of your choice with you. Lunch, snacks and beverages will be provided. Tables are limited. $30 per person. St. Andrews on the Sound Episcopal Church at 101 Airlie Road. Mail your check payable to AAUW and send to Lill Van Order, 5902 Chester St., Wilmington, NC 28405 or contact her at 910-313-1573. Fifty percent of the ticket price is tax-deductible.

EMPTY BOWLS

Mar. 16, 11am: Empty Bowls is a biannual event to benefit Good Shepherd Center and Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, two local organizations who work year round to feed our hungry neighbors in the tri-county area.

Guests will enjoy a delicious bowl of soup prepared by the participating local restaurants, served by local celebrity server. Each ticket holder will then get to select a unique, handcrafted pottery bowl made and donated by local artists to take home as a functional piece of art and keepsake from a very special fundraiser. To go options are available for guests who need to get in and out quickly! Check our Facebook page for a list of the participating restaurants, local celebrity servers, and ticket sales locations. Tickets on sale now.

1939 Independence Blvd. www.goodshepherdwilmington.org/2017/12/empty-bowlsmarch-16-2018/

ISAAC BEAR EARLY COLLEGE SPRING FLING

Mar. 16, 5pm: SUMO wrestling, indoor paintless paintball, games, prizes, silent auctions, raffle, food and above all lots of FUN! We are open to the public so by all means bring lots of your friends. Spring Fling raises funds for the PTSA summer enrichment scholarship program which helps provide financial assistance for students to pursue their academic dreams. $5/person. Food/drink is available at additional cost. St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, 612 S College Rd.

WALK WITH A DOC

48 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

Mar. 17, 9am: Join us the 3rd Saturday of every month at 9am for a fun and healthy walk--held at the Midtown YMCA. Each walk beings with a brief physician-led discussion of a current health topic, then he/she spends time walking, answering questions and talking with walkers.

Choose your own pace and distance. Free and open to anyone. YMCA MIdtown, George Anderson Drive

music/concerts MUSIC CRUISES

Mar. 15, 6:30pm: Join Wilmington Water Tours for a 90 min Sunset Cruise on the Cape Fear River. The sunsets on the Cape Fear River rarely disappoints! Enjoy the sunset, sip on a drink from our full bar, while listening to music by local musician Jenny Pearson! • Mar. 17: Monica Jane. Tickets are $27. Reservations are recommended. Make a reservation either online at www.wilmingtonwatertours.net or call us at (910) 338-3134. Wilmington Water Tours, 212 S. Water St.

ESPRESSO YOURSELF/COFFEE-OKE

Mar. 15, 7pm: Espresso Yourself at Coffee-Oke & Open Mic hosted by Morning Glory Coffeehouse. Every Thursday from 7-9 pm, bring your friends, family, and talent! All ages. Morning Glory Coffeehouse, 1415 Dawson St.

DAUGHTRY

Mar. 17, 7:30pm: Music on Market Concert at St. Andrews-Covenant inn Wilmington, NC, features the Annie Moses Band, the classicalcrossover ensemble of six siblings known for their expert string playing, eclectic vocals and diverse arrangements. Musical styles include classical, Americana, progressive folk, and jazz. St. Andrews-Covenant Presbyterian Church, 1416 Market St.

AT

THIRD COAST PERCUSSION

Mar. 18, 2pm; Mar. 20, 7:30pm: Third Coast Percussion is a Grammy-winning, artist-run quartet of classically-trained percussionists hailing from the great city of Chicago. For over ten years, the ensemble has forged a unique path in the musical landscape with virtuosic, energetic performances that celebrate the extraordinary depth and breadth of musical possibilities in the world of percussion. The ensemble has been praised for “commandingly elegant” (New York Times) performances, the “rare power” (Washington Post) of their recordings, and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune). The four members of Third Coast are also accomplished teachers, and since 2012, have served as ensemble-in-residence at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. Tickets: http://bit.ly/TCPFAM March 20th http://bit.ly/TCPKenan. Kenan Auditorium (UNC Wilmington), 601 S. College Rd.

UNCW STRING ENSEMBLE

Mar. 18, 7:30pm: Performing at Beckwith ReMar. 15, 7:30pm: As the frontman for the band cital Hall in Wilmington, the UNCW String Enbearing his name, Chris Daughtry has become semble is conducted by Clark Spencer. UNCW one of the most visible and consistent rock & Beckwith Recital Hall, 5270 Randall Dr. roll torchbearers of the 21st Century. Since rising to prominence on the fifth season of American Idol, he has released four albums, all of which reached the Billboard Top Ten and have combined sales over 8 million copies in the U.S. Ten years after launching with a massive THE WEIR splash, Chris Daughtry claims that he and the

By Conor McPherson, directed by Phill Anband have grown the most on stage, and that tonino, through Mar 24, Fri.-Sat., 7pm. Seating it’s altered his whole sense of his work. Wilson begins at 6pm. Complimentary valet parking.

Center, 703 N. 3rd St. Tickets $18-$42 with discounts for seniors, students, military and groups. In a small bar CHOIR OF ST. PAUL’S CONCERT called The Weir in a rural town in Ireland, three Mar. 16, 7:30pm: The Choir of Saint Paul’s local men are settling down for the night, enand soloists, with the North Carolina Bajoying good beer and company. Their normal roque Orchestra, will perform St. John Pasroutine is shaken up when their friend Finland sion by Bach, $25. www.facebook.com/ enters the bar and introduces them to Valerie, events/114605342566256. St. Paul’s Episcopal an attractive woman from Dublin who has just Church, 16 N 16th St. moved into an old haunted house in the town.

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF CUBA As the night (and the amount of liquor) proMar. 16, 7:30pm: Direct from Havana! The Nagresses, each local from the bar starts to tell tional Symphony Orchestra of Cuba is making a tale of ghostly happenings in the town. What their North Carolina debut on Friday, March starts as innocent braggadocio between the 16 at 7:30pm! Their stunning performances men turns into a real fright when Valerie reveals took the United States by storm in their United a real, haunted tale of her own from the past.

States debut tour of 2012. Since its inception in Examining chances of missed opportunity and 1960 the NSO of Cuba has been instrumental the loneliness that results in it, The Weir is a in developing and introducing Cuban and Latin haunting play with its roots in Irish folklore. TheAmerican music to the international classical atreNOW, 19 S. 10th St. music community. 910-632-2285 2pm-6pm or KING LEAR www.thalianhall.org. Thalian Hall Center for the See pg. 16.

Performing Arts, 310 Chestnut St.

Hair Nails Facials Waxing Spa Packages Massage Therapy Gift Cards Available Wedding Parties Welcome INDEPENDENCE MALL 910- 794-8897

theatre/auditions

UNCW JAZZFEST

FENCES

See pg. 17.

Mar. 16, 7:30pm: UNCW 36th Annual JazzFest presents the Rahsaan Barber Sextet featuring CATHERINE OF SIENA Rahsaan Barber on saxophone; Nathan WarSee page 18. ner on trumpet; Matt Endahl on piano; Jack TARZAN Aylor on bass; James DaSilva on guitar; and Sat., Mar. 10, 10am. Auditions will be held at Nioshi Jackson on drums. Mr. Barber performs the Community Arts Center, 120 S. 2nd St. in Kelly Clarkson’s band. UNCW Kenan AuditoThe production is directed by Mark Deese, rium, 601 S. College Rd. and runs April 27 through May 6 at Community MUSIC ON MARKET Arts Center. Audition participants must schedule audition time. Call 910-251-1788 with your

encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 49

preferred time. Come prepared to sing 32 bars of a musical theatre song acapella. If needed, callbacks will be the same day at 2pm and may require reading from the script and/or attending a dance call.

GET PAST GO

SEVEN DEADLY SINS

VIP EXHIBIT PREVIEW PARTY

THURSDAY MARCH 15, 2018 Cape Fear Museum 5:30 – 8:00 pm

SPONSORED in part by JACK & CAROL MILLS MARY & JIM HAGEN

PLAY GAMES • SPECIALTY COCKTAILS LIVE MUSIC • AND MORE!

MARY POPPINS

TICKETS

$20.00 Members $30.00 Non-Members

CHRYSTAL FRAY

Purchase at www.capefearmuseum.com

DAN OWEN

A S S O C I AT E S

814 Market St • Wilmington capefearmuseum.com 910-798-4370

Mar. 14, 18, 7pm: UNCW Women’s Studies & Resource Center, UNCW CARE, Athenian Press & Workshops Presents, “The 7+ Deadly Sins of Being A Woman” is a series of dramatic monologues inspired by the poems of author and poet, Khalisa (Kelly) Rae Williams. Author of the award-winning, Real Girls Have Real Problems. 7 Deadly Sins was birthed out of the notion that society silences the problems of women instead of empowering us to declare them out loud and become freed in the process. Sexuality. Gender Equality. Classism/ Racism. Generational Curses. Mental Health.

Assault and Abuse. From the page to the stage, all are brought to life in this thrilling dramatic adaptation. Proceeds go to support the Rape Crisis Center and UNCW’s CARE Counseling Center. $5-$10. UNCW King Hall Theater, 601 S. College Rd.

SHERYL MAYS~ & PETER ORDONEZ STEWART & DOROTHY MOON

Thank you for voting us Best Museum!

Mar. 16, 7pm; 17-18, 2pm: Broadway Musical guest directed by Austin Price (Broadway Equity Actor). Amazing talent, wonderful sets, fantastic costumes. $15 adult and $10 children (3-17). snowproductionsnp@gmail.com. www. kathysnowproductions.com.

910-617-6501.

Scottish Rite Temple, 1415 S 17th St.

Meet working artists, and see their works in progress. Everything from sculptures to fine jewelry in this unique location. Free parking, fun for everyone. Over 45 artist’s works to enjoy. Free, and we participate in the 4th Friday Art Walks, 6-9pm, 4th Fri. ea. mo. theArtWorks, 200 Willard St. FOURTH FRIDAY GALLERY NIGHT

Fourth Friday Gallery Nights, Wilmington’s premier after-hours celebration of art and culture, 6-9pm, fourth Friday of ea. month. Features art openings, artist demonstrations, entertainment and refreshments. Administered by the Arts Council of Wilmington & New Hanover County, numerous venues participate. Full list: artscouncilofwilmington.org

HOLDING ON TO TRADITION

“Holding on to Tradition: A View of Changing Cultures,” photographer Barbara Michael and painter/photographer Evin Leek explore cultural changes in pre-war Yemen and post-war Guatemala. Through paintings, photographs, and displays of traditional clothing, these artists offer a view into the daily lives of two unique cultures. Although they are geographically distanced, both communities share a common desire to preserve fading traditions. This exhibition tells the stories of survivors, and gives insight into the challenges they face on the brink and in the aftermath of tragedy. On display through April 13. Closing reception: March 23.

MC Erny Gallery at WHQR, 254 N. Front St.

VERONICA’S VEILS

See page 14.

art

BRADLEY CARTER ART RECEPTION

MEET LOCAL ARTISTS

Thank you, Wilmington, for voting Pine Valley Market Best Catering Services and Best Gourmet Store.

We are grateful for your ongoing support and recognition.

Abstract expressionist paintings of Bradley Carter in“Between You and Me: Painting” will be on view until May 21 at The District. Free and open to the public. 910-769-9300. Carter is an award winning, international selling artist who grew up pursuing his passion for art in Virginia before moving to the North Carolina in 2007, where he currently resides in Wilmington. He predominately works in the medium of painting with his passion in Abstract Expressionism, but his works also include collage, paint skins, and furniture. 1001 N. 4th St.

MIKE WATERS ART OPENING

Local painter Mike Watters has spent his entire life connected to the ocean. With his newest series, “Vanishing Depths,” Mike has fine tuned his niche within the nautical realm. These striking and ghostly paintings of fish bones speak to the decline of animals in their natural habitats. Kickoff Watter’s solo exhibition while Bob Russell and Arepa St. dish out jazz and Venezuelan street food. Watters’ work will be on display through April 30. Flytrap Brewing, 319 Walnut St.

GATHERING THE FLOCK

Owner Christi Ferretti

HOURS: Mon-Fri: 10am-6pm Sat: 10am-4pm • Sun: Closed 3520 S. College Rd. • 910-350-FOOD(3663) pinevalleymarket.com 50 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

Mar. 17, 10am: “Gathering the Flock” is a much-anticipated tribute show to recognize Dina Wilde-Ramsing and her long artist career creating form and fantasy from clay. Hosted by Acme artist Dick Roberts, the show takes visitors on a tour of Dina’s world, an artist’ journey that winds through her early years, education and artistic influences that stem from archaeology and art history, teaching days including day-long raku firings, aspects of her studio workings, and the various awards that recognize her talents. Acme Art Studios, 711 N 5th Ave. dmwilderamsing@gmail.com

dance CAPE FEAR CONTRA DANCERS

Come on out for two hours of energetic, contemporary American country dancing with live music by Box of Chocolates band—fiddle, percussion, guitar, dulcimer, bass, mandolin and more! Dress cool & comfortable, soft-soled shoes. All ages. 2nd/4th Tues, 7:30pm. United Methodist, 409 S. 5th Ave.

LINE DANCING CLASS

The Dance Element presents classes for adults and seniors w/Sheryl Pacelli on Mon., 1-2pm, in the Ogden Business Park. No previous experience Is necessary; no advance enrollment required. Drop in for inrto session which runs 7 weeks through Mar. 19. $7-$35. www.thedanceelement.com. 7211 Ogden Business Ln. #205

ADULT HIP-HOP CLASS

Adults in the Wilmington NC area are invited to join Dance Instructor, Krystal Smith for a weekly dance party, in this FUN hour of fitness, wellness, and Happy (Hip Hop) Dancing! No previous experience needed. These classes provide both exercise and enjoyment for “Beginners” as well as experienced dance students. “Drop-In” to enjoy this fun opportunity at your convenience, and only pay for the classes you attend. $12 for 1 class; $50 for 5; $80 for 10. $80. www.thedanceelement.com. 7211 Ogden Business Ln. #205

comedy OPEN MIC

The wildest open mic in town ... anything goes. (except cover songs). Stand-up comedy, slam poetry, video, live music, odd talents—performances of all kinds. Hosted by 6-beer Steve.

Sign up, 8pm, and runs all night. Juggling Gypsy 1612 Castle St. ILM, (910) 763-2223 daily after 3pm for details. www.jugglinggypsy.com.

COMEDY BINGO

Brent Blakeney headlines comedy bingo at Dead Crow, Tuesday nights, 8pm. Free show featuring the best comics from all over the Southeast, all while playing bingo along with the words they say! Win prizes and enjoy discount tacos! Hosted by Louis Bishop with inbooth side kick comedian Lew Morgante. Dead Crow Comedy Club, 265 N. Front St.

GRUFF GOAT COMEDY

On the first Wed. ea. month, Gruff Goat Comedy features Three Guest Comics Under a Bridge. No Trolls. Waterline Brewing Company, 721 Surry Lane

PRIMETIME COMEDY

Come see some of North Carolina’s best stand-up comedians in a world class venue!

This month our super talented performers are: Brett Williams, Cordero Wilson, Grant Sheffield, Louis Bishop, and Tyler Wood. Hosted by: Wills Maxwell. N Front Theatre (formerly City Stage), 21 N Front St.

CAROLINA COMEDY CUP

Wed. 9pm: Comedy King of the Carolina’s, Louis Bishop, will be bringing the Carolina Comedy Cup to the Lazy Pirate again this year.

Louis started this well-anticipated Comedy Show here over 6 years ago and it is now the longest-running independent Comedy Competition in the Carolinas. More than 50 aspiring comics will be competing for beloved CCC

Trophy and a grand prize of $500. For more details on the show and how to compete contact Louis Bishop. www.facebook.com/louisbishopcomedy. Lazy Pirate Island Sports Grill, 701 N Lake Pk Blvd.

LUCKY JOE COMEDY SHOW

the century Myers Cottage, exists to preserve and to share the history of Wrightsville Beach.

Visitors to the cottage will find a scale model of Wrightsville Beach circa 1910, exhibits featuring the early days of the beach including Lumina Pavilion, our hurricane history and information about the interaction between the people and our natural environment which have shaped the 100 year history of WB. (910) 256-2569. 303 W. Salisbury St. www.wbmuseum.com.

First Sat. ea. month is free comedy show at Lucky Joe Craft Coffee on College Road presented by Regretful Villains. The show features a new style of stand-up called Speed Joking.

Come enjoy a night of laughs and find your Comedic Soulmate! 1414 S College Rd. WILMINGTON RAILROAD MUSEUM Explore railroad history and heritage, especially of the Atlantic Coast Line, headquartered in Wilmington for 125 years. Interests and activities for all ages, including historical exhibits, CAMERON ART MUSEUM full-size steam engine and rolling stock, lively State of the Art/Art of the State: (through July Children’s Hall, and spectacular model layouts.

8): Focusing on contemporary art by artists House in an authentic 1883 freight warehouse, currently living in, or native to, the state of North facilities are fully accessible and on one level.

Carolina. Artists bring a single work of art to be By reservation, discounted group tours, cainstalled in the museum, delivering the work boose birthday parties, and after-hours meetwithin 24‐hour period. No fee. During this time ings or mixers. Story Time on 1st/3rd Mon. at frame, four curators from North Carolina insti10:30am, only $5 per family and access to tutions greet each artist and talk about their entire Museum. Admission only $9 adult, $8 work. The design of this project provides any senior/military, $5 child, ages 2-12, and free participating artist equal opportunity to meet a under age 2. 505 Nutt St. 910-763-2634. www. significant curator working in the field of conwrrm.org. temporary art today. CAM organized with a LATIMER HOUSE visual schematic for reference to the over 600 Victorian Italiante style home built in 1852, the intensely installed artworks. • CAM Café open restored home features period furnishings, artand serving delicious menu with full bar, 5pmwork and family portraits. Tours offered Mon9pm. Tues.-Sun., 11am-2pm; Thurs. nights, Fri, 10am-4pm, and Sat, 12-5pm. Walking tours 5pm-9pm 910-395-5999. cameronartmuseum. are Wed and Sat. at 10am. $4-$12. The Latorg. 3201 S. 17th St. imer House of the Lower Cape Fear Historical WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH MUSEUM Society is not handicapped accessible 126 S. WB Museum of History, housed in the turn of

museums

Third St. CAPE FEAR SERPENTARIUM

World’s most fascinating and dangerous reptiles in beautiful natural habitats, feat. a 12-foot saltwater crocodile, “Bubble Boy” and “Sheena,” a 23-ft long Reticulated Python that can swallow a human being whole! Giant Anaconda weighs 300 lbs, w/15 ft long King Cobras hood up and amaze you. See the Black Mamba, Spitting Cobras, Inland Taipans, Gaboon Vipers, Puff Adders, and more! Over 100 species, some so rare they are not exhibited anywhere else. One of the most famous reptile collections on earth. Open everyday in summer, 11am5pm (Sat. till 6 pm); winter schedule, Wed-Sun. 20 Orange St., across from the Historic Downtown Riverwalk, intersecting Front and Water St. 910-762-1669. capefearserpentarium.com.

BELLAMY MANSION

One of NC’s most spectacular examples of antebellum architecture, built on the eve of the Civil War by free and enslaved black artisans, for John Dillard Bellamy (1817-1896) physician, planter and business leader; and his wife, Eliza McIlhenny Harriss (1821-1907) and their nine children. After the fall of Fort Fisher in 1865, Federal troops commandeered the house as their headquarters during the occupation of Wilmington. Now a museum, it focuses on history and the design arts and offers tours, changing exhibitions and an informative look at historic preservation in action.910-251-3700. bellamymansion.org. 503 Market St.

BURGWIN WRIGHT HOUSE

18th century Burgwin-Wright House Museum in the heart of Wilmington’s Historic District, is the

oldest museum house in NC, restored with 18th and 19th century decor and gardens.

Colonial life is experienced through historical interpretations in kitchen-building and courtyard. 3rd/Market St. Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm.

Last tour, 3pm. 910-762-0570. www.burgwinwrighthouse.com.

CAPE FEAR MUSEUM

See NC through the eyes of Wilmington-born photographer Hugh MacRae Morton (19212006). His captivating images will be featured in the traveling exhibit “Photographs by Hugh Morton: An Uncommon Retrospective,” is now open at Cape Fear Museum. The exhibit is on loan from the UNC Library’s North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives and will be on view through September 2018.

To create Photographs by Hugh Morton, Stephen Fletcher, photographic archivist at UNC Library’s North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, selected images from the library’s collection of Morton’s estimated quarter-million negatives and transparencies.

Shows experiences as a photojournalist; as a soldier in the Pacific Theater during World War II; and as owner and operator of Grandfather Mountain tourist attraction in Linville.

Exhibits more than 50 images feature dozens of his lesser known or unpublished photographs, as well as some classics. Will feature brochures, postcards and prints. • Mar. 15, 5:30pm: Cape Fear Museum’s newest exhibit, “PlayTime!” opens. Explore how we play, create, and use our imagination as children and adults. PlayTime! features a selection of objects from the Museum’s historic toy collection and hands-on activities ranging from cre-

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ating art to playing dress up. Join Cape Fear Museum Associates for a preview party filled with games to play, board-game-themed cocktails, live music, and MORE. Tickets: www.capefearmuseum.com/programs. $20 for members; $30 for non-members. CF Museum, 814 Market St. EXPO 216

Newly opened exhibit feat. end-of-life issues.

Enter Grandma’s House and address the elephant in the room. Pick up an advance directive. Review the History of Hospice . Contemplate individual responses of compassion in the arena. Wed.-Sun., noon-6pm. 216 N Front St. www.expo216.com.

kids stuff STORY EXPLORERS

Cameron Art Museum, every Thurs., 1010:30am: Admission by donation. Bring your infant, toddler or preschooler for story time, gallery exploration and an art project! georgia@cameronartmuseum.org for more info.

3201 S. 17th St.

LITTLE EXPLORERS

Thurs. and Sat., 10am: Meet your friends in Museum Park for fun hands-on activities!

Enjoy interactive circle time, conduct exciting experiments, and play games related to a weekly theme. Perfect for children ages 3 to 6 and their adult helpers every Friday. Free!

Cape Fear Museum, 814 Market St.

SATURDAY STORY HOUR

Miss Shannon will lead interactive story hours for kids ages 3-6 on the first and third Saturdays of May at the Main Library in downtown Wilmington. Saturday Story Hour is free and no pre-registration is needed. Opens with a picture book and end with a project or activity at the end, and include time to play, learn, and laugh in between. Ea. child should bring a participating adult. Shannon Vaughn: 910798-6303. 201 Chestnut St.

HALYBURTON LITTLE EXPLORERS

ABCs of Nature, Thur, 3/22, 10-11am, or Fri, 3/23, 10-11am or 11:30-12:30pm; It Starts with a Seed: Thurs, 4/5, 10-11am, or Fri, 4/6, 10-11am or 11:30-12:30pm; Oh My Deer: Thurs, 4/19, 10-11am, Fri, 4/20, 10-11am or 11:30-12:30pm. Pre-reg rqd for programs: www.halyburtonpark.com

BARGELLO QUILTING CLASS

Through 3/15, 5:30-8:30pm: Room A-314.

Quilting is a heritage craft with a rich and varied history, influenced by many cultures and individual quilters. Besides providing warmth as functional household items, quilts feature vivid patterns and scenes which often offer a glimpse into the time period in which they are made. Bargello quilts feature colorful flame-like patterns similar to the embroidery technique of the same name of Italian and Hungarian origin. In this course you will construct a throw-sized quilt top (54”x75”) using the No Measure Bargello Pattern which is easy enough for the “advanced beginner”; it should not be your first quilt unless you already have good sewing knowledge. Supplies required; please contact the Community Enrichment office at 910-362-7199 for a supply list. Wilmington Campus. 12 hours. $70.

CFCC, 411 N. Front St.

KIDS NIGHT OUT!

Mar. 16, 6:30pm: Parents take the night off and have the kids join us for some fun activi-

ties. Activities include crafts, games, free play & refreshments. Ages: 7-12, free! Pre-reg.: 910-341-7867. Register online webreg.wilmingtonnc.gov. Maides Park, 1101 Manly Ave.

LUCK O’ THE IRISH st. patty’s day events

BASEBALL PITCHING AND LACROSSE CLINIC

Mar. 17, 9am: Come out to Coastal Athletics for either a pitching clinic or lacrosse clinic. Ages: 8-12. Price: $60, 2049 Corporate Dr. 910-4525838. Coastal Athletics, 2049 Corporate Dr., S.

outdoors/recreation BLACKWATER ADVENTURE CRUISE

Two-hour cruise up the Northeast Cape Fear River, still largely unchanged and underpopulated as it was when Wilmington was colonized in the late 1600’s. Cruising through the Castle Hayne Aquifer and by the Bluffs of the Rose Hill Plantation. A narrated cruise based of the history and ecology of the area. 910-338-3134.

ILM Water Tours, 212 S. Water St.

HARBOR CRUISE

Weds, 3pm: Set sail on the Shamrock for a cruise around Wrightsville Beach’s Harbor Island—the island which separates the barrier island of the beach proper from the mainland.

Locations of historical, ecological and cultural note will be featured. Learn what year the first buildings on Wrightsville Beach were built.

Additionally, learn about the different types of marsh grasses, shorebirds, and fish we have teeming in the water surrounding the beach.

RSVP rqd. $15-$25. WB Scenic Tours, 275 Waynick Blvd.

EARLY FLIGHT EXCURSION ON CAPE FEAR

Mar. 16, 9am: A relaxing, scenic 1 hour 45 min cruise from downtown Wilmington up the Northeast Cape Fear River. The ideal way to spend an unforgettable morning. This has become our signature cruise & Captain Doug’s favorite. Join us as we head up the Northeast Cape Fear River to the upper reaches of the black water system of this mysterious river.

Start your day on the water in search of wildlife & many of our feathered friends. All while learning some of the rich history of this area. Visit our full bar for a fresh brewed coffee or for the Best Bloody Mary on the river. Seats are limited, so we recommend you reserve your seats. www. wilmingtonwatertours.net or 910-338-3134.

Adults, $27; kids, $13.50. Wilmington Water Tours LLC, 212 S. Water St.

DANCIN IN THE PARK

New Hanover Regional Medical Center and the YMCA of Southeastern North Carolina are sponsoring Dancin’ in the Park, a free and fun 8-week outdoor fitness celebration in Wilmington. Locally organized health initiative has a mission of promoting physical activity, healthy lifestyle choices, and community relationships within the Northside community of Wilmington.

The public is invited to attend. Instructors will showcase styles like Zumba, line dancing, hiphop, and more. Open to all ages and fitness abilities and will include music, giveaways and food. Every Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., starting March 17 and ending May 5. Portia Hines Park, 400 N. 10th St.

US OPEN FAT CROSS BEACH CHAMPIONSHIPS

Mar. 17, noon: Named a 2018 top 20 event by the Southeast Tourism Society, the US Open Fat Cross Beach Championships is a race like none other in the USA. Held on an all sand course along the pristine shores of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina this course will prove both challenging for competitors and fun to

beef and cabbage will be on special while it lasts. Plus, there will be a live DJ and corn hold tournament.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY

BY THE RIVER Mar. 17, 10:15 a.m.

Anne Bonny’s

PADDY’S DAY AT THE DUBLINER

106 S. Water St. Fundraiser for Paws Place • $5

Head down to the barge on the Cape Fear River at 10:15 a.m. for a blessing from Father Patrick Keane, before the doggie costume contest starts at 10:30 a.m. A $5 suggested donation is asked to enter your dog in the contest and you can preregister on the Facebook page.

Proceeds benefit the no-kill nonprofit animal shelter, Paws Place. Contest winners announced at noon.

Music will be played all day, with The Blarney Brogues from noon to 3 p.m., Folkstone String Band from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and the Gossin Brothers from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Food trucks and a hot dog stand will be set up, and six tap draft trailers along with three bars will feature beer, wine and liquor!

1756 Carolina Beach Rd. • $15

Bring the family for all-day fun, and with your ticket get entered into a raffle for a custom Guinness themed surfboard! Vittle Food Truck will serve kegs and eggs from 8 a.m. through morning.

Irish Traditional Session at takes over at 1 p.m. with more music by Kilbeggan Irish Band at 4 p.m. Thereafter, the Sunset Kings kick things up a notch at 7 p.m. and Elena Woodard Music finishes off the night starting at 9:30 p.m. Facepainting in the afternoon for the kids, and serving authentic Irish Corned Beef, cabbage, and potatoes served 2 p.m. 6 p.m. (ticket required).

ST. PAT’S EXTRAVAGANZA

ST. PATRICK’S DAY FEST AND PARADE

Mar. 17, noon The Harp

Mar. 17, 11 a.m.

Downtown Wilmington N. Front St. • Free!

The annual Friends of Hibernarians St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place on Saturday down N. Front St., Princess and Water streets before culminating in the all-day festival at the Riverfront Park.

There will be music by Striking Copper and The Malones, as well as pipes and drums, and dancing from The Walsh Kelley School of Irish Dance. The event is rain or shine! Cash needed for beer and grub; festival ends at 6 p.m.

HELL’S KITCHEN KEGS AND EGGS

1423 S 3rd St. Free! • Food & drinks separate

The Irish restaurant will offer a limited menu, with breakfast served at 6 a.m. until 11 a.m., and lunch and dinner following thereafter. There will be Irish bagpipers and dancers, as well as live music: noon-2 p.m.: Masonboro Parlor; 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Cary Benjamin; 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Brierwood Ensemble; 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. The Blarney Brogues; 9 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. David Walen; 10:30 p.m. - until, The Malones.

HALLIGAN’S CELEBRATION Mar. 17, noon Halligan’s Public House

Mar. 17, 9 a.m. - noon Downtown Wilmington

118 Princess St. Free! • Food & drinks separate

Mar. 17, 8 a.m.

Dubliner

900 Eastwood Rd. Free! • Food & drinks separate

Hell’s Kitchen is offering Irish food and drink specials, alongside Irish dancing girls, bag pipers and more at their annual Kegs and Eggs celebration. $10 corned

Halligan’s will celebrate with a Kegs and Eggs breakfast starting at 8 a.m.

Then live music abounds all day at their Lumina location, from 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Traditional Irish fare served all day!

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watch for families and fans. With the recent and fast rising popularity of Fat Bikes, bikes with tires wider than 4″, riding a bicycle in the thick sand has become easier than ever. The athlete who completes the most number of laps and has the lowest total time for that number of laps will be awarded the win. Fans are encouraged to bring more cowbells and whistles to jeer and cheer for their favorite racers. As host resort, we will have special rates for competitors in the championship. Blockade Runner Beach Resort, 275 Waynick Blvd.

classes

MUSIC BY DJ BOBBY ZEE RAFFLES AND PRIZES HIV BINGO LEARNING STATIONS

PAPERMAKING CLASSES

Wed., 6pm: Adults explore different papermaking techniques so you can make each sheet of paper unique. All materials included, but we encourage bringing in some of your own materials that you can include into your paper—such as flat mementos and plants. See samples on our Facebook and website. Adult and children classes held on Sat., 2pm. Sign up: www.alunaworks.com. Aluna Works, 603 Castle St.

ESSENTIALLY LIVING

Grab a delish cup of tea or coffee from Old North Coffee and Join us for this free class on learning how to incorporate essential oils into your life and home for a more natural lifestyle.

We will introduce you to CPTG oils & teach you the different ways to use them. Old North Coffee, 1207 S. Kerr Ave Ste. 1

GROW UP WILD WORKSHIP

BOOTH GIVEAWAYS HIV SCREENING RESOURCE SHARING KIDS’ STATION FOR FUN REGISTER TODAY AT WWW.TINYURL.COM/HIVAIDSRUNWALK2018

Thurs., 3/15, 9am-4pm. Ages: 16 and up.

Growing Up Wild is a workshop which focuses on early childhood and builds on children’s sense of wonder about nature. Through a wide range of activities and experiences, Growing Up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive impressions about nature and lifelong social and academic skills. This 6 hour workshop counts toward the NC Environmental Educator’s Certification and Continuing Education Credits for Criteria I. Pre-reg required for all programs. Register online at www.halyburtonpark.com. Halyburton Park, 4099. S. 17th St.

SIMPLE DIVORCE CLINIC

Mar. 15, 2:30pm: Legal Aid of North Carolina offers this free informational clinic for people filing divorce actions. The webinar will be shown at both Myrtle Grove and Northeast Libraries.

Preregister: www.nhclibrary.org or by calling 910-798-6301. Participants at the clinic will learn the requirements for filing a simple divorce action in North Carolina, and how to complete the paperwork necessary to represent themselves in court. They will receive an information packet. A brief question and answer session with a VIRTUAL attorney will conclude each clinic. www.legalaidnc.org. NHC Myrtle Grove Library, 5155 South College Rd.

LEARN TO KNIT

Mar. 19, 4pm: Celebrate National Craft Month by learning to knit! Bring a pair of knitting needles and a ball of yarn to Northeast Library and we’ll teach you the basic stitches. If you decide knitting might be your new passion, the Library has books with patterns for all kinds of projects you can knit. Free workshop open to adults and to teens 13 and older. Space limited so please register: www.nhclibrary.org or 910-798-6371.

Northeast Regional Library, NHC, 1241 Military Cutoff Rd.

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TECH TUESDAY: EBOOKS

Mar. 20, 1pm: Bring your smartphone or tablet to Pleasure Island Library, and get your device set up to read ebooks and listen to eaudiobooks. It’s free with your New Hanover County Public Library card! Workshop is free but space is limited, so please register on the calendar at www.nhclibrary.org or by calling 910-798-6385. Make sure to bring your device, cords, and library card with you. Teresa Bishop at tbishop@nhcgov.com or 910-798-6385.

NHC Pleasure Island Library, 1401 N. Lake Blvd.

TEEN COSPLAY WORKSHOP

Mar. 20, 5:30pm: Cosplay is short for costume play, or dressing like a character from a movie, book, or video game, and it’s especially popular with anime and manga fans. At this free workshop, teens will make convincing-looking cosplay weapons and accessories with cardboard, tape, and paint! Teen Anime and Manga Club follows immediately after this workshop, and participants are welcome to stay and continue working on their projects while watching streaming shows with fellow enthusiasts. www. nhcgov.com or 910-798-6373. NHC Northeast Library, 1241 Military Cutoff Rd.

lectures/literary FRIENDS OF LIBRARY BOOK SALE

Used books, CDs, and DVDs for adults and children will flood the auditorium and lobby of the Northeast Regional Library Mar. 16-18.

Prices will open between $1 - $3, and drop several times to end at a dime per item on the last day of the sale. All NHC libraries accept donations of used books, CDs, and DVDs throughout the year. Friends of the Library volunteers sort, price, and sell the donations each spring and fall to benefit the library. Info about the book sale and other activities of the Friends of the Library is online at www.nhclibraryfriends.org. For questions about the book sale please call the Main Library Information Desk at 910.798.6301, or contact Library Fundraising Manager Trish Hatcher at 910-798-6354 or phatcher@nhcgov.com. Northeast Library, 1241 Military Cutoff Rd.

ANTHROPOLOGY LECTURE

Mar. 19, 5pm Dr. Gabriel Vail presents her research: Maya Identity over Time: From the Postclassic Codices to Maya Teens Today.

UNCW CIS Bldg Rm 1008, 601 S College Rd.

RACE MATTERS DISCUSSION GROUP

Mar. 20, 6:30pm: This new group will meet monthly to discuss racial issues in American society, beginning by reading and discussing Debby Irving’s memoir “Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race.” Books have been donated to the Library for this group and will be distributed at the first meeting. Everyone is welcome. Dorothy Hodder at dhodder@nhcgov.com or 910-798-6301. NHC Main Library, 201 Chestnut St.

GODS OF HOWL MOUNTAIN

Mar. 20, 7pm: Taylor Brown to celebrate the publication of his novel “Gods of Howl Mountain.” Award-winning author Taylor Brown explores a world of folk healers, whiskey-runners, and dark family secrets in the high country of 1950s North Carolina. Official book launch, Mar. 20, 7pm. Bourgie Nights, 127 Princess St.

clubs/notices LA LECHE LEAGUE

Sat., 10am, meetings are informal and open to pregnant women, mothers, babies and children. If you have questions or just would like to meet other breastfeeding mothers, this is the meeting for you. La Leche League Leaders are experienced mothers who have breastfed their own babies and who have been trained and accredited by La Leche League International to help mothers and mothers-to-be with all aspects of breastfeeding. Bump & Beyond, 4712 New Centre Dr. #106.

NHC HAZWAGON

New Hanover County encourages residents to safely dispose of toxic materials with its new mobile collection unit, the HazWagon. stationed various days at three different locations in New Hanover County to collect household hazardous waste and electronics free of charge. Residents can bring items to the following locations each week: Mon., 10am-2pm, at Ogden Park ball fields; Wed., 10am-2pm at Wrightsville Beach Municipal Complex in the Farmers’ Market field by the recycle center; Fridays at Carolina Beach Mike Chappell Park (in the south side of the park across from the tennis courts), 10am-2pm.

BIRTH CIRCLE

Every 3rd Sat. come for our Birth Circle, something always different every month. Check out website for more details of what we have in store this month & exact time of each event! www.thebumpandbeyond.com. Bump & Beyond, 4712 New Centre Dr. #106.

CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM

We explore God using the methods and guidance of Moses, Jesus, the prophets and a rich sampling of delightful saints including Theresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart and Thomas Aquinas.

We will meet twice a month for fellowship, poetry, instruction in spiritual practices, group meditations and playful spiritual fun. First and third Sundays of each month, 2pm. Parking on 15th St. Respond to me, John Evans, at insightbuilders@gmail.com. Morning Glory Coffeehouse, 1415 Dawson St.

WILMINGTON FENCING CLUB

Adults meet Tues/Thurs, 7:45-9pm, and Youth meet Wed, 6:45-7:45pm. Class is open to the community, beginners welcome, and all equipment is provided! Sessions are 6 weeks long and the cost is just $5 per class! Fencing incorporates agility, strength, coordination, balance, and timing. In fencing, physical ability is just as important as having a strong mental edge.

Competitors of a fencing match wear protective gear including a jacket, glove, and head gear.

Sport of fencing features three different levels, which are categorized by the type of weapon used in each level. The weapons used include the epee, foil, and the saber. Fencing is an aerobically challenging sport. In order to condition one’s body, initial fencing training consists of challenging conditioning exercises. Express YMCA, 11 S. Kerr Ave.

ATHENIAN AT LARGE

Sun., 3pm: Athenian Press & Workshops is reintroducing its At Large series. Every Sunday, we will hold a town-hall style community meeting in which woman and femme creators (artists, writers, arts entrepreneurs, etc.) are invited to

discuss current events. Provides an opportunity to connect with fellow creators and survivors of marginalization, and it offers a forum to use writing as healing. Each week the Athenian team invites its guest to participate in a writing prompt at the end of the meeting. Following will be Athenian Yoga with Heather Gordy, who curates a practice that allows guests to decompress, explore creativity, and reflect upon the discussion (although both events can occur independently if guests cannot attend both). Pomegranate Books, 4418 Park Ave. MIXED METALS: SIP + SHOP

Mar. 15, 5pm: Come join us as we kick off our monthly event series at the NEW Big Sky Shop + Studio! The theme for March is mixed metals, and we are so excited to talk about how these design elements can take your space to the next level. We will have a special presentation by one of our very own interior designers, Lauren Brown! We know we can all use a little fun after a hard day of work and in preparation for the weekend, so come on by! Let’s get inspired!

Wine and snacks will be provided. Big Sky Shop + Studio, 4037 Masonboro Loop Rd.

ABILITY GARDEN MONTHLY PLANT

Mar. 17, 9am: Don’t miss the Ability Garden’s Monthly Plant Sale! Our stock includes; Native Plants, herbs, houseplants and seasonal vegetable starts. Please support this unique therapeutic gardening program by coming out to purchase our high quality plants grown by our participants. 100% of the proceeds go back into the Ability Garden. For more information contact Heather Kelejian, Ability Garden Director at hkelejian@nhcgov.com; 910-798-7682. NHC Aboretum, 6206 Oleander Dr.

SPRING FLING ANTIQUE MARKET

Mar. 17, 9am: Legacy Architectural Salvage and the Historic Wilmington Foundation for their annual Spring Fling Antique Market and Yard Sale.

The 2018 edition will feature discounted objects in our warehouse as well as vendors outside to celebrate the coming of spring. Vendors will be peddling articles ranging from vintage items, to arts and crafts and precious antiques. Please stop by our location anytime between 9am-3pm.

910-338-6443. Legacy Architectural Salvage Behind Stevens Ace Hardware, 1831 Dawson St.

CF SIERRA CLUB

Mar. 19, 6pm: Cape Fear Group of the Sierra Club will host a public meeting at Halyburton Park Community Building, 4099 S. 17th St. Free and open to the public, 6pm, for social time and free pizza! Presentation begins at 6:30.

Dr. Robert Parr, an Emergency Medicine physician, retired after 33 years of medical practice in New Hanover County, is the guest speaker.

Parr will present a program on rising sea levels in New Hanover County and the efforts needed by elected state and federal officials to address the continuing problem and plan for the future.

Halyburton Park, 4099 S. 17th St.

TEEN ANIME AND MANGA CLUB

Mar. 20, 6:30pm: Manga Club meets once a month, and is open to teens ages 13 to 17 with an interest in Japanese anime and manga. Participants are invited to suggest topics for discussions. Free library activity, and teens don’t need to register in advance to attend. Shannon Vaughn at svaughn@nhcgov.com or 910-7986379. Northeast Library, 1241 Military Cutoff Rd.

Discover

A Missing Piece of Civil War History 135TH USCT LIVING HISTORY WEEKEND: THE LOST TROOP April 6-8, 2018 | Goldsboro, NC A lost piece of Civil War history has been found and highlights the existence of a forgotten U.S. Colored Troop based in NC—the 135th U.S. Colored Troop (USCT).

To learn more, plan to attend the 135th USCT Living History Weekend. A pop up museum, exhibits, guest speakers, period music, and encampment will be free and open to the public. A special banquet will be held and tickets can be purchased ahead of time.

For details & special packages, visit visitgoldsboronc.com/shop or call 919.734.7922

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culinary FERMENTAL

Free tasting every Friday, 6pm. Third Wed. of each month feat. musical and brewing talents alongside an open mic night, as well as the opportunity for homebrewers to share, sample, and trade their creations: an evening of beer and an open stage. PA and equipment provided. All genres and beer styles. www. fermental.net. 910-821-0362. 7250 Market St.

FREE BREWERY TOURS AND TASTINGS

3pm, 3:45pm, 4:30pm everyday at Front Street Brewery, 9 N. Front St. Learn how we brew our beer, meet brewers and get two free samples.

PORT CITY FARMERS’ MARKET

Tues., 5pm: Join us for a wonderful, exciting night of fun. Port City Farmer’s Market at Waterline Brewing Co. 100% local, 100% handmade. Shop among some incredible local vendors, artists and farmers. Support small businesses in your area. Fresh local produce, beef and pork products, sweets, pickled items, handcrafted jewelry and art.

Waterline Brewing Company, 721 Surry Ln.

SHAKESPEARE BRUNCH

Shakespeare Brunch, Sundays, 12-2pm. $20. ($8 Reading Only). Reserved seating. Monthly Sunday Brunch featuring a greatly abridged reading of one of Shakespeare’s classic plays. Brunch and dessert with choice of entrée included in your ticket. Drinks and gratuity not included. Portion of proceeds donated to Shakespearean educational outreach programs. Mar.18: Taming of the Shrew; Apr. 22: Hamlet; May 20: Two Gentleman of Verona;

June 17: The Tempest. TheatreNOW, 19 S. 10th St. SWEET N SAVORY CAFE

Every Wed. we uncork 5-7pm delicious wines from all over the world. You never know what we have planned for the week, but our weekly newsletter will keep you updated. • Tues.

Couples Night: Purchase any dinner entrees & any bottle of wine to enjoy a free shared appetizer and a free shared dessert. • Fri.: $10 off all bottles of wine over $35 from 650+ wine selection. Epicurean Dinner Menu changes monthly—amazing dishes at affordable prices; full menu at sweetnsavory.cafe/epicureanwilmington-nc. $2 pints daily. www.sweetnsavory.cafe/winetasting-wilmington-nc. Sweet n Savory Cafe, 1611 Pavillion Pl.

support groups WILMINGTON PRIDE YOUTH GROUP

Middle school and high-school students: Wilmington Pride and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation have joined together to create and facilitate a youth group for children/youth (middle school and high school) who are LGBTQIA, plus straight allies. A safe space for kids to talk about orientation, gender, racial equality, political consequences, religion, self harm and self-care. Needed: youth facilitators, especially those who are trained to work with kids, and speakers to talk about important topics. Meets Thurs., 7:30pm, UU Congregation of Wilmington, 4313 Lake Ave, (across from Roland Grise Middle School). Sue Graffius: dre@ uufwilmington.org).

ANXIETY / OCD SUPPORT GROUP

Group meets 1st and 3rd Thursday, 7-8:30pm, of each month at Pine Valley United Methodist Church, 3788 Shipyard Blvd. Building B. Christopher Savard, Ph.D., with Cape Fear Psychological Services, gives a presentation the 1st Thursday of each month. The 3rd Thursday meeting is member led. Everyone 18+ welcome. Alayne: 910-763-8134 TEEN TRANSGENDER SUPPORT GROUP

Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Support Group, free, facilitated by TR Nunley and Jamie Alper. This group will focus on the mental health needs unique to transgender and gender non-conforming adolescents (13 years old -18 years old). Topics covered will include but are not limited to: understanding one’s own gender, bullying, discrimination, and violence, family dynamics, coming out, being misgendered, handling invasive personal questions from others, safety and safe spaces, anxiety and mood stability. Nova Swanstrom first at (910) 442-8480 x3009 with Delta Behavioral Clinic.

CELEBRATE RECOVERY

Life Community Church, located inside Independence Mall, will have a recovery meeting every Monday evening at 6:30 pm starting with fellowship followed by a large group meeting at 7pm. Support groups for men and women follow at 8 pm. The meeting is in the Extension located across from Branches bookstore and the church auditorium. Jodie: 910-547-8973, 791-3859 or Lifecc.com. 3500 Oleander Dr.

EXPECTING MAMA’S CIRCLE

Sat, noon: Chat with other pregnant mamas who are going through the same thing as

you! Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, Breastfeeding USA counselor, and Postpartum Doula, Jess Zeffiro will moderate a free Pregnancy Meetup Group. Expectant mothers are invited to pop into the group at any time to share their stories, ask questions, and connect with great area resources. Share stories and have any pregnancy and birth related questions answered in a supportive environment.

The Bump & Beyond, 890-3 S. Kerr Ave. CHADD

Wilmington Area CHADD meets on the 2nd Monday of every month from 7-9pm at the Pine Valley United Methodist Church, 3788 Shipyard Blvd., Building B. This free support group is open to a growing group of parents, grandparents and individuals affected by AD/ HD who understand what it takes to face its daily challenges. Free. Pine Valley United Methodist Church 3788 Shipyard Blvd., bldg B. WilmingtonCHADD.org

LIVING WITH GRIEF

Lower Cape Fear Hospice is offering a no cost grief group for those coping with the loss of a loved one. Living with Grief: Coping with the Death of a Spouse/Partner will meet Wed., through Feb. 21. Free! Prereg. rqd: 910-7967991. Most of us have loved and lost special people in our lives and we understand that coping with grief is a challenging process. If you and/or your friends and family are having difficulty dealing with the loss of a loved one, we are here to help. Throughout the year, we offer compassionate care, educational and enrichment opportunities that support many types of loss in safe and familiar environments.

Leland Library, 487 Village Rd.

Starting the day off with a pet blessing by Father Patrick Keane beginning at 10:15

LIVE MUSIC

1st ANNUAL COSTUME CONTEST FOR DOGS

6 TAP DRAFT TRAILER AND 3 BARS

Top 3 vote getters will receive a prize

FOOD TRUCKS & HOT DOG STAND uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu 12-3pm The Blarney Brogues 3:30-5:30pm Folkstone String Band 6-9pm The Gossin Brothers uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

featuring beer, wine, and liquor

$5 entry fee/donation per dog Limited number of contestants.

Pre-register on Anne Bonny’s Facebook Page

Contest winners announced at noon.

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UPCOMING EVENTS: TUESDAY, MARCH 13 | 4:00 P.M. Baseball vs. Ohio State

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14 | 4:00 P.M. Baseball vs. Ohio State

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14 | 4:00 P.M. Softball vs UNC

FRIDAY, MARCH 16 | 2:00 P.M. Men’s Tennis vs Bryant

FRIDAY, MARCH 16 | 6:00 P.M. Baseball vs Quinnipiac

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 | 2:00 P.M. Men’s Tennis vs Chattanooga

SATURDAY, MARCH 17 | 4:00 P.M. Baseball vs Quinnipiac

Military Appreciation Day – Jersey Auction to benefit Step Up for Soldiers

SUNDAY, MARCH 18 | 2:00 P.M. Men’s Tennis vs UNCG

SUDAY, MARCH 18 | 2:00 P.M. Baseball vs Quinnipiac

58 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

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tours CAM WEEKLY EXHIBITION TOURS

Cameron Art Museum allows participants to explore current exhibitions with Anne Brennan, CAM’s executive director, in a new series of public tours. Free for CAM members. Wed., 1:30pm. 3201 S. 17th St.

LITERARY HISTORY WALKING TOUR

Explore the rich culture of our talented Southern town with a 90 minute walking tour of the literary history of downtown Wilmington, NC. Visit “The Two Libraries.” Walk the streets of your favorite novels, and stand where Oscar Wilde did when he lectured here. Saturdays, 1:30pm, Old Books on Front. 249 N. Front St. www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1282390

INSIDER’S TOUR

Explore the history of community at Cape Fear Museum. Take the Insider’s Tour offered the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 10am. Tours are free with admission and include a “behind the scenes” sneak peek. Pre-registration is required: 910-798-4362 or cfmprograms@nhcgov.com. Free w/general admission or membership. Cape Fear Museum, 814 Market St.

HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE TOURS

Narrated horse drawn carriage and trolley tours of historic Wilmington feature a costumed driver who narrates a unique adventure along the riverfront and past stately mansions.

Market and Water sts. $12/adult, $5/child.

(910) 251-8889. www.horsedrawntours.com

GHOST WALK

6:30 & 8:30pm. Costumed guides lead visitors through alleyways with tales of haunted Wilmington. Nightly tours at 6:30pm and 8:30pm.

Admission charge. Water & Market sts. RSVP rqd: 910-794-1866. hauntedwilmington.com

BELLAMY MANSION

Guided tours start on the hour, as well as selfguided tours, which start at any time. Mondays is only self-guided tours.* Follow curved oyster-shell paths through our lush Victorian garden shaded by 150-year-old magnolia trees.

Climb the stairs to the elegant main entrance surrounded by soaring columns and gleaming windows. Hear the stories of the Bellamy family, as well as those of the free and enslaved black artisans who built the home and crafted intricate details throughout the house. Know that you are walking through history. Bellamy Mansion Museum, one of NCs most spectacular examples of Antebellum architecture.

Adults $12; senior and military discount, $10; students, $6; children under 5, free. Bellamy Mansion, 503 Market St.

ARIES (Mar. 21–April 20)

The British science-fiction TV show, “Dr. Who,” has appeared on BBC in 40 of the last 54 years. Over that span, the titular character has been played by 13 different actors. From 2005 until 2010, Aries actor David Tennant was the magic, immortal, time-traveling Dr. Who. His ascendance to the role fulfilled a hopeful prophecy he had made about himself when he was 13. Now is an excellent time for you, too, to predict a glorious, satisfying or successful occurrence in your own future. Think big and beautiful!

LIBRA (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

I suggest you gaze at exquisitely wrought Japanese woodcuts. And listen to jazz trumpeter Miles Davis collaborating with saxophonist John Coltrane. And inhale the aroma of the earth as you stroll through groves of very old trees. Catch my drift, Libra? Surround yourself with soulful beauty—or else! Or else what? Or else I’ll be sad. Or else you might be susceptible to buying into the demoralizing thoughts that people around you are propagating. Or else you may become blind to the subtle miracles that are unfolding, and fail to love them well enough to coax them into their fullest ripening. Now, get out there and hunt for soulful TAURUS (April 20-May 20) beauty that awakens your deepest reverence for life. Feeling awe is a necessity New York City is the most densely populated city in North America. Its for you right now, not a luxury. land is among the most expensive on earth; one estimate says the average price per acre is $16 million. Yet, there are two uninhabited islands SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) less than a mile off shore in the East River: North Brother Island and South In the Sikh religion, devotees are urged to attack weakness and sin with five Brother Island. Their combined 16 acres are theoretically worth $256 mil- “spiritual weapons”: contentment, charity, kindness, positive energy, and humillion, but no one goes there or enjoys it; it’s not even parkland. I bring this to ity. Even if you’re not a Sikh, I think you’ll be wise to employ this strategy in the your attention, Taurus, because I suspect it’s an apt metaphor for a certain next two weeks. Why? Because your instinctual nature will be overflowing with situation in your life: a potentially rich resource or influence you’re not us- martial force, and you’ll have to work hard to channel it constructively rather than ing. Now is a good time to update your relationship with it. destructively. The best way to do it is to be a vehement perpetrator of benevolence and healing.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

The iconic 1942 movie “Casablanca” won three Academy Awards and has often appeared on critics’ lists of the greatest films ever made. That’s amazing considering the production was so hectic. When shooting started, the script was incomplete. The writing team frequently presented the finished version of each new scene on the day it was to be filmed. Neither the director nor the actors knew how the plot would resolve until the end of the process. I bring this to your attention, Gemini, because it reminds me of a project you have been working on. I suggest you start improvising less and planning more. How do you want this phase of your life to climax?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

If all goes well in the coming weeks, you will hone your wisdom about how and when and why to give your abundant gifts to deserving recipients—as well as how and when and why to not give your abundant gifts to deserving recipients. If my hopes come to pass, you will refine your ability to share your tender depths with worthy allies—and you will refine your understanding of when to not share your tender depths with worthy allies. Finally, Cancerian, if you are as smart as I think you are, you will have a sixth sense about how to receive as many blessings as you disseminate.

tors syndiCate

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

How adept are you at playing along the boundaries between the dark and light, between confounding dreams and liberated joy, between “Is it real?” and “Do I need it?” You now have an excellent opportunity to find out more about your capacity to thrive on delightful complexity. But I should warn you: The temptation to prematurely simplify things might be hard to resist. There may be cautious pressure coming from a timid voice in your head that’s not fierce enough to want you to grow into your best and biggest self. Here’s what I predict: You will bravely explore the possibilities for self-transformation that are available outside the predictable niches.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Cultivating a robust sense of humor makes you more attractive to people you want to be attractive to. An inclination to be fun-loving is another endearing quality that’s worthy of being part of your intimate repertoire.

There’s a third virtue related to these two: playfulness. Many humans of all genders are drawn to those who display joking, lighthearted behavior.

I hope you will make maximum use of these qualities during the coming weeks, Virgo. You have a cosmic mandate to be as alluring and inviting as you dare.

In 1970 a biologist was hiking through a Brazilian forest when a small monkey landed on his head after jumping from a tree branch. Adelmar Coimbra-Filho was ecstatic. He realized his visitor was a member of the species known as the golden-rumped lion tamarin, which had been regarded as extinct for 65 years.

His lucky accident led to a renewed search for the elusive creatures—and soon more were discovered. I foresee a metaphorically comparable experience coming your way, Sagittarius. A resource or influence or marvel you assumed was gone will reappear. How will you respond? With alacrity, I hope!

The Velcro fastener is a handy invention that came into the world, thanks to a Swiss engineer named George de Mestral. While wandering around the Alps with his dog, he got curious about the bristly seeds of the burdock plants that adhered to his pants and dog. After examining them under a microscope, he got the idea to create a clothing fastener that imitated their sticking mechanism.

In accordance with the astrological omens, Capricorn, I invite you to be alert for comparable breakthroughs. Be receptive to help that which comes in unexpected ways. Study your environment for potentially useful clues and tips. Turn the whole world into your classroom and laboratory. It’s impossible to predict where and when you may receive a solution to a long-running dilemma!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed to the top of Mount Everest. They were celebrated as intrepid heroes, but they couldn’t have done it without massive support. Their expedition was powered by 20 Sherpa guides, 13 other mountaineers, and 362 porters who lugged 10,000 pounds of baggage. I bring it to your attention, Aquarius, in hopes it will inspire you. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to gather more of the human resources and raw materials you will need for your rousing expedition later this year.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Although her work is among the best Russian literature of the 20th century, poet Marina Tsvetayeva lived in poverty. When fellow poet Rainer Maria Rilke asked her to describe the kingdom of heaven, she said, “Never again to sweep floors.”

I can relate. To earn a living in my early adulthood, I washed tens of thousands of dishes in restaurant kitchens. Now that I’m grown up, one of my great joys is to avoid washing dishes. I invite you to think along these lines, Pisces. What seemingly minor improvements in your life are actually huge triumphs that evoke profound satisfaction? Take inventory of small pleasures that are really quite miraculous.

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62 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com

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Starting March 16th EARLY FLIGHT EXCURSION

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Visit us on the Riverwalk!

212 S. Water Street

910-338-3134

Complete Schedule: wilmingtonwatertours.net

info@wilmingtonwt.com

BAR ON BOARD WITH ALL ABC PERMITS HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE

Fridays & Saturdays 9am - $27 This is one of our most popular cruises....this excursion will take you approx 7 to 8 miles up the NE Cape Fear river, giving you an up close adventure with nature & wildlife, with narration. Full Bar on board for coffee, tea or the Best Bloody mary on the river. Great way to start your day!

MUSIC on our SUNSET CRUISES Starting Thursday, March 15th Thursday - Jenny Pearson, Friday - Ron & Luis, Saturday - Monica Jane Boarding @ 6pm. Departs @ 6:30pm for a 90 min cruise • $27 A great way to relax on the water at the end of the day.

Hospitality Olympics

Sunday, March 18th @ Waterline Brewery

Watch teams from all over Wilmington compete in games such as urban golf, human foos ball, rugby toss, fish toss, corn hole and bartender/mixology games! All proceeds donated to the UNCW and CFCC Scholarship Funds. Win Follow great raffle prizes & enjoy delicious options from local food trucks...We would us love to have you come & root for our team, the Cape Fear CREWsaders. encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com 63

March 26 at 7:30 pm Ticket Central â&#x20AC;¢ 910.362.7999 www.CapeFearStage.com www.WilsonCenterTickets.com 64 encore | march 14 - march 20, 2018 | www.encorepub.com