Melanie

Absolutely loved our stay at Homewood Suites Wilmington Mayfaire! Not sure where to begin. It’s like resort living without being at an actual high priced resort. Teddie and I each got a welcome bag upon arrival. Huge spacious room with a full kitchen! Heated organic shaped pool, hot tub, grills in the courtyard where pets can join (although we were the only ones with a pet each night), fire pits, and a full hot delicious breakfast every morning with a pet friendly patio! I could live here.

My dog is sometimes scared to stay in the room while we go to the pool but Teddie was perfectly content here and took a good nap each day while we were downstairs. The staff and other guests are over the top friendly, what a nice change from city life! There’s a beautiful neighborhood of homes down the street and also a big shopping area with Dave and Busters and a movie theatre next door.

If you want the beach, just know that the closest one - Wrightsville Beach - is never open to pets (and a $250 fine if you try). We drove 45 min to Fort Fisher beach which is a nice park and beach is pet friendly. Kure Beach down that way is too (but fyi it’s all beach homes and no restaurants/shops) Carolina Beach is a little closer to the hotel and has the typical fun beach vibe but the beach starting April 1 is only pet friendly before 9am and after 5pm.

We weren’t visiting just for the beach though, we went to Riverwalk and the USS Battleship and we came from up north for the warm weather, the pool, and hot tub so the location of the hotel was fine for us because of the awesome amenities. We highly recommend!

FYI The name has changed to River 128 Restaurant. Free parking right across the street saved us $18! Delicious food- we got the calamari with sweet potato fingerlings and the Angus burger and everything was exceptional. Price was good too. Friendly staff, great views, and they brought our Teddie a bowl of water. We went in April and sun was shining but it was okay in terms of heat. Summer time might be too hot out on the deck where dogs are welcome. Fun vibe with the people passing on the river walk. We definitely recommend.

Friendly staff, great location, cool vibes, food was just okay, not much flavor to our fried shrimp and grilled shrimp tacos. I don’t think the grilled shrimp were actually grilled (no markings on it from the grill- maybe they were boiled). A sauce on the tacos would help and some seasoning to the fried shrimp batter would be nice. But the kindness of the staff and the views made up for it.

We were told by friends to go to Side Street Cafe but there was a long wait and very small patio that looked crammed. So we went 2 doors down to Tap&Barrel. We chose the sofa style loungers on the deck which was very comfortable, the staff was so friendly, they brought cold water for our dog, and the food was unbelievably good. I have very picky family members and they loved everything and asked to go back later this week. We got the burgers, brisket sandwich, crab and corn chowder, and a salad and it was incredible with delicious sauce on the sandwiches, and the fries were perfection! Perfect way to end a day of hiking in Acadia with our pup who was very comfortable.

Like others said, park in the gravel
lot next to the one lane bridge right outside the park. Then cross the road and you’ll walk along the river with the falls. Go 1/2 mile to the Muddy Creek Falls on the left, and then break away from the trail to the water and just climb and swim and have fun. Awesome day with our pup!

We were worried about bringing our pup to the beach area with us because we read they couldn’t go on the sand. That wasn’t a problem at all though because the sand is surrounded by grassy picnic areas where dogs CAN go. Beautiful park and lake.

We were really debating bringing out 6 pound Morkie because of alligators but so glad we did. This place is gorgeous and I didn’t feel worried at all once there. We walked through the gardens, took the tram and brought a picnic (there’s a snack bar too). There were plenty of places that were far from swampy waters and on the tram when we did see gators our pup was perfectly safe watching from our laps. Other areas walking I felt safe too but to be extra sure we just picked him up for a couple minutes when passing the water or kept him on a short leash. Beautiful place!

When we pulled up we weren’t too excited, just a small place in a strip mall with some noice from some couples drinking (or arguing, or both). But we decided to stay and the food turned out to be great and our pup was comfortable on the porch. We got wings, burgers, fries and tater tots. The inside of the restaurant looked much nicer than the outside. The downside of having to eat outside was the smokers and the loud kids around us bumping the other side of the booth. But if you’re in the area and want good food it’s a good place to grab a bite.