Weird Wilmington: 13 offbeat things that make the Port City one-of-a-kind
Portland, Oregon, is so well-known for its quirkiness that "Keep Portland Weird" has become the Northwestern city's unofficial motto. (One they "borrowed" from Austin, Texas, but that's another story.)
But every town has things that make it unique, if not downright odd, and that, of course, includes Wilmington. Ready to get weird?
Cape Fear Serpentarium
OK, so it technically closed in 2017, but this legendary place was so weird that any list of odd stuff in Wilmington should start (and maybe end) with the Cape Fear Serpentarium. Owned and operated by the late Dean Ripa, a confirmed oddball who might've been the world's only venomous snake expert who was also a Frank Sinatra impersonator, the Serpentarium was located on Orange Street between Front and Water streets, and featured an impressive and terrifying array of poisonous snakes, as well as giant constrictors, crocodiles and even a few scary turtles.
The Serpentarium's unsettling weirdness helped launch the career of comedian Nate Bargatze, whose routine about his 2015 visit there (when a crocodile escaped its enclosure, naturally) is pretty much the definitive word on the place. And it gets weirder: Ripa was shot dead in 2017 by his wife in their apartment above the Serpentarium. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2018 and is currently institutionalized.
Museum of the Bizarre
If any place can claim to be the spiritual descendant of the Cape Fear Serpentarium, it might be the Ripley's-esque Museum of the Bizarre on Orange Street, located (coincidentally?) right next to the where the Serpentarium was.
"Of course it's real," or so the ads claim. But the good news is it only costs $3 to find out whether the museum's collection, which includes a "Fort Fisher mermaid," meets your standards for truthiness.
The Sorrow Drowner
I don't know if it's weird, cool, or maybe a little bit of both, but there's definitely nowhere else like it in Wilmington: a Myrtle Beach-style attraction in an "emerging" part of downtown.
Part tiki bar, part "adventurer's lounge" (there's a convoluted back story on their website if you care to go down that rabbit hole), The Sorrow Drowner is packed floor to ceiling with odd artifacts and knick-knacks. If it looks like it was designed by a former Disney "Imagineer," that's because it was. Features a regular schedule of live entertainment, specialty nights and tasty (and pricey) tropical drinks.
Tregembo Animal Park
Formerly known as Tote Em In Zoo, this spot on Carolina Beach Road has been around for more than six decades.
Enter through a giant lion's head to see the large collection of animals, including various monkeys, reptiles and big cats. But while Tregembo Animal Park is definitely a Wilmington institution, it's not a universally beloved one. The park has a history of legal violations in caring for its animals, violations that have drawn the ire of animal-rights activists.
Jacob's Run
Who isn't intrigued by a mysterious system of subterranean tunnels? Located beneath the streets of downtown Wilmington, the centuries-old, brick drainage and sewage system known as Jacob's Run has long been the subject of fanciful stories of criminals using it an escape route, pirates smuggling cargo through it and even enslaved persons making their way through the tunnels to freedom. All likely dubious, but definitely more exciting than talking about an old sewage system.
Untitled face on wall
If only this rough-hewn mortar face could talk. No doubt it's seen some things, as it's located in a downtown alley on the brick wall of a building that now houses the German restaurant Prost. It's easy to miss, but the face has been there since at least the early '90s, back when the building was a gay nightclub called Mickey Ratz. Its creator remains unknown.
Pachinko World
Billed as being the only pachinko parlor in the United States, this arcade on South 17th Street features a variety of games, including pachinko, which originated in Japan and is described as being like a combination of pinball (?), an arcade video game (??) and a slot machine (!). Open most days if you want to try your luck.
'Blue Velvet'
My retired colleague Ben Steelman once said that this bizarre noir, shot in Wilmington in the mid-1980s by director David Lynch, is the only film to capture how weird Wilmington truly is. Featuring iconic shots of downtown Wilmington in all of its seedy '80s glory, and a still-shocking story line about a drug-huffing criminal (Dennis Hopper, off the rails) with creepy sexual tastes, "Blue Velvet" is on many lists of the best films ever made. And it was shot right here in Wilmington, how weird is that?
Cucalorus Film Festival
Dedicated to keeping Wilmington weird since 1994, when the first Cucalorus was held, this vitally important festival with the funny name has always cultivated an offbeat charm while screening a wide array of convention-challenging films and staging fringe-fest-style performances, often as the introductions to the films. Go and get weird with them Nov. 15-19, when the 29th Cucalorus is held downtown.
Thalian Hall's 'thunder roll'
Kind of like "good weird" or "bad weird," whether something is weird or cool is very much in the eye of the beholder. But one thing we know for sure is that historic Thalian Hall in downtown Wilmington, which was built in 1858, has the only original, and operational, "thunder roll" in the United States. It's basically a 19th century sound effects device used to create a noise that sounds kind of like rolling thunder. The theater still uses the roll on special occasions, although renovations done to the Hall over the years require technicians to mic it up so that it can be heard in the audience.
Whatever Wilmington
Wilmington legend Kenyata Sullivan is a one-of-a-kind guy, so it only makes sense that he would have a one-of-a-kind shop. Located on Grace Street downtown, Whatever Wilmington is packed to the gills with collectibles of all sorts, from comics and cards to what it calls "pop culture and vintage ephemera," much of it from movies and TV shows filmed in the Wilmington area.
Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden
The Venus' flytrap only grows in the wild in the vicinity of Wilmington, and this garden honoring all manner of carnivorous plants is the best place to see them. Located in the Piney Ridge Nature Preserve off Independence Boulevard, it's a weirdly wild little treasure.
The Barbary Coast
We're not getting out of here without at least one mention of the oldest bar in Wilmington, one that proudly shows its age. From its confusingly endearing motto ("We've upped our standards. Up yours!") to its famously rustic bathrooms, the Barbary Coast is as authentic as it gets. With some of the liveliest regulars and most budget-conscious prices in town. (Honorable mention goes to another downtown dive, The Opera Room on Grace Street, which might be even weirder than the Barbary, and to The Barzarre on Castle Street, which is in a class of weird all its own.)
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Weird Wilmington: Odd and offbeat things about Wilmington. NC
