"The Summer I Turned Pretty" Mother-Daughter Trip

Start your day with breakfast/brunch at Blueberry’s Grill in Wilmington. Order the best blueberry muffin we’ve ever had, which was sliced and grilled. So good!

Next, head to Carolina Beach Boardwalk, where Belly, Conrad, Jeremiah, Steven, and cousin Sky walk the boardwalk in Season 2. You’ll find the small Carolina Beach Amusement Park there all summer long and the candy store they went to in the shops next to it. Next, drive through Kure Beach and enjoy driving past all of the colorful homes on the beach.

The next stop is Fort Fisher, a Confederate fort during the American Revolution that was captured by the Union in 1865. There is a museum and memorial next to the beach. Park near the memorial and walk over to the beach to take pictures and walk on the beach with your feet in the water. It was so warm compared to Southern California!

Continue driving just past Fort Fisher and take the ferry ($7 cash) to Southport, one of our favorite places on this trip. Scenes from TSITP were filmed there, too! Be sure to go to the coffee shop before 5 pm and have an early dinner at Fishy Fishy Cafe. We had no wait, but there was a very long line when we left. Make sure to go back to Carolina Beach on a Thursday night for fireworks on the beach! Or stay at the Courtyard Carolina Beach and watch from your balcony.

Start your morning very early for sunrise on “Cousins Beach.” We got up at 4:15 am and went to Crystal Pier on Wrightsville Beach—aka Cousins Beach—for sunrise, and it was one of our favorite memories of this trip! We took so many photos and videos from the pier, under the pier, and on the beach. When the sun rose, it was so beautiful.

The pier is attached to the back of Oceanic restaurant from Season 3 Episode 2. For Outer Banks fans, this is the pier in that show, too. After sunrise, head to Casa Blanca for coffee, which is also the coffee shop Conrad goes to at Stanford in this episode. My daughter sat in the same spot Conrad did.

After that, it’s time to see the famous Fisher beach house! It is a private residence, so park quickly, jump out, and take a quick picture before heading to the country club. After visiting the country club, we went to the motel where Belly and the boys stayed, and my daughter imitated Conrad sitting on the ground against the wall. IYKYK.

We made reservations at Oceanic and went back for a late lunch since it is a popular restaurant on the beach. And in the evening, go to ARRIVE Wilmington and the surrounding area for dinner and drinks. ARRIVE was another filming location in Season 3.

We loved Southport, so we drove back instead of taking the ferry the second time. Go to Southport Coffee Co. for coffee and a bagel with homemade pimento cheese. So good! Unrelated but popular with teens: There are two stores in Southport that have JellyCats, but go to Mad River first. They had a much bigger selection since they are not on the main street. That was my daughter’s favorite souvenir! My favorite souvenir was a personalized “Cousins Beach” ornament from the Christmas store in Southport. Several scenes from TSITP were filmed here.

Next, drive back to Wilmington and visit the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, where the Brown University scenes were filmed. Then head over to Mayfaire in Wilmington for some mother-daughter shopping. We looked everywhere for Cousins Beach merch in every town, and the only place we saw a Cousins Beach shirt was at Altar’d State. We loved that store and wish we had one in California. After shopping, enjoy the rest of your time at “Cousins Beach.”