If you haven’t already, read Part 1 here.

Finally…. Dinner!

Continuing on from where I left off last week, my 2nd day I moved to a different hotel. I originally had only planned to be in Wilmington for 2 nights, but ended up staying for a 3rd. So on my 2nd day after finishing my coffee shake from Scrumptios I finished up some other priorities and it was time for dinner. I did some wandering around downtown and since it was a Thursday, most places were closed by 7:30. However, there was one nice looking place that was still open, that place was Basil. Luckily I had taken a picture earlier while it was still bright out as a reminder.

Random fact about Delaware: In total area Delaware ranks 49th in the nation.
It contains 1,982 square miles. It is 96 miles long and varies from 9 to 35 miles in width.
Yes, that means you could drive across the state in less than 10 minutes
if in the right area!

I walked in and the place was pretty empy, dinner time was over for most, there was a couple sitting in the dining area and a few people sitting at the bar. There were no hosts/hostesses waiting to seat late customers, so I walked up to the bar and was greeted by a very friendly bartender.

“Care to sit at the bar tonight?”
“Sure!”
“Alright, well then pop a sit and I’ll be right wit ya!”

The bartender had a smile on his face and was joking around with his co-worker as he walked down to grab a menu for me. I ordered a glass of water while I looked over the menu. As much as I love red meat, I decided to stray away from burgers and steaks and started to lean towards the pasta side of the menu. I asked the bartender his suggestion, he mentioned a few and one stood out, which was a chicken and shrimp with noodles dish. I followed that order with a lager and waited for my food. I’ve read some reviews since getting back and this isn’t a popular place. One website actually had only 1 review and the person gave 1 star because they saw a fly. So I’ve learned not to read too much into some reviews.

My dish arrived along with my lager, I wasn’t sure what to expect, chicken generally tastes the same regardless of what you do with it, although I had never had it prepared quite this way. Thin sliced grilled chicken, some shrimp with the tails still attached, both mixed in rather well with flat-wide noodles, all covered in a slightly thickened white wine sauce with some green seasoning on top (perhaps some “basil”). I snapped a picture and started to dig in. It was very tasty and brought a new dimension to chicken for me. I always try to go for the “best bite” aleast a few times when I eat a meal, which in this case was a few noodles, a shrimp, and a slice of chicken. This was a very good meal that wasn’t too overwhelming with any flavors and wasn’t too heavy either. My choice of beverage probably wasn’t the best, so most of the lager I saved for after the meal.

I finished the plate and pushed away and started to get into the lager slowly while watching Modern Family on the television above the bar. The bartender came by and removed the plate. Throughout the meal he had been very curtious and made sure it was to my liking. This is one of the few bartenders I’ve met that is really fun to talk to. After removing the plate he asked me about my day and if I was enjoying the beverage.

“How’s the beer treating ya?”
“Oh, pretty good. It’s nice to finish off a busy day” I replied
“I hear that, everyone needs something to help them unwind at the end of day. Whether it’s stretching out on the couch and relaxing or having some alcohol.”

He recently had a customer who had been having a hell of a day. She arrived at the bar and ordered a beer, once it was in her hand she slammed the entire glass before he had a chance to move away. She immediatley requested another which he prepared and brought over to her. This one she took more slowly giving him the chance to ask “So, uhh… rough day?”. Within a few seconds after the question she broke down into tears. He wasn’t sure what to do “You know, I had no idea, and being on the clock there’s only so much I’m allowed to do”. So he did the only thing he could and gave her hug while reaching over the bar. She didn’t resist and continued to cry while he gave her a pat on the back. She ended up ordering 5 beers and each one she drank slower than the last. The following morning she came back and apologized to him for causing him any trouble.

“I told her it was fine and that everyone just needs to let go once in a while. You need to find something that let’s you break away from your day. Sometimes it can get hard to handle, everbody has those days” he said.

I talked with him a bit more, had some laughs, finished my beer, and returned back to my hotel room for the night.

Wrapping Up The Trip

My 3 days in Wilmington was coming to an end. My last day I decided to eat breakfast downtown at a nearby coffee shop. I had never heard of it before, but Brew HaHa! apparently has a few locations in the area. The first and only one I saw was right in the heart of the city just a couple blocks down from my hotel. OI took a short walk through the city, took a quick detour through a small park and after

Brew HaHa! is a pretty nice little coffee shop which also serves breakfast pastry’s and has some nice art on the walls. So, it’s a lot like a Starbucks, except it has an overall brighter theme. I ordered a cranberry scone and a white mocha. I usually don’t go for mocha’s, but when I visit a new place, I try to do something a little different than what I would normally do. So this time around it was going to be a white mocha.

Both were great, but not a whole lot different than the quality you would expect at Starbucks. And if you’re wondering if I side with Starbucks, my personal favorite coffee chain is actually Caribou, which unfortunately are no longer in Ohio.

Last Meal For This Trip

I took my remaining beverage with me out the door and admired the city for a little while. Wilmington isn’t very big, but it’s not a small town either. I returned to the parking garage of the hotel and drove out. There were some final errands in the city I had to run and make a few phone calls. I then did a clean sweep of the rental car and then headed over to the historic district of the city. By this time it was almost lunch and my plane was set to depart at 3:30. So I figured I had at most 2 hours. I found a parking spot relatively fast and started to walk around and try to seek out a good spot for lunch.

This is a really well kept area, the buildings have fresh paint jobs, sidewalks look new, everything is in really good condition. I figured it was possible that they just renovated the entire area, I didn notice many signs featuring “Coming Soon” studio apartments.

I passed one building that was actively under construction and several stores including a record store, barber shop, antiques, and a stage theatre. I eventually came upon Loma Coffee, which looks like a pretty ordinary coffee shop from the outside, but inside looks more like a convertable coffee bar/night club. I ordered my meal at a checkout counter and was given a number card to place on my chosen table. The place was very busy and seemed like a pretty common place for locals.

I sat on the upper level which directly overlooked a DJ booth from my seat. There’s flat screen TV’s on the walls and music playing and the atmosphere is very busy, not for fans of quiet. Spot lights hung from the ceiling, speaker stacks in a couple corners, and an acoustic guitar hung on the wall, this is a aplce I wished I had time to check out on a Friday night. My order came after about 10 minutes and I ended up going with a breakfast sandwich (I have this thing for breakfast food, if possible I’ll eat breakfast for every meal during a given day). I ordered the 3rd & Loma which is two scrambled eggs with mixed in sauteed peppers and onions with some cooper sharp American cheese, all served on a toasted kaiser roll.

This is easily one of the better breakfast sandwiches I’ve had in a long long time. As you pull it apart the cheese stretches between the halves giving it a really mouth watering look.

After I finished my meal it was time to leave. I grabbed a quick picture of the Grand Opera House before getting on the interstate heading back to Philadelphia International Airport. Which, if you deicde to visit Wilmington, fly into Philly as it is only about 20 minutes away depending on traffic. One thing I missed was a really nice park that I drove through twice, but did not have time to stop and explore. As I said in the first part, if you want to save cash, but still want a bit of fun, I recommend giving Wilmington a chance visit, as it is cheap and has a lot of hidden gems!