October 4, 2010 (Updated December 6, 2023)

A Weekend in Capeside

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

69 comments

Can someone cue the Dawson’s Creek theme song, please?

Thanks.

And now, friends, let me introduce you to Capeside, Massachusetts. I mean… Wilmington, NC. 🙂

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… “I don’t want to wait… for our liiiiiiivessssss to be ooooverrrrrrrr I want to know right now, what will it beeeeeeee? Na na na na naaaaa” …

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Yep, I spent the weekend with Matt in Wilmington, NC and next door Wrightsville Beach, which is where they filmed Dawson’s Creek! Dawsons is pretty much my favorite show of all time. Don’t judge. Any other Dawson’s lovers out there? I’m Team Pacey for life.

Anyway! I may or may not have found online where they filmed some of the scenes and we took a little tour around town 😉 Matt was a good sport!

First — the pier where they filmed Dawson brooding many a time! Heh.

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Next — the pier where Joey and Pacey had their first kiss!! Swoon.

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We even checked out UNC Wilmington, whose buildings served as the setting for Capeside High School. Heh. Sadly no photos 😉

We had a wonderful weekend — Matt surprised me with this trip as a belated birthday gift since we weren’t together on my birthday a couple weeks ago.

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We spent Saturday on the beach in Wrightsville — I LOVE the ocean and I never made it to the beach this summer due to my crazy schedule with school/work, so I was pumped 🙂

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It doesn’t look like it in the photos, but the waves were HUGE! I love swimming in the ocean and the water was still warm from summer, so we braved the waves for a swim, but it was INTENSE! Let’s just say I found shells stuck to my butt later in the day from wiping out/getting dragged along the bottom at one point, heh. 

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Saturday night, we went out to a fun seafood dinner and sat out along the water. It was beautiful and rather romantic 😉

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Palm trees make me happy!

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We spent Sunday going hiking in a nearby State Park! I love hiking and we had a blast playing with the sports setting on my camera 😉

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Our last stop — lunch in downtown Wilmington, on one of these adorable little balconies!

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How cute is this place?

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Cool view, too 🙂

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Brunch was one of my favorites — Eggs Chesapeake! A toasted english muffin topped with tomato, crab, and poached eggs. Hold the hollandaise sauce (not a fan) 🙂

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Yum! What a wonderful weekend 🙂

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- anne

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69 comments
  • emily
    i love the beach! every summer my family takes a vacation at Atlantic beach. its just soooo relaxing and very peaceful!
    Reply
  • Maria @ A Healthier Maria
    hahaha this is so funny (esp. that you remember Joey & Pacey's 1st kiss). You just made me super nostalgic except I have thought all these years that Capeside was supposed to be in NC as well. oops. Are you on your fall break right now? I'm asking bc ours is next week & I am dyyng for it to get here! Enjoy!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      I wish! My fall break is in 3 weeks :)
      Reply
  • Carrie @ TV and Dinners
    Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacey! No lie, going to Wilmington to scout the filming locations of Dawson's Creek is on my "Bucket List." I've almost convinced my best friends to rent a beach house there next summer. I'm this close. ;) Great pics.
    Reply
  • Estela @ Weekly Bite
    Love Dawson's Creek! I use to live right outside Wilmington... Its one of my favorite places!
    Reply
  • Becca@Starting Over From Scratch
    I miss Dawson's Creek! I seriously want to watch it now! I love Pacey too! And I have to make hollandaise for my final tomorrow which is really hard so the more people that don't like it means the less I'll have to make in my life! Yay!!!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Lol! Good luck tomorrow with the hollandaise! :)
      Reply
  • Lauren
    Dawson's Creek was my favorite show in high school. But I use to have to sneak out of the house to my friend's house to watch it. My parents always thought it was too raunchy for a 15 year old. They were probably right. What a fantastic weekend. I'm sure it was so lovely to spend such a beautiful weekend with your love! :)
    Reply
  • Cynthia
    Love the pictures. I loved Dawson's Creek when it was on the air! I would have loved seeing those places from the show. Looks beautiful.
    Reply
  • liane
    "I don't wanna wait for our lives to be over..." Was one of those boats Pacey's "True Love"?! Did you have your dinner at the Ice House"? Ahem, raise your hand if you are a DC dork... *** raises hand *** Such a cool place to spend the weekend :)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      OMG I would die to go on "True Love." Hahah
      Reply
  • DHP
    Now that's a wonderful weekend. Very nice. Kudos to Matt! Looks wonderful...
    Reply
  • yummiee cupcake
    OH i love your brunch! theyre my fave, minus crab!! your weekend pictures are beautiful.
    Reply
  • Mindy
    Oh Dawson's! I loved that show so much!!
    Reply
  • Kelly
    Looooove it! You are not alone, I totally would have searched out places where it was filmed and went there! Also that restaurant with the balconies looks adorable! :)
    Reply
  • Red Head, Yellow Dog
    so fun! i love that the beach is only 2 hours away!! a good friend of mine was working on a movie out there this summer so I got to visit the studios where they filmed dawson's creek + one tree hill!! not as exciting as it sounds..but i still felt kinda cool for getting a behind the scenes look :)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      OMG jealous!!! I want to see the studios :)
      Reply
  • Sarah W.
    My hubby proposed to me on Wrightsville Beach :) We were down there vacationing with my family and friends of ours live in Wilmington :) I <3 Dawsons but never went to see any of the piers :(
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Awww that is so sweet! :)
      Reply
  • Tina
    How pretty! And fun!!! I would have totally geeked out too and gone to see those spots. I loved Dawson's Creek.
    Reply
  • Kath
    Awww I love Wilmington - and Dawson's Creek! I was always so proud of NC during the show. I know the exact balcony you are sitting on in the final shots!
    Reply
  • Heather
    I am also a HUGE Dawson's Creek fan - Team Pacey all the way as well! James VanDerbeek actually went to the same college I did - he dropped out pretty quickly but I did see him once on campus. Love the pictures - and the flash back to the show! Thanks for posting!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      No way really? How cool! I love how he was like 25 when they filmed the show, haha. Apparently he had to shave twice a day so he didn't get a 5 o'clock shadow!
      Reply
  • Kristy
    Yall are so stinkin cute! Thanks for all the smiles :-)
    Reply
  • Renie
    What a wonderful weekend. You two know how to have fun. I had to pull this post up on my own, didn't have an e-mail yesterday. I'm glad I turned on my computer early. I never heard of Dawson's Creek, must have been when my kids were still at home and I was busy doing (happily) for them. Send more pics.
    Reply
  • rachael
    Love Dawson's creek! Looks like a great little getaway!
    Reply
  • K
    I enjoyed Dawson's Creek but a little bit after the fact. Though at one point in college, my roomie (a guy) declared Wednesday nights "Dawson's Creek Night" and he made us all sit down and watch the new episodes (even though we had not seen any previous seasons). Love your "sports" photos! and those eggs chesapeake look delicious! I would have held the hollandaise too.
    Reply
  • Jen Robinson
    Remember how I wouldn't let anyone call me on Wednesdays between 8-9 (isn't that when it was on??) Love it. and ps. hollandaise sauce is delicious and it's what MAKES eggs benedict (or any variation thereof)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Heh ditto! I remember watching it with Jessica and calling you during breaks! And hollandaise is gross :)
      Reply
    • Anne P
      Haha yes, because then I won't have to fight you for Pacey ;)
      Reply
      • stepf @ dailyspark
        Whew. Although I have been crushing on Joshua Jackson since his "Mighty Ducks" days. (Loved those movies when I was a boy-crazy young lass.) I bought Paula Cole's album and played the theme song on repeat. "I don't wanna wait..."
        Reply
  • Maureen
    I used to LOVE Dawson's Creek. When I was in college I spent a week in Wilmington, NC for a Habitat for Humanity Trip. We stayed in a house they filmed a bunch of scenes in, and in fact one day we came back to the house and Katie Holmes was out on the back porch filming for the show!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Shut up... I would have DIED!! That's so cool! :)
      Reply
  • Heather
    I loved Dawsons Creek! I actually saw them filming HS graduation while I was there touring the UNC Wilmington! Totally with you on team Pacey, I think I would have hated the show if she had ended up with Dawson.
    Reply
  • T
    Hey! I live in Wilmington! So bizarre! One Tree Hill is also filmed here -- and I live two blocks from one of the houses they film at! Pretty cool !:) (long time lurker - LOVE the site btw!)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Thanks for delurking to say hello! :)
      Reply
  • Megan @ AVeryMegGirl
    Love Dawsons Creek! I recently rented all the seasons oppps.. I also recongize the bridge from One Tree Hill.. They must also film One Tree Hill there!!
    Reply
  • Chicago Cuisine Critique
    How fun! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Dawson's and totally was Team Pacey as well (how hot is Joshua Jackson?!?). Looks like a great trip.
    Reply
  • Allyson
    TOTALLY! Dawson's Creek for life! I would have been freaking out about that, too!
    Reply
  • Heather
    OMG I LOVE PACEY. Have you seen how dreamy he is now?? Look at him here! http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0g9TbM2YwlY/SaDLXMSZt1I/AAAAAAAAAes/b_pHxV4gJtc/s400/josh%2Bjackson.jpg&imgrefurl=http://notpaidbythehour.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html&h=400&w=300&sz=25&tbnid=b2ahgSicBB3jZM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djoshua%2Bjackson&zoom=1&q=joshua+jackson&usg=__5TwBckpVIBhOtQEjo89z59CO6Ss=&sa=X&ei=KVirTMK-FMH7lwf50YyWAw&ved=0CEIQ9QEwBA
    Reply
  • Sassy Molassy
    Ah, what a fun weekend and great surprise! Good memories of Dawson's creek. Oh pacey... Love that blue shirt you're wearing.
    Reply
  • angie
    I love Dawson Creek too! But I was a Dawson fan! :)
    Reply
  • Jenny
    Looks like an awesome place! I've been dying to go to the capeside! :)
    Reply
  • Megan
    Yay, Wilmington! I love seeing my town show up in blog posts! I worked as an extra on a few Dawson's Creek episodes during the 2nd season. It was fun for the first few hours, but once they told us we could not interact with the stars, I was over it. I love Joshua Jackson though - one night my friends and I were at a party and someone called to tell us he was hanging out at Buffalo Wild Wings. We totally left the party to go stalk him down and get our picture taken with him.
    Reply
    • Anne P
      So jealous you met him!! Two of my best friends from college actually drove down to Wilmington junior year to be in the season finale as extras!! They have the cutest picture with Joshua Jackson. I died of jealousy - although I was studying abroad in Australia at the time, so that was pretty sweet, too :)
      Reply
  • Elli @ 16 and Losing It
    Ahhhhhh!! I love Dawson's Creek! I am team Pacey all the way! That is so cool that you got to see all the places they shot the scenes... yeah I'm a little jealous :P
    Reply
  • Laura
    Love this post! I dream of seeing "the dock" one day... but first I'll have to convince my BF to go with me, which won't be easy. He's from a little town in northern British Columbia, Canada called "Dawson Creek" and despises the show because of all the teasing he's endured over the years when meeting new people (not from there). Understandably so. When we lived in Vancouver, he worked in a high-end men's clothing store and waited on James Van Der Beek one day. First thing I asked for was the autograph I assumed he'd gotten for me. No such luck... "I knew you'd rather have Pacey's anyways" was his excuse ;-)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Hahah! Matt was telling me about that town, actually! So funny/random, but I can see why he's bitter! I hope he told James Van Der Beek he was from his namesake ;)
      Reply
  • Katie @ Healthy Heddleston
    How fun! My husband and I went on a trip to Wilmington when he lived in NC too! Such a fun cute place! You know you can take a TV tour around Wilmington and learn all about where things happened on One Tree Hill and Dawson's Creek! BTW, loved Dawson's Creek and I'm team Pacey as well! Glad you had fun!!! When we went it was summertime but it was soooo windy and the sand on the beach was literally hurting us so bad! We unfortunately spent more of our water time by the pool instead of the ocean!
    Reply
  • Laura
    Aw, I love Wilmington! Until last year, I went there several times a year and got to see a lot of One Tree Hill filming and the cast. I did make it up there once while Dawson's Creek was filming its fifth season. I didn't see much but did come across some filming in a church, and one of the extras gave me a prop flyer from the film festival scene they were filming. Kind of a cool memento to have. If you go back, you should check out the studio tour. It's pretty OTH focused, but they may have a couple small things from Dawson's Creek. They used to have True Love in one of the studios, but it hasn't been there for years. :(
    Reply
  • Kris S
    Yaaay for huge waves!!! :)
    Reply
  • Running Phoodie
    When I was a freshman in college, Dawson's Creek came to our campus to shoot an episode. I think it was an episode about them deciding where to go to college. I remember getting up early to go watch James van der Beek (sp?) and Katie Holmes film a scene before I had to go to class :)
    Reply
  • Abby H.
    I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO glad you guest blog for sparkpeople! I found your website from your first guest blog there, and then after my bookmarks were deleted, I couldn't find you again! I was searching for food bloggers in DC, not in NC. Now that you've guest blogged for sparkpeople again, I was so happy to find your website! I absolutely love your website and your blogs and your recipes are so yummy!!!! Thank you for your awesome blog!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Aw, thanks! :) I'm so glad you found me again and that you're enjoying the blog! I just moved to NC from DC in August - so you were on the right track... just a couple months behind! :) Stay tuned - more SparkPeople guest posts to come!
      Reply