Nicole S.
Yelp
What a beautiful botanical garden. Airlie Gardens is a must-visit if you're in Wilmington. We were told by many locals that we gotta go to Airlie, and we went, and we agree.
We visited on the most perfect day, weather-wise, so the gardens were really able to show off. As you roam around the grounds, you'll see lots of old trees, lovely flowers, open grassy areas, artwork and many places to take nice photos. In fact, I saw a couple of professional photographers taking what looked like engagement photos. This is the place to take photos, that's for sure.
One of my favorite areas of the gardens is the meditation labyrinth. You start on the outside and walk around in a circle until you get to the center, then make your way from the center out. There's a sign nearby that explains the purpose of the labyrinth (to serve as a vehicle for meditation and contemplation). It's located in between a pond and a bank of weeping willows, so the area is very peaceful and conducive to meditating.
Another favorite area is the bottle chapel, which is exactly what it sounds like: a chapel made of glass bottles. It's located in the Minnie Edwards Sculpture Garden, which is a space that honors Minnie Evans, who worked as the Airlie Gardens gatekeeper from 1949 to 1974. The chapel is really cool and made from bottles, bits of broken tile, stones, metal and cement. It all comes together into a neat assemblage artwork in the middle of the garden.
You can choose to walk around the gardens, or you can choose to hop aboard the tram that makes its way around the grounds. There are several tram stops around the garden, but we never timed it right, so we just ended up walking. I enjoyed the walk, but my children were complaining that their feet hurt by the end, so if you have children, maybe consider taking the tram part of the way.