Drift Cafe Wrightsville Beach

wilmington's specialty coffee scene punches above its weight for a coastal city of its size, and the beach towns that ring it have quietly developed their own loyal regulars. drift cafe sits on causeway drive in wrightsville beach, which means you're already close to the water before you've had your first sip. the address alone puts it at the edge of something, between the mainland and the island, which tends to attract the kind of crowd that plans their mornings around good coffee rather than convenience. locals clearly keep coming back, and not casually. if you're timing a visit, the window before the beach crowd fully wakes up on causeway drive is worth setting an alarm for.