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Wilmington, Del., is often in the news as the hometown of President Biden and as a hub for corporate litigation, but it’s hardly on tourists’ radar. It has no theme park, no professional sports teams, no famous regional cuisine that demands a pilgrimage.
But if Wilmington occupies a kind of blank space in the American mind, that’s fine by the actress Aubrey Plaza, who grew up there. Ms. Plaza, 40, whose credits include the TV shows “Parks and Recreation” and “The White Lotus,” and the new film, “My Old Ass,” calls Wilmington “this magical little gem in the country, this little secret.”
Ms. Plaza is known for her deadpan humor and weirdness, but get her talking about Wilmington and she becomes an enthusiastically earnest tour guide, telling you her favorite local cafe, Brew HaHa!, recommending the red-sauce joint Mrs. Robino’s and sharing local legends, like the one about the allegedly haunted “Devil’s Road.”
One reason Ms. Plaza is so fond of her hometown is the way the small city of about 71,000 punches above its weight culturally and in its amenities. Wilmington has abundant green spaces, institutions such as the Delaware Art Museum and the Delaware Contemporary, and more than 40 pocket neighborhoods, including its own Little Italy.
“It’s got a small-town vibe, but it has every kind of neighborhood and community in the tiniest concentrated city,” said Ms. Plaza, who now lives in Los Angeles but returns to Wilmington regularly to visit family.
There is also a level of sophistication to Wilmington uncommon in a city of its size, owing to the presence of so many corporations and legal professionals (Ms. Plaza’s mother is a lawyer), and to the legacy of the du Pont family, which founded its namesake company there and built grand mansions around town. One of them, the Nemours Estate, a 77-room chateau modeled on the Palace of Versailles, is now a museum.
As a kid, Ms. Plaza remembers being intrigued by the mysterious DuPont Experimental Station research laboratory. “They’re making Teflon or whatever they’re doing,” she said. “It’s very ’80s Spielberg-style.”
Here are Ms. Plaza’s five favorite places in Wilmington.
1. Rockford Park
This 104-acre park in the Highlands neighborhood features a large meadow that overlooks Brandywine Creek. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the park also includes the 115-foot-tall Rockford Tower, which offers a view from the top. “It’s one of the most iconic Wilmington landmarks,” said Ms. Plaza, whose family once lived nearby, “but the park itself is so beautiful.”
2. Wilmington Drama League
Ms. Plaza’s acting career began at this community theater founded in 1933. Her older cousin started doing plays there, and Ms. Plaza tagged along one summer. “I just thought, ‘Wow, the guts these kids have to stand up and audition in front of other kids,’” she said. Ms. Plaza “got hooked” at age 11, and the Drama League became her second home. The group in which Ms. Plaza came up included John Gallagher Jr., who starred in the Broadway musical “Spring Awakening,” and Keith Powell, of “30 Rock.” The league’s 2024-25 season includes the musicals “Mary Poppins” and “The Full Monty.”
3. Trolley Square
This neighborhood on the edge of downtown Wilmington features several restaurants, including Café Verdi, a modest pizza spot in a shopping plaza that President Biden has been known to frequent. At night, Irish bars like Catherine Rooney’s and Kelly’s Logan House bustle with a young crowd. Ms. Plaza likes to stop into Café Verdi for a slice of pizza or a gelato, or walk the cobblestones. “That little square, I’m drawn there every time I go home,” she said.
4. Monkey Hill
A cobblestone lane running through Brandywine Park, this street got its name because it passed the monkey house in the Brandywine Zoo. The very old, very bumpy road was like an amusement-park ride for Ms. Plaza and her cousins, who used to ride their bicycles down it as children. “It’s steep, so on a bike, it’s like being on a roller coaster,” she said. At the bottom of the hill is Brandywine Creek, a gentle waterway. “We used to swim in it. Rope swings from trees,” Ms. Plaza recalled. “All the kinds of things you read in a book.”
5. Dead Presidents Pub & Restaurant
Ms. Plaza, who grew up in an Irish Catholic community, spent part of her childhood Irish dancing competitively. She danced in Wilmington’s St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas parades, and also watched her friends’ parents perform. Dead Presidents, which serves a wide variety of craft beers and cocktails, “was a central meeting spot for my friends and family,” Ms. Plaza said. “It’s your neighborhood pub. Everybody knows your name there. We would go to the pub. Then we’d have a Yuengling. Maybe two. Maybe three.”
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