Traveling to Wilmington, NC

We left The Oaks at Point South at 8:45 and drove north on I-95. We stopped for lunch at a rest area near Shiloh, SC a little before 11:00 We pulled into a Flying J at Latta, SC and got gas in the motor home ($3.079 a gal).

We kept seeing billboards every few miles advertising "South of the Border"

From Beaufort to Wilmington

and then at Dillon, SC we saw what all the billboards were about. South of the Border is a major roadside attraction - motel, restaurant, shops, and rides.

From Beaufort to Wilmington

We crossed into North Carolina and really enjoyed seeing the day lilies planted in the median and at exits on I-95.

From Beaufort to Wilmington

We left I-95 at exit 14 and headed east on US-74 to Wilmington. We called Mike's cousin Jean at 3:30 to let her know that we were about 10 minutes away from her house. Jean and her husband Joe live in a gated community called Landfall and Joe met us at the entrance gate. He led us over to the parking lot by the playground where we are going to park the motor home while we stay with Jean and Joe.

After parking the RV, we followed Joe to their condo here in Landfall. It's been 5 years since we've seen Jean and Joe and they moved into a two-story condo a couple of years ago.

Jean and Joe's daughter, Ellen, and her family arrived at 4:00 to join us for dinner. We hadn't seen Ellen since she was a little girl about 8 or 9 years old. Ellen is now married to Mike, a Colonel in the Marines, and has 2 teenage boys, Houston and Jackson.

From Wilmington

Jean had cooked Beef Bourguignon and we had a salad and rolls for dinner. We had a great time visiting over dinner. Ellen and her family live at Camp Lejeune which is about 40 miles north of Wilmington. They will be moving to Maryland in a couple of weeks because Mike will be stationed in Washington, D.C.

Ellen and her family stayed until 8:00 and then left to head back up to Camp Lejeune. We stayed up visiting with Jean and Joe for a while before heading up to our bedroom.