Last post, I mentioned I was living in luxury. Please keep in mind that sleeping in a house with a washer, dryer AND shower is pretty luxurious for me at this time.

It seems I have a Guardian Angel. Since I didn’t get permission to mention his name, we’ll just call him DC. Anyway, I have started my journey north. I have some girlfriends who wanted to meet me in North Carolina, but I was having a tough time finding a place for us to go, so DC says ‘You can stay with David!’. I’m like David who? So he drags him over, introduces me, we have a 10 second conversation, and all of a sudden I have a place to stay in Wilmington, NC! So bizarre, but people are amazing.

The girls couldn’t come, so I get to his house by myself and call him to find out where to park. He said next to the Airstream, but my AirBNB is open so you can just stay there. I tried to say no (a little) because I didn’t want to impose or take advantage of him, but he insisted. This was my home for 8 days

Laundry – check. Shower – check. Comfy bed – check. Full kitchen – check! Not only did he offer me a home for 8 days, he wasn’t going to be around that weekend – I had the whole property to myself! He gave me a list of local things to do and places to see AND told his neighbor Stephanie to make me feel at home. We were going into Mother’s Day weekend, and as many of you know, that is also my birthday weekend, and I thought I would be completely alone. Instead, I was adopted by these lovely people

That’s Alex, Bill, Stephanie, Meredith and Wayne – cocktails on the porch!! The next night we had a Low Country Boil

Shrimp, scallops, sausage, poached eggs, red potatoes and corn. It was a great weekend. For my birthday, this was my ‘date’.

I actually took him to dinner to thank him for letting me stay there – is that sad when you have to make up a pretend date to celebrate your birthday? LOL Who cares? When he found out it was my birthday, he insisted on going for ice cream then to the Irish pub (owned by a Bela-Russian on the left – Mishka?) Super fun! Oh, and I just had to laugh. I’d never seen a dog do this

Belly up to the bar and his tail was wagging! I guess he does this all the time and just sits there like he owns the place!

I liked Wilmington, and it doesn’t seem like I was there that long. What did I do all that time? Went to the beach (surprise), took a lot of walks, stayed out of the rain (until I didn’t), met knew friends, visited Fort Fisher

This is a ‘Fragrance Garden’. The whole area really did smell good, especially because the jasmine was in bloom all over the place. Don’t you think the trees in the south look cool?

They have such character. The other one is just a misplaced picture, but I wanted it on the record.

These are from Fort Fisher. All the old forts seem pretty much the same to me, but the picture on the right is the ‘Bloody Gate’. Think about that for a minute ……… right here, the North and South fought face to face, hand to hand, and yes there was a lot of blood. I can’t even imagine what that would have been like.

Wilmington was a fantastic stop for me. I caught up on everything, met wonderful people, and enjoyed myself. I am now on the road again and according to my pencilled in schedule, it looks like I will be bouncing around the northeast for a while, so I am sure I will have something to report soon. Thanks again for reading!

One more thing – I’m taking a poll. I am going to be near Washington DC very soon. I’ve been there before – seen the White House, the monuments and the Smithsonian, but it was a long time ago. Should I make the effort to get there so I can take new pictures? Is it worth it?

Tip of the day: If you ever decide to travel over the road and you like fruit, I would suggest NOT getting nectarines. The don’t handle the jiggling around very well. The first one was delicious – the rest were gross!