Decided to wait until we got home to do the final installment of our trip report.
Thursday: Aaron decided he wanted to sleep in this morning so Kay & I went to breakfast by ourselves at National House of Pancakes. Came back to the room & picked him up and went to Coastal Grand Mall before going to our friends Dixie & Betty's for lunch. They served us a feast of pulled pork, slaw, baked beans and cheesecake for desert. One of the best meals we had during our trip. They used to own a restaurant and really know how to make great food! They really went out of their way to make it special for us.

Spent the afternoon with them playing a few games of pool and just getting caught up since our visit last fall. Took Rowena with us for a ride on the Skywheel late in the afternoon. What a great experience. We all agreed that this is a "must do" when we come back in September. This time we're going to ride it at night.
Friday: After breakfast at Paradise Pancake & Omelet House, we went out to BATB and finally made a stuffed animal at Build-A-Bear for Ashley. Best time to get there is when they open at 10:00 AM. No waiting at all. Looked through a few shops and decided we wanted to go to Callahan's in Calabash so took a drive up there and shopped awhile. I absolutely love that store. So many tempting things to purchase but only came away with some candy and a bookmark for our neighbor. We still had our Restaurant.com gift certificate to use at Thorny's so we went there for dinner. As always, it was so good! Best ribeye steak I've had in a long time. Aaron had chicken and Kay had ribs. Went to Rowena's to visit one last time before heading back to the hotel to pack up the van for an early (6:00 AM) departure. Sat on our balcony for awhile before heading to bed.
Saturday: We wanted to get an early start as we wanted to stop in Charlotte to visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Kay & I went last year but we wanted Aaron to experience it and he loved it. For those of you who are NASCAR fans, it is definitely worth checking out. So much to see and do that is "hands on". It's in downtown Charlotte and is very easy to find. Parking is next door and very convenient. We left there about noon and decided to drive on home instead of stopping over night. Had the usual traffic backup just south of Wytheville.

Aaron did all the driving from Charlotte home which was a big help to me. We arrived in Vandalia at 9:00 PM tired but glad to be back in our own beds.
This was a great trip filled with fun and friends. The very best kind! Aaron is working two jobs (one full-time, one part-time) and going to school so this trip was as much for him as for us. He really needed this time away and I'm so glad he came along. Even though he lives with us, we don't get to spend much time with him since he's always on the go and we were able to do it this trip. Hope you enjoyed following along with us on our adventure and we can't wait to go back in September for two weeks.
Vicki, Kay & Aaron
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Pier View - 1985 - 2005
Lighthouse Motel - 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
Windsurfer Hotel - 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
