Sunday, August 4
We arrived in Cornelius, NC (just outside of Charlotte) and were welcomed in to the home of Deborah’s Aunt and Uncle. Also on hand were her first cousin and her daughter. We’d seen her Aunt and Uncle before we left for Europe but hadn’t seen the others in many years. It was a nice reunion.
(L to R: Deborah, Her Aunt, Uncle, Cousin and Cousin)
We had a wonderful home-cooked dinner and talked about what everyone had been up to. It was fun to get caught up and hear all of the stories we’d missed while traveling.
Monday, August 5
We were treated to a whirlwind tour of Cornelius and the surrounding areas – and there was a lot to see. We saw some high end neighborhoods built all along Lake Norman, walked in a beautiful park along a shady path alongside Lake Norman before heading into an outdoor shopping district in Birkdale. We had lunch at one of the many restaurants and stopped in quite a few stores. Kilwins Chocolate Shop seemed to be the most interesting based on how much money we spent there.
We left Birkdale and toured Davidson College and the area around the house before returning home. It was a full day but we were glad to be back because we were a little tired and have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow.
For us this was a real treat and welcome break from long days of driving and fast food on the road. Thanks for the hospitality!
Tuesday, August 6
It was a long and mostly boring drive from Charlotte to Sarasota. In all we were on the road for 9.5 hours. We stopped for lunch near Savanna and ate at a place that we’d never heard of before called Culvers. Their claim to fame is that they sell Butter Burgers. Butter Burgers are normally cooked in butter and often finished with butter but these just had buns that were buttered and grilled. Still they were quite good. The chain also makes custard and we each tried one. Deborah’s was a vanilla custard with peanut swirled in and mine was a chocolate with marshmallow creme. Both were excellent.