The motivation for our spur-of-the-moment trip was an opportunity to hang out with David Pierce, the founder and director of Steiger International. We had coffee with David on Thursday, and I had breakfast with David and Jake "The Snake" Chaya on Friday morning, which was great. Not sure why I didn't take any pictures of these two rare events. Hmmm ...

Anyway, Wilmington is a cool town. It's historic downtown reminded me a lot of Madison, Wisconsin—except, of course, that Wilmington has a riverfront.

While in Wilmington, we discovered Port City Java, the only coffee company in the world permitted to use the "Fair Trade Certified" mark on its cups.

Port City Java started in Wilmington, but they've been national (and international—one in Germany and two in Iceland!) for a while. It's like Starbucks around Wilmington—Port City Java is everywhere!

Anyway good stuff. Speaking of good stuff, we enjoyed some Kohl's Frozen Custard in Wrightsville Beach on Friday night.

Becky had been to Myrtle Beach as a kid and as a teenager, so we made a trip down there on Saturday. All I can say is: Myrtle Beach is the mecca of mini golf! The main drag is lined with elaborate, over-the-top, "adventure"-themed mini-golf courses. (See picture left from the "Dragon's Lair Fantasy Golf" course, part of "Broadway at the Beach.") I definitely look forward to going back and playing a few rounds ...

Good times. Now we can say we've been to "the beach." And it was fun. We think we'll go again sometime. Maybe ... next year ... Lord willing ...