East-West North Carolina, November 2023: All good thingsmust end

 After the great family visit, we left on a Saturday morning and headed east. First, though, we dipped into South Carolina and strolled through a not-very-interesting outlet mall, where we ate lunch. From there it was back to North Carolina and the obligatory stop at the State Visitors Center. 

From there it was on to our motel in Gastonia -- Motel 8, cheap, conveniently located, and adequate (no more than that). They did have a nice greeting committee in the parking lot, though.

Dinner that night was at another old favorite: Cracker Barrel. Unfortunately they have "updated" and "modernized" their menu, meaning we struggled to find something appealing. Another one to cross of the list.

Looking around the gift shop is always interesting, though.

The next day was our final day there. There's always a problem of "how do we kill time between checking out at 10 and then not flying until late afternoon?"  Well, that was easy this time. A quick look at the map showed us that five minutes away was Rankin Lake Park, a city park.

We were delighted! And once again the weather was perfect, We spent an hour or two there, with me mainly sitting in the sun and enjoying the lovely nature, while Norbert chose to walk around the lake. A beautiful way to tank energy before our long journey home. 

From there we headed to the outlet mall near the airport for lunch, made our way at last to the airport via back roads, and then flew home.

A wonderful vacation, with family time at the start and end, a variety of landscapes, and the beautiful natural wonders of North Carolina, my second home state.