So… a month after our awesome 9 day vacation. I am finally able to write a post about it.
We went all over 3 states, but I am just going to focus on the NC part of our trip. Dennis will do a blog about the VA part.
We left Myrtle Beach and headed towards Wilmington, NC. We stopped at a fun winery called Grapeful Sisters. They are a muscadine vineyard and have some fun wines. They also have pickles, relishes, jellies, etc. that you can sample as well. They have a lovely property and also an RV park. The sisters are really nice and we had an awesome time. If you go, make sure you have enough time to enjoy the property with a glass of wine. They have a big porch and covered patio area.
We left there and headed on towards the Wilmington area. We stayed 4 wonderful nights at Lu Mil Vineyard and Winery. They have 9 cabins on the property that are amazing! They are also a muscadine vineyard. They have 78 acres under vine. They have some cold fermented wines (amazing!) Harmony Hall and Sir Walter Raleigh, some dry muscadine and yummy slushies. They also make some non-alcoholic ciders. We got to have an amazing tour of the entire property. They have a old western town themed area, a tiny chapel, 2 gazebo areas for events/weddings. They host a HUGE light show at Christmas time that you drive through. There are geese, cows, donkeys and fish on the property as well. There’s also a small lake where you can fish. The property has been in the family for many years. They are still recovering from the recent hurricanes but unless you were told that, you wouldn’t really notice. Be sure to take quarters with you so you can feed the catfish and Koi fish in the pond outside the tasting room. 
The next day we headed over to Cape Fear Winery. The property is beautiful, they have a restaurant (that we didn’t know about until we got there) and they have some really great wines, 2 really great red blends.. The owner is also an art and memorabilia collector. They are also kid friendly as they have a mini petting zoo. There are 2 beautiful male peacocks (we were told that the female went missing after the last hurricane), several other birds, ducks, donkeys, miniature horses, swans, bunnies, llamas, a cow, and a wallaby (who lives with the wine maker and was not there the day we were). 
Our last full day in that area we went to Wilmington to the aquarium. Spent several hours there and then took the ferry over to Southport. Went to Silver Coast Winery’s Tasting and Tap Room. The main location and vineyard is on Ocean Isle so this is just a tasting room which also serves craft beer. It has that local beach pub feel. John handled our tasting and he was a lot of fun. The three calabash wines were my favorite but they have several really nice wines.
Craft Beverage Marketing and Wine Competitions! 