Day trip to Dublin, NC, offers plenty to enjoy along the way
DUBLIN, N.C. –
We’re about halfway through summer, but you still have time to get on the open road and explore. Day trips can be a fun, inexpensive way to create lasting memories with family and friends.
If you’re looking for a day of relaxation with your friends or significant other, we suggest hopping on Interstate 95 in Florence and heading north to Lu Mil Vineyard in Dublin, N.C.
But, of course, no road trip would be as fun with out some pit stops.
When you get to Dillon, take Exit 190 and merge onto S.C. 34 East. Turn left at North First Avenue, continue until you get to 301 N. First Ave., Mandy’s Flour Shoppe Inc.
Mandy’s Flour Shoppe is a great place to stop for breakfast or lunch. Owner Mandy Mussman and her employees arrive between 3 and 4 a.m. each day to begin baking fresh quiche, muffins, croissants, danishes and other pastries.
If you’d rather sleep in, Mandy’s also has a great lunch menu including salads, wraps and pastas.
But, Mussman’s favorite is her famous Strawberry Delight Cake, with its layers of cake, cream cheese and fresh strawberries.
“When you come to Mandy’s Flour Shoppe you can expect friendly service, great, fresh food and a relaxing atmosphere,” she said.
Mandy’s Flour Shoppe’s open Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Starting in August, it will be open the first Sunday of each month for breakfast.
After you’ve had your fill of sweets, get back on I-95 North, crossing state lines.
Take Exit 20 toward Lumberton, N.C., and turn right onto Roberts Avenue. Turn left onto N.C. 41/Elizabethtown Road and continue for about 6 miles until you find Geraldine’s Peaches and Produce Roadside Market, at 10728 N.C. 41 North, Lumberton, N.C.
Roy Herring has farmed all of his life, taking care of his family’s Century Farm. When his wife Geraldine was talking about retiring, he surprised her by planting some peach trees.
“I said, ‘Oh that’s great, I love peaches.’ It never crossed my mind to say anything else about it. So about a month later I said, ‘How many peach trees did you plant?’ and he said 500,” she said.
He told her she was going to sell them and they’d add 500 trees each year. Seven years later, they have 3,200 peach trees and Geraldine’s Peaches and Produce Roadside Market.
You can find everything from their specialty — peaches — to broccoli, cabbage, collards, cucumbers, onions, peas, watermelons and more. They’re open May through December, Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Produce in hand, it’s time to get on the road again and head to the main event.
Continue north on N.C. 41 North, turning left onto N.C. 410 North, then right onto Albert Street, left onto East Fourth Street. Continue onto Lyon Landing Road and turn right onto Suggs-Taylor Road. Lu Mil Vineyard will be on your right. (In your GPS, use 438 Suggs-Taylor Road, Elizabethtown, N.C. as the address.)
Driving into the vineyard you will see the beautiful greenery on 50 acres of muscadine grapevines and rainbows of zinnias swarming with butterflies.
“It’s really just a peaceful place to get away and relax and enjoy an afternoon,” ownerDenise Bridgers said.
The vineyard is the family farm of the late Lucille and Miller Taylor; they combined their names together to get Lu Mil Vineyard.
The vineyard offers self-guided wine tours to fishing in one of their ponds, to grape picking and having lunch in the tasting room. Of course, you can also sample any of their wines, alcohol-free wines or ciders.
Their most popular wine is also their newest, introduced about a 1½ years ago: Sir Walter Raleigh, named after their store in Raleigh N.C.
“It is a red sweet wine with a real smooth aftertaste,” Bridgers said.
She said if sweet wines aren’t for you, she recommends one of their originals, Bladen Blush, named after Bladen County.
“Blush is a good medium as far as sweetness, so people that don’t like it too sweet or don’t like it too dry, they really like Bladen Blush,” Bridgers said.
To help keep the family-oriented atmosphere everything is named after a family member or Bladen County. Take Lucille’s Choice, for example. Bridgers said Lucille didn’t like drinking, so it’s a family joke now that they’re in the wine business.
“We laugh and say there’s a picture of grandma and we just keep a blind fold over so she doesn’t know what we’re doing,” she said.
Bridgers is proud of what they’ve done with the family farm and thinks her father and grandparents would be, too.
The winery is just a small part of what they do at Lu Mil. They have four cabins and a home to rent to visitors. They rent their facilities out for weddings, family reunions and other events.
They also make jellies, jams and sauces.
Around the holidays, their pepper jelly is popular to serve with cream cheese and crackers.
“I want people to come here because I think this is a hidden treasure in Bladen County that people don’t even realize is here,” Bridges said.
After you’ve soaked up all the serenity you can handle, make your way back to N.C. 41 and head back south. On your way back to I-95 you’ll pass Pier 41 Seafood, 2401 Elizabethtown Road, in Lumberton, a must for calabash-style seafood lovers. For those seeking a healthier option, they also have a selection of boiled and broiled seafood like fish stuffed with crabmeat, salmon, oysters, shrimp and scallops.
Steve and Patty Runkle bought an existing seafood restaurant 4½ years ago, keeping most of the same recipes while adding some new and making it what it is today.
“The No. 1 thing you can expect is a friendly atmosphere, great wait staff and good food,” he said.