Easter 2025. I’m visiting my uncle and aunt in Leland, North Carolina. It’s my first trip of two to the United States in 2025. I haven’t seen them live since February 2020 just before the first lockdown and I haven’t travelled to this area since 2019. I’m flying with SAS and Delta. The itinerary: Brussels in Belgium – Copenhagen in Denmark – Atlanta in Georgia – Wilmington in North Carolina.  

My uncle Philippe, who is my mother’s brother, and my aunt Beverley have been living in Leland in North Carolina for some fifteen years no. This was my third or fourth visit. Previously Philippe lived in Claremont near Los Angeles and then in San Diego in California.

It’s a big change of scenery. But for me, it created and creates new travel opportunities. North Carolina and adjacent states Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia are less on on international visitors’ radar. They have now, for me. 

I am not the most ‘family man’ there is, far from it. But I always appreciate how well, how warmly, how kindly they welcome me. They make an effort to think of excursions to do.

This time, we walked the Wilmington Riverwalk, we went to Walmart, we walked around the USS North Carolina, went to Costco, had four kinds of oysters Tidewater Oysters and picked strawberries at Lewis Strawberry Nursery and Farm. We visited Fort Fisher and sailed on the Intracoastal near Southport and Saint James. I did not report on that last activity, but here are some photos.

Politics

I avoided talking politics in this entire series, because it’s sensitive. 

In the advent to my trip, reports came from the United States of tourists being refused, sometimes incarcerated and then deported. Why? The reasons were not always clear. Some anecdotes reported phones and other decides being scanned for political content. 

Where you critical of the President Donald J. Trump (R)? That seems to be a reason to be refused entry. I don’t post politics much on my social media. Unless you see LGBTQIA+ content as politics. 

I also purposely delayed this series of posts to 2026, as I returned to the US in September 2025 to see Oscar in Denver, Colorado. 

Talking politics in the US

As a visitor or tourist, talking politics in the US has always been sensitive. Americans can be very protective. Criticism of their ways are met with dim reactions, sometimes outright anger. As a Belgian – I’d say we are one of the least patriotic peoples in the world – I find this exaggerated.

I do feel this sensitivity is bigger than ever. Worldwide, and thus including in Belgium, people are more quickly stepped on their toes. Offense is being taken more often, more quickly and reaction and retaliation are swifter and harsher. 

So? Even more than ever, talking politics is not a great idea. 

A country is so much more

But a country is much more. Life is changing everywhere and it is in the US. I’ve been many times before and I intend to return many times. 

2016 America Rail Adventure

• Flying to Chicago;
• Chicago;
• The California Zephyr to San Francisco;
• San Francisco;
• Capitol Corridor;
• Sacramento;
• Vancouver;
• Victoria;
• Amtrak Cascades;
• Seattle;
• The Coast Starlight;
• Los Angeles;
• Flying back.

2017 Danny & Ivan’s New York and Washington, DC Trip

• REVIEW | Brussels Airlines Economy Privilege Brussels to New York.
• Spending time in the Smithsonian Museums in Washington DC and New York.

2019 Timothy’s North Carolina, Virginia and New York Family Visit

• Brussels Airport to New York JFK with Brussels Airlines in Economy.
• REVIEW | Holiday Inn LaGuardia Airport.
• New York LaGuardia Airport to Wilmington, North Carolina with American Eagle and Envoy Air on an Embraer ERJ-140LR.
• The White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia.
• REVIEW | The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia.
• American Civil War Museum at Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia.
• Virginia State Capitol in Richmond.
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.
• Two days and two nights in Richmond, Virginia.
• Wilmington International Airport (ILM) to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) with American Eagle and PSA Airlines on a Bombardier (Canadair) CRJ-200ER.
• National September 11 Memorial & Museum (World Trade Center) in Manhattan, New York.
• The Oculus aka World Trade Center Transportation Hub in Manhattan’s Financial District (New York).
• REVIEW | Holiday Inn New York City – Wall Street in Manhattan’s Financial District.
• Star Alliance’s Lufthansa Senator Lounge at JFK Terminal 1 (New York).
• REVIEW | Brussels Airlines’ 2019 ‘Boutique Hotel’ business class on its Brussels Airport to New York JFK route.

From New Orleans to New York on Amtrak’s Crescent – USA 2024

1. REVIEW | British Airways Brussels to London Heathrow.
2. REVIEW | British Airways World Traveller London Heathrow to New Orleans.
3. NEW ORLEANS | Streetcars, Garden District, Algiers Point, Riverfront, Jackson Square.
4. REVIEW | Louisiana State Museums – the Presbytère and the Cabildo, in New Orleans.
5. NEW ORLEANS | French Quarter ft. Bourbon Street.
6. REVIEW | voco St. James Hotel.
7. NEW ORLEANS | Riverwalk and Riverfront at the Mississippi River.
8. REVIEW | The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
9. USA | A Sunday and a Monday in New Orleans, Louisiana.
10. REVIEW | Amtrak’s Crescent overnight sleeper train from New Orleans to New York in a roomette.
11. REVIEW | Hyatt Herald Square.
12. REVIEW | SUMMIT One Vanderbilt panorama / observation deck in New York City.
13. NEW YORK | The High Line and Little Island.
14. A look inside the TWA Hotel at New York’s JFK Airport.
15. USA | 25 hours in New York City.
16. REVIEW | British Airways New York JFK to London Heathrow in World Traveller.
17. REVIEW | British Airways London Heathrow to Brussels in Euro Traveller.
18. UNITED STATES | From New Orleans to New York on Amtrak’s Crescent.

North Carolina 2025

1. REVIEW | SAS Scandinavian Airlines System – Brussels to Copenhagen – economy – Embraer E195LR.
2. REVIEW | SAS Scandinavian Airlines System – Copenhagen to Atlanta – economy – Airbus A330.
3. REVIEW | Delta Air Lines – Atlanta to Wilmington – economy – Boeing 717.
4. NORTH CAROLINA | Wilmington Riverwalk.
5. NORTH CAROLINA | Walmart Supercenter Leland.
6. WILMINGTON | USS North Carolina – Costco – Tidewater Oysters – Lewis Strawberry Nursery and Farm.
7. CAPE FEAR | Fort Fisher in North Carolina.
8. NORTH CAROLINA | Wilmington International Airport.
9. REVIEW | Delta Sky Club Lounge at Atlanta Airport Concourse F.
10. REVIEW | SAS Scandinavian Airlines System – Atlanta to Copenhagen – business class – Airbus A330.
11. REVIEW | Carlsberg Aviator Lounge at Copenhagen Airport.
12. REVIEW | Jettime for SAS – Copenhagen of Brussels – economy – Boeing 737-800.