I do not believe in destiny, or fate. Amazing coincidences are just that. We only attribute additional value to them because they are happening to us at the time. As humans we are unable to comprehend the millions of other times that the coincidence didn't manage to happen to all the billions of the people on the planet. Having said all that, what happened was pretty coincidental!

I left Virginia Beach at night, getting a long 12 hour bus ride through the night to Wilmington, North Carolina. I transfered bus at Raleigh, NC and in the queue there got chatting to a girl in front of me in the queue. She was also going to Wilmington to visit a friend. She is one example that there are (other) normal people travelling Greyhound but you have to look really hard.

When I arrived at Wilmington I went to my hotel, showered (because these long bus rides aren't pleasant) and headed out to explore the town. I only had that day because I was getting a bus out the following day. The downtown was very nice and had a few dozen cafes, restaurants and shops. I did a trolley tour of the historic district and there are some very pretty cobbled streets that the residents protect fervently - they have been known to come out at night if the council has asphalted their street and remove it!

By the evening I had had my fill of the town, having found it fairly limited, and had sat by the river soaking up the ambience, and I felt fairly tired because I hadn't slept much on the bus ride so I headed towards the bus stop to get back out to my hotel. On the way I saw a shop on a side street with a Union Jack on it. I walked up and saw it was a bar, and it had a sign saying 'wine by the glass'. It was very hot in town and I decided a nice glass of chilled white wine would be just the thing.

The bar was only six weeks old and was a 'British style' bar, which means it has soccer on the plasma screen, has London Pride on tap, a selection of British beers in cans and bottles (see the photo, notice there is also Babycham!) and serves British snack food including Walkers crisps. The barman was very nice and chatty and I helped him perfect the taste of the bitter shandy that they served - the problem was that he was using Minute Maid lemonade that is very lemony, whereas you really need lemonade from a soda fountain, so you need less of it.

After three hours I left and was going to get some snacks from the grocery store up the street when I heard a girl's voice from across the street shout 'Hey!'. I ignored it until she shouted again and I could see someone partway back down a wide alley sitting on some steps and looking at me. I crossed the street, expecting it to be a homeless person who was going to ask me for money, because that's the kind of tactic they use. Far from it; it was the girl from the bus queue. We didn't exchange names so all she could shout was 'hey'. She was in a place across the street from where I'd been and had just stepped out to make a phone call and spotted me. See what I mean about coincidences!

Nathalie, that was her name, invited me inside and I met the friend she was visiting, Chandra. After about an hour the two of them were leaving and Chandra asked me if I wanted to hang out with them for the evening and crash on her couch and she'd give me a lift to the bus station the next morning. I mulled it over. If it was a set-up to jump me and take my money it was incredibly elaborate since I'd met Nathalie hundreds of miles away and not arranged any meet up. Also I'd wanted to do more random crazy things on this trip. So I said yes, although it meant wasting the money I'd spent on the hotel room.

We collected my things and I checked out of the hotel, much to the bemusement of the hotel clerk. I had a blast sitting in Chandra's lounge drinking punch and chatting to two people who, for all I knew, were going to steal my kidneys later that night. They convinced me to stay another day and hang out with them and, since it wouldn't cost me an extra dime, I agreed.

The morning came and all my body parts were still in tact. I met Chandra's teenage son, Lucas, and he introduced me to the comedy of Dave Chapelle, who is a black comedian that makes fun of racial stereotypes and prejudices. That somehow started long, deep conversations between myself, Nathalie and Lucas about racial issues in the US and UK and the history of slavery. I found it very interesting to discuss it with a real African-American who, while she doesn't live in the ghetto, still has an insider's viewpoint.

On a more fun note we had dinner at a lovely riverside restaurant where I had the best crabcake sandwich and we walked on the beach at Wrightsville Beach. It was beautiful weather for it and there were plenty of people there, unlike my last stop of Virginia Beach. In the evening we went out to a bar to meet one of Nathalie's friends, Chris, who was a lot of fun. By the end of the evening he and I were discussing my career path and the unfolding of World War II (there is no link between them).

I had a real blast in Wilmington. It is the most random thing ever to happen to me, and I'm glad I let the girls kidnap me. For one thing my impression of Wilmington was only mediocre before that point. Chandra was an excellent hostess - providing me not only with a bed but also making breakfast, paying for dinner and taking me to the bus station at the end. Both of them were incredibly nice people and a real pleasure to hang out with, and Lucas too I should add.

That's two excellent cities in a row now with very kind people at each. What will happen at the next stop at Charleston, South Carolina? Only time and this blog will tell.