Insider’s Corner: Dan & Heidi Ludwig
High school sweethearts Dan and Heidi Ludwig, both 67 years old, retired in Wilmington in 2013. Dan’s career with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company led the couple to reside all over the country and the world during their working years, with a total of 20 years spent living outside the contiguous United States. When not living abroad, Heidi worked as a travel agent.
Hometowns: Alexandria, Virginia
How did you prepare for retirement? We spent our last 10 working years in Europe and wanted a home base, so we purchased an investment property in Wilmington in 2008. Having lived all over the country and the world, we knew we wanted to target the Southeast near the coast for retirement. When we retired, we lived in our small house here and traveled down the coast to search for the right place to call home, and decided Wilmington had everything we wanted, plus family in town and in neighboring states, so we looked at local properties and bought a lot in a new community and built our current home. We are very happy there.
What do you recommend for others moving here who want to be involved with the community? Wilmington is blessed to have the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Cape Fear Community College, and these schools provide many opportunities for a retiree to be involved like mentoring, teaching and administration. There are many clubs and organizations in the area to participate in too, plus various boards for education and local government. Wilmington is a growing community that attracts people of all backgrounds and ages. You can get over-involved easily here!
Any restaurant picks? We like the variety of restaurants in the Mayfaire area as well as downtown. Favorites are Savorez, Bridge Tender, Roko Italian Cuisine, Rosalie’s Trattoria, Brent’s Bistro, and the Country Club of Landfall.
Favorite ways to spend a day? We like to do something active every day (walk, yoga, gym, pool laps, beach, golf), enjoy the beach, and spend time with neighbors and friends. We also have relatives in Wilmington to enjoy time with.
Favorite spots of any kind in the region? We love the beach and Intracoastal Waterway and think we have the bluest ocean water on this part of the coast. The historic downtown has improved considerably over the past decade with many restaurants and craft breweries, new luxury housing, a new outdoor concert venue and a boardwalk that faces the Cape Fear River all along the city waterfront. We like to occasionally go downtown for a meal or concert, but spend most of our time in the Mayfaire and Landfall area.
