Sanford Woman Lands $250,000 Prize on Scratch-Off Lottery Ticket

A Sanford woman is celebrating today, as she won the top prize of $250,000 on a scratch-off ticket from the North Carolina Education Lottery.

Patti Pilat won the top prize on a 20x The Cash scratch-off ticket purchased at the Walmart on NC 87 South in Sanford. Lottery officials said she is the first winner of the top prize in the new scratch-off ticket.

Pilat picked up her winnings this week at lottery headquarters, pocketing $177,526 after state and federal tax withholdings.

North Carolina Education Lottery officials said that the 20x The Cash game launched just this month and there are four $250,000 winning tickets out there.

"Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education. For details on how $4.3 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Lee County in 2020, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section."

Locals have had a lot of good luck with the lottery recently, with two Cumberland County winners hitting on the same Cash 5 ticket in late January. Lola Allen from Fayetteville, and an unnamed person in Spring Lake, each won $264,419 - one third of a nearly $800,000 jackpot - before taxes.

“From the very beginning I’ve been using the same numbers,” Allen said. “They are my favorite numbers so I stuck with them. When they all fell into place, I was in shock. I was numb.”

The Cash 5 drawings are quite popular with residents, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.

"Cash 5 is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail store or through Online Play, either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings are held every night."

If you're looking for good food across Southeastern North Carolina, you've got plenty of restaurant options, and thanks to the Food Network, a lot of people know about them.

The folks over at tvfoodmaps.com have done the work of legends, putting together a complete directory of all the restaurants that have appeared on some of the network's most popular shows.

So we took a dive to look at some of the best Southeastern North Carolina restaurant choices. For the sake of this discussion, we're calling "Southeastern North Carolina" anything south of Raleigh, and east of basically Pinehurst. So you won't find any of the MANY restaurants on the list in Raleigh, for example.

What you will find is a host of North Carolina restaurants that serve up everything from barbecue to seafood, and a little of all of the in between.

You'll find restaurants on Fort Bragg, over in Wilson, and down to Wilmington. And they've been on shows like "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" and "Food Paradise," as well as several others.

So let's take a look at the North Carolina restaurant list from Food Network shows, who have come down here to the wonderful Southeastern portion of the state:

8617 North Carolina 55, Angier - Seen on Food Paradise (Reopens March 1)

9th Infantry Street, Fort Bragg - Seen on Restaurant Impossible

https://bragg.armymwr.com/programs/smoke-bomb-grille

194 Gilliam McConnell Road, Carthage - Seen on Food Paradise

(Note: the original Pik N Pig restaurant in Carthage was destroyed by a fire last May. But they are in the works of building a new location. Read more about it here.)

2656 U.S. 301, Wilson - Seen on Food Paradise

751 State Road 1204, Greenville - Seen on Food Paradise

https://www.ourstate.com/a-day-at-bs-barbecue-greenville/

715 West Fire Tower Road, Winterville - Seen on Best Thing I Ever Ate and Food Paradise

4618 Lee Street, Ayden - Seen on Food Paradise

4688 Long Beach Road Southeast, Southport - Seen on Man vs. Food

109 Chestnut St., Wilmington - Seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

114 Market Street, Wilmington - Seen on Best Thing I Ever Ate

624 South 17th Street, Wilmington - Seen on Best Thing I Ever Ate

1895 Burnett Boulevard, Wilmington - Seen on Best Thing I Ever Ate

4002 Oleander Drive, Wilmington - Seen on Man vs. Food and Best Thing I Ever Ate

3436 South College Road, Wilmington - Seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

6301 Oleander Drive, Wilmington - Seen on Restaurant Impossible

1611 Pavillion Place, Wilmington - Seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

7210 Wrightsville Avenue, Wilmington - Seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

122 Market Street, Wilmington - Seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

(This is from the Carolina Beach location.)

8024 Market Street, Wilmington - Seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

6400 Carolina Beach Road, Wilmington - Seen on Man vs. Food