Robert Mills of North Myrtle Beach, S.C. came up to North Carolina for a beach vacation and found himself the lucky winner of a $1 million prize.

Mills, an ex-Marine and retired police officer who served for 43 years, stopped at the Food Lion on Old Folkstone Road in Sneads Ferry on Monday to buy lottery tickets and tried his luck with a $10 50X The Cash ticket.

He scratched one of the tickets he’d just purchased right there in the store. “When I scratched it off and saw it, I said, ‘I think I won $1 million!” recalled Mills.

After store employees verified his winning ticket, his reaction was, “You gotta be kidding me.”

Mills claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He had a choice of taking the $1 million as an annuity of $50,000 a year over 20 years, or a lump sum of $600,000. Mills chose the lump sum and after federal and state tax withholdings, he’ll celebrate with $424,503.

“I’m gonna put it right into savings,” said Mills. “This is gonna make my life a lot easier.”

All Multiply the Cash games can also be entered into second-chance drawings on the lottery’s website. Prizes in the drawing include one $100,000 cash prize, eight $5,000 cash prizes, and 25 $500 cash prizes.

The entry deadline for the third of four 2020 Multiply the Cash second-chance drawings is Aug. 31. The drawing is scheduled for Sept. 9.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games like 50X The Cash make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have helped all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.