Carnell Marlowe, a Sunset Beach resident, won $2 million on Thanksgiving.

SUNSET BEACH -- Carnell Marlowe had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Marlowe, a Sunset Beach resident, purchased a $3 winning Powerball ticket at the Minuteman Food Mart on Beach Drive Southwest in Calabash on Thanksgiving Day worth $2 million, beating the odds of 1 in 11.7 million to win the Saturday drawing.

The numbers on the ticket matched all five white balls, winning him $1 million. Since Marlowe purchased a Power Play ticket for $1 more, his winnings doubled to $2 million.

“I’m so grateful,” Marlowe said in an N.C. Education Lottery news release. “I’ve actually won other games before on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving’s been good to me.”

Upon realizing he had won, Marlowe said it was “hard to believe” and his first thought was to hide the ticket, which he did in his wallet.

“No one’s going to think I’d carry it around with me,” Marlowe said. “That’s the last place they’d look.”

Marlowe’s nerves were so heightened that he didn’t leave the house with his slip of paper worth $2 million until Monday when he claimed his prize of $1,385,000, after required state and federal taxes were taken out, at the lottery headquarters in Raleigh.

Marlowe said he plans to use some of the money to pay bills, while he plans to save the rest for retirement.

Reporter Makenzie Holland can be reached at 910-343-2371 or Makenzie.Holland@StarNewsOnline.com.