R and J in the USA

We came into Delaware with our eyes and hearts set on two things. One – the beach. Two – our first time in our itinerary where we had a plan to be in the same place two nights in a row, a new kind of luxury that a nomadic lifestyle creates. With only three days planned in our nation’s second smallest state, we decided to stuff Day 1 to the brim no matter how tiring a pace it might be in order to seize such a luxury. How can we really say we’ve been to Delaware if we only have time to see the beach, but not enough time to be LAZY on the beach? Isn’t that what beaches are for?

We whipped into Wilmington and dove down to Dover. In Wilmington, we made our way to the Delaware History Museum. We learned a lot about Delaware’s history, from peaches to finance to the plight of the enslaved people in their struggle for freedom and so much more. We saw the stories of Delaware’s beaches and how people used to visit the beach wearing head to toe full heavy clothing. Things have changed. 

We visited Dover’s beautiful brick capitol building, one of the few we’ve seen thus far with a steeple rather than a domed top. It was quiet, humble and beautiful. We walked in and found ourselves in a witty, playful and quite enlightening conversation with the capitol policeman that did our security check. You can read more about him in our People Along the Way section.

In Dover’s capitol building there sat on a table a small, thick book, free for the taking. It was Delaware’s constitution. Now that’s the kind of light reading that Julie loves. She snatched one up like a dog grabbing a recently thrown frisbee – with commitment, precision and a hint of pure, unbridled elation. Having arrived closish to closing time, we had missed the day’s guided tours, so we took ourselves around the capitol building before heading down to our campsite at Delaware Seashore State Park, where the luxurious two nights in place journey would begin.

We took in the sights of a beautiful, but very concrete, suspension bridge from our spot in a campground sitting in a wide open grassy lot. Not quite as beachside as we’d hoped, but close enough to the beach to keep our potential for whininess at bay. We watched turtles make the dangerous trek from the shade of the bathhouse to the cover of roadside reeds and brush. We did our darnedest to use our day in place to catch up on July’s itinerary and on the as yet nonexistent blog, quickly realizing that both projects we hadn’t finished before leaving for the trip were very difficult to make any real progress on while on the trip, and that one day in place wasn’t going to come close to cutting it. Julie wore sundresses and sun hats. We met a couple who come from some amount of states away to visit Delaware’s beaches and this particular campground as often as they can manage. We read on the beach and enjoyed the change in pace for a day. 

We ran the Father’s Day 5K through the neighborhood streets of Rehoboth, starting and finishing just yards from the boardwalk of Rehoboth’s famous beaches, in the early hours of day before the boardwalk had time to come to life with the vibrant activity that filled its summers. Julie ran her fastest race of the trip yet, snagging a little trophy that she sent home to her dad as a Father’s Day souvenir, and Ryan made it clear he was just getting himself in shape and soon would no longer be finishing races behind Julie. Two delicious açaí bowls were purchased and consumed. French fries were eaten, beaches were laid upon, cold ocean water was plunged in, postcards were purchased, and yes, of course, ice cream was had. Julie had her first gluten free waffle cone ever, and it was filled with WAY too much delicious dairy free ice cream. And she ate it all with no regrets. Julie saw a Rehoboth Beach sweatshirt that had her name written all over it and she handed over the, gulp, $50, to make it official.

We made our way to the charming little town of Lewes and fulfilled our summertime touristy duty of lazing upon yet another beach. We made our way into town and stumbled into the local bakery minutes before closing time. We walked through the handful of streets peppered with restaurants and boutiques and spent nearly an hour window shopping dinner options before settling on a pizza place whose prices and setting demand it more aptly be referred to as a pizza dining experience rather than a pizza place.

We found our way into another beautiful state campground that was, once again, beauty adjacent. The actual camp site was a parallel parking spot marked out on the road that ran through the campground. It was beautiful nonetheless, and we reveled in it just the same. The next morning we made our way out of Delaware on the hour-long ferry ride from Lewes to Cape May, New Jersey. Our bodies were rested and our appetite whetted for more days in Delaware. Alas, it was time to say goodbye to this little state. Only when on the boat did Julie realize she hadn’t biked in Delaware, and there would be no opportunity to do that in the middle of miles of water before we found ourselves off onto the next state. Alas, we would have to return someday, a fate to which, now having had a taste of Delaware, we were more than happy to be bound.