DELAWARE  4.25.24

Our visit to the beach came to a close today.  It didn't take the three of us long to make sure Susan's beach house was back in order the way we found it.

Car packed, we headed north.  It was uneventful ride, which is always a good thing.  We made it back to Newark (NewARK) with plenty of day left to enjoy time out on the deck watching all the geese in the pond behind Sue's home.

Dinner was a delicious meal of steamed shrimp.  We certainly are getting our fill of seafood and we're loving bite of it!

Evening brought oldies on the radio and card playing.

A relaxing day if nothing else.

 DELAWARE  4.24.24

Today we were up and about so we decided to go enjoy this gorgeous day outside.

First stop was Roosevelt Inlet to see if anyone was catching fish.  No fisherman were there so of course no fish were being caught.

Next stop was the quaint little town of Lewes, Delaware.  Let's start of with the pronunciation of this town's name.  It's Loo-iss NOT Looz as some pronounce it.  While we're on pronunciations, Delaware is also blessed with a Houston.  We don't pronounce it like Texans do however.  Here in Delaware its pronounced House - tin.

So we get to Lewes.... Lewes was founded in 1631 by Dutch settlers. Since it was the first town in Delaware and Delaware is the first state to ratify the Constitution, the town refers to itself as "The first town in the first state." We Delawareans are just so darn clever!

Here, hundreds of boats spend the entire summer or come in just on weekends. There are lots of nice restaurants in this waterway area.

I could spend all day looking at the homes that have been here since the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries! Lots of gingerbread adorn these homes and many have the most beautiful gardens!

Before long we found ourselves in front of Saint Peter's Episcopal Church. This is the first church, in the first town, in the first state.

On the grounds of the church is a cemetery.  Of course it is the oldest cemetery in Delaware....you just know where I'm going with this don't you? I don't care, I'm gonna do it anyway. So we stood in the first cemetery at the first church in the first town of the first state. Whew! What a mouthful!

A lot of the headstones are nearly void of the engravings because of time and elements. These graves in the forefront of this picture date back between 1746 and 1775.

There is one grave that gets lots of attention. The inscription reads: "In memory of Elizabeth H. Cullen, born February 30th 1760 and departed this life September 30th, 1830, A.D. Aged 78 years and 7 months."

Also buried here is Dr. Henry Fisher, born in Ireland in 1700. He was the first physician in the territory of Delaware. Get ready......so we stood at the grave of the first physician in the first cemetery at the first church in the first town of the first state. OK, OK, I'm done.

There are lots of other Delaware notables such as governor's sea captains, justices, too numerous to mention and too boring to read about.

 This is the Cannonball House, formerly known as the home of David Rowland, this house was built in the 1790's.

It was struck by a cannon ball during a two-day British bombardment in April, 1813 as part of the War of 1812. Here is what remains.

You would think after all these years that someone would have worked that cannon ball loose! I'm glad they didn't but I'm surprised all the same.

These cannons were instrumental in keeping the British at bay during the time they tried to disrupt the commerce and shipping that was the mainstay of the area. Having been refused supplies by the Delaware authorities the British took up bombardment positions in the bay and shelled this town for 22 hours! Although short on ammunition the American batteries were able to effectively reply and cause damage to enemy vessels forcing the British to withdraw and take up more distant positions. You don't mess with Americans!

This is the Zwaanendael Museum.  It showcases over 11,000 years of Lewes culture beginning with the original Native American residents, through the period of European colonization, the American Revolutionary War, the birth of the United States as a nation, and the War of 1812. The exhibit utilizes a historic timeline to tell Lewes' story, supported by an array of artifacts, maps, sketches, lithographs, and photographs of period buildings.

I can remember coming to this museum when I was in the fourth grade as part of learning Delaware history.

Next stop was the Cape May - Lewes Ferry.  This is a mural on the wall.

A model of one of the ferry's.

There are five total and they make the trip between Lewes and Cape May, New Jersey. Its a 17 mile ride and it takes approximately 90 minutes. I made this trip a long time ago but I get seasick so it isn't a fun trip for me. Geez, seasick even on a ferry, on the bay no less, not even out on the big waves of the ocean!

Each ferry holds 100 cars and 1000 passeners,  Seeing an RV bicycles or even a tractor trailer are not uncommon sights on the ferry.

While hanging around the terminal we did see this little fella who got caught in the rocks.  He's going to have to wait for the ferry to come back or for high tide to get out of where he is.  This horseshoe crab sure was struggling and we all felt sorry for him but there was no way for any of us to get down where he was to help.

We wanted to see the ferry up close and personal but we had just missed it.  The next one wasn't until 4pm so we had to find something to do in the meantime.  What to do on a beautiful spring warm day???  Why play miniature golf of course!

A few more water shots.

Back to Rehoboth to play mini-golf.  Plain and simple I kicked butt!  We had since lost interest in the ferry and it was getting later in the day and don't ya know tummies started rumbling. Back in the car and headed to Dewey Beach for dinner at Woody's, home of the best crab cakes ever!

Tummies now full, shopping all done, we had seen all we wanted to so that left heading back home for the evening.  We played cards, watched TV and called it a night.

What a great day with our friend Susan!

 DELAWARE  4.23.24

Well, it didn't take us long to get on the road this morning.  We're heading to the beach for a few days.  It was only a 90 minute drive or so to Rehoboth Beach where Susan has her beach house.

This is an area that Walt and I are both very familiar with.  That said, there was a whole lot more to see than the last time we were here.  More homes, more stores, more restaurants, more bars.  More, more, more.  I swear the builders around here won't be happy until every last square inch of God's green earth is covered with a building.

After getting settled in we decided it was time to go for a ride, see some sights and then stop to get dinner.

Our first stop was Delaware State Seashore Park.  I workamped here for two summers.  Once as a camp host and the other as a dock attendant.  I liked the latter job a whole lot better!

 We were surprised to see how many campers there were.  I'm betting fisherman because the big stripers are running right now.

We took a walk at the inlet to see how the fisherman were doing.

They said they weren't cathing anything but that should have changed soon after as tide was coming in.

Some brave souls went out onto the rocks.  These rocks are slippery and the water often hits the rocks and covers them.  This is one place I've never felt comfortable in.

There were two black birds, I don't know what kind they were, that we watched for awhile.  They would dive down and stay down for quite awhile and surface some distance away.  

We kept on driving south, throught Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach and into Fenwick Island.  We checked out some shops and then headed for Harpoon Hanna's as the restuarant we wanted to eat dinner in wasn't open yet.

Harpoon Hanna's is a very happening place in the summer months.  Its large, has a big outside patio, large dining rooms and a good sized bar area.  We sat at the bar and made the mistake of looking at the menu.  Appetizers?  Yes, please.  Crab dip on toasted pieces of bread and "boom boom" shrimp.  So much for dinner!  By the time we finished these two dishes we were full.

Heading back north we stopped in Bethany Beach so I could get a picture of Peter Toth's new totem pole.  Every state has one and ours happens to be at the beach.  (In Arizona, its in Winslow)  I've also seen the one in Alaska.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by to see if the "president" was in town or not.  He wasn't.  And the townspeople were glad.  Its so disruptive for the beach area when he comes here.  Road closures galore!

Susan told us his neighbor's place is for sale and is having a hard time selling when people find out who the neighbor is.  Who wants to go through the hassle of a secret service checkpoint every time you go out for a quart of milk or a visit to the boardwalk?

So we made it back home settled in for an evening of TV watching.  We never did have dinner.

DELAWARE  4.22.24

Monday already!  We stayed pretty close to home today as Walt and I plans to have dinner with friends and Susan had a spring program to attend at her grandson's school.

We played cards, listened and sang to the oldies radio station.  The songs of our youth brought back so many memories for the three of us as we spent our summers together at Crystal Beach in Maryland.  Walt lived just a half hour away and our families had beach houses there.

Susan and I played together when we were children as my grandparents house was just across the road from Susan's house.  When they went out on their boat I was often asked to join them and we would go swimming off the boat in a cove off the river or perhaps we would be holding fishing poles in our hands and keeping her dad busy with removing our fish and re-baiting our hooks.  Fun times.

Susan and I went to Hawaii when I turned 21 and the next year I was a bridesmaid in her wedding.  We've been close friends now for 64 years.....and counting.  When we come to Delaware we spend a week with her and she comes out to Arizona for 10 - 12 days.  Great friend!

Walt and I took Susan's truck for transportation and using the GPS, the ONLY WAY we would find our way, we went to Judy and Lindsay's home for dinner.  I have been friends with these two since the late 90's.  I met her when she was doing nails and him when they both came to a stock club meeting we invited them to.  Friends ever since.  It was wonderful to spend time with these two, to catch up, share what we've been up to and just be with long time friends.  Good food.  Great company!

We left there in time to get home before dark.  The roads have changed so much.  What used to be farm land is now a 55+ condo community, or a housing development with ridiculously high price tags.  You know, homes start in the low 400's.  Or there is a strip mall with yet another nail salon, a Walgreen's or CVS, perhaps a dry cleaners, a Game Stop store and a sub shop.  They're everywhere!

Communities have popped up in what was once a soy bean field or where potatoes or corn were grown!  We truly don't know where anything is anymore.  It's sad in a way.  Maybe "progress" isn't always a good thing.

We all arrived at the same time from our early evening outings and spent the evening around the kitchen table playing cards.

Tomorrow we hit the road!

 

 DELAWARE  4.21.24

A lazy day.  We didn't do much of anything today because yesterday was so long and so tiring.  

Finally, needing to get out of the house we went for a ride.  Susan took us to the Christiana Mall to show us how much had been added to the surrounding area.  It's a shopping mecca now! 

While in the area I asked Susan to go to my old neighborhood.  What a mistake that was!  I bought a house in Woodland Trail back in 1980.  It was brand new and a small little starter home, but it was only me when I bought it, so it was perfect.  The price was right for my little piece of real estate at $29,900.  I spent 26 years in that little starter home.  I guess I never finished starting because I left that in 2006 and we moved into our 400 sq ft 5th wheel!

So we drove through the one development to get back to mine and my heart just broke as soon as I saw the entrance of my old community.  It looked so run down and the yards of the homes I could see were unkempt.  Tall grass, broken toys, a pool with the side caved in.  Oh no!  What happened to the manicured lawns we all had?   I didn't see flower beds anywhere.  No one cares anymore it seems.  We finally came to my house.  Tears sprang to my eyes as I looked at what has become a, well, there's no other way to say it.  A dump!  I have no idea who lives here now but my beautiful lawn was gone.  My beautiful flower beds are no more.  What bushes there were, were overgrown and in need of a trim and shaping.  The fellow we saw in the yard must own some kind of construction business I'm guessing because of the piles of wood, large tools, metal barrels filled with who knows what.  The north side of the house was covered in green because no one took the time to power wash it anymore.  My picket fence that kept our dog in the yard was peeling and in much need of a coat of paint.  I wish we hadn't made this part of the journey.  It was just heartbreaking.  I won't make this mistake again.

On another note, Delaware is just beautiful!  Its so GREEN!  Don't get me wrong, Show Low is green but this is different.  The trees are so tall here, oak, maple, sycamore, locust and poplars.  The pink and white dogwoods are in bloom as are the pink, red and white azalea bushes.  They had quite a bit of rain this spring so everything is so lush.

After a bit more riding around, trying to figure out where we were most of the time, our tummy's started rumbling and it was time to eat.  We all had a wonderful steak dinner at the local Texas Road House that Susan treated us to.

Back at her house we watched a 4 part series on Netflix about the earth and then settled around the kitchen table for several games of Five Crowns and Farkle.

We didn't stay up until two in the morning and we called it a night around eleven.  Sleep came quickly for all of us.

 ARIZONA/COLORADO/PENNSYLVANIA/DELAWARE 4.20.24

Up at the crack of dawn to make the trek to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, our friend Wayne got us to the airport in good time.

And that's where the good timing stopped!  We always get a wheelchair for Walt because the walk is just too far with carry on luggage with his back and leg issues.

Here's where we ran into trouble.  We were waiting for an available wheelchair and the line was just too long to wait any longer than we did.  Then we had a problem with the boarding passes, which were caused by me, so we had to wait in the long line at the help desk.  I asked those in front of us when their flights were and since they were after ours they agreed to let us in front of them if we could get close enough to the front.  Well, that didn't work and our flight was already boarding.  We missed the flight to Chicago!

We were able to get a Philly via Denver, Colorado that was leaving in just 45 minutes.  Three seats were left and we snagged two of them.

We went straight to the gate and were 2nd in line with the wheelchair brigade.  We were let on first and we chose the very front row which afforded us plenty of leg room.  Of course, the view was a blank wall.  It was less than an hour and a half flight and it was worth it just to have the leg room.

We did get to see the Meteor Crater from the air and we were both surprised to see how big it actually is from that vantage point.

Just before we landed the flight attendant asked everyone to shut their window shades.  Walt closed ours but we didn't know why.  She then asked everyone to push the call buttons, so the blue lights lit up,  She lowered the lights in the cabin.  She then announced that we had someone very special on the flight.  Carol, who was celebrating her 103rd birthday!  The blue call lights were the substitution for birthday candles.  So all 175 of us raised our voices in the Happy Birthday song to Carol.  We never did see who she was, but we sang to her all the same. 

Denver Airport.  We had hoped to go to the USO to hang out because we had a 3 hour layover according to our calculations.  We forgot about the time difference so we lost an hour there.  We then found out that the USO was two terminals over and by the time we got there and back another 45 minutes would be gone.  It just wasn't worth the effort.

Hunger was setting in by then, so I went in search of something substantial.  We had our first Smash Burgers.  The line was long but it moved pretty fast and in short order we had lunch.  They were ok.  That's all we can say about them.

I went in search of some snacks for the longer part of our journey.  Oh em gee!  I'm an M & M freak, I'd admit it.  My house is seldom without a bag of M's.  I usually buy the "share" size bag at Walmart for $4.59.  The airport wanted, for the same size bag, $11.99!  Are they nuts???   I did finally end up with two king sized Reese's Cups and two bag of Raisinets.  Let's not even talk about what I paid for them.  The words HIGHWAY ROBBERY come to mind and I'll leave it at that.

Once again, we were first in the wheelchair line, so we boarded first.  Again, we snagged the first row seats with ample leg room.

Now THIS flight was FUN!  As many times as we've flown Southwest Airlines, this is the first time we have had a flight attendant that made the announcements funny!  He had us in stitches!

During the pre-flight instructions he told parents traveling with two or more kids that if we had a problem and the oxygen masks fell from the ceiling for them to take care of the kid that was most promising in taking care of them in old age.

At one point the seat belt light came on and he announced the plane was going to get wiggly and jiggly.  Walt thought he was a little limp in the wrist but I think it was all part of his "act".

Things were pretty wiggly and jiggly for awhile and the attendants were also strapped into their seats.  A trash can in their area fell over with a very loud bang.  To be quite honest, it scared the crap out of me!  An involuntary scream escaped me and 3 seconds later the pilot called the attendants phone and wanted to know what happened.  The guy asked the pilot did he hear the trashcan fall or the scream?  Yep, he heard the scream.

As it got darker outside this same attendant announced that he was turning the interior lights off and something about making the ambience of the Southwest sunset flight more enjoyable.

We finally landed in Philly and the seatbelt light was still on and it was very quiet.  Then we heard in a low, guttural sounding voice.  GET. OUT.  And that folks were our instructions for leaving the plane.

We thanked him for making our flight so enjoyable because he was so darn funny.  I had never paid such close attention to flight attendant announcements before.

Our luggage was delivered to the carousel quickly and before we knew it we were calling our friend Susan who was waiting the cell phone lot for us.

She knows us so well.  There was a small cooler in the back seat with two Coors Banquet's for Walt and a Pepsi for me.   

Twenty minutes later we crossed the state line into Delaware, our home state.  We'll spend a whirlwind two weeks here, seeing family and friends.

Car unpacked, luggage resting by the stairs to the upstairs of her home, we sat around the kitchen table and caught up until 2 in the morning.

We're tired.  Time for bed.

 ARIZONA - April 19, 2024

We had hoped to be on the road by 12:30.  We weren't too far off and got on the road by one.  We dropped Abby off at her Aunt Sandy's and off we went to Mesa.

Quarter of a tank later we arrived at our good friend's, Bobbi & Wayne's home to spend the night.  We'll leave the truck with them and they'll take us to the airport in the morning and pick us up when we return.

We had an enjoyable evening with them on their patio watching a Netflix movie and had our usual cheesesteaks from Capriotti's for dinner.

Good food.  Great friends.