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!