Vacation from our vacation -- beach break in DE

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Tuesday, July 6th: We went back to Nat Geo, spent a fair amount of time checking out the DaVinci models (watched a family of four -- two teens -- not be able to figure out one of them that DGS worked right away). Ransomed out the car ($45 for the 4 nights -- I think he charged for 3 days; had paid $5.00 upon parking on Friday -- much cheaper than the hotel charges). Repacked and tried to drive to Lincoln Memorial -- not easy, took wrong turns, etc. but eventually we got to Constitution Ave. and got rock star parking again right next to the Vietnam Memorial, fairly easy walk to Lincoln. The rows of porta-potties, from the 4th, were all locked up -- a bit aggravating. There are restrooms in the lower level of the Lincoln Memorial. DGS had really wanted to see it, so it was great that that worked out so well for us. He did not want to walk by the VM, so we went past it pretty quickly on the way back to the car. The squirrels are spreading themselves out almost flat as pancakes in the shade to try to cope with the heat -- there is an official heat wave going on now -- hitting 100 degrees. Driving out of the city went just fine (3275 on odometer, 12:30 p.m.) following hwy 50, although the GPS was not happy about that -- it always wants to head to the freeway. We stopped in Annapolis for lunch down at the dock near the Academy. Shared snow crab legs at Middleton Tavern (ended up at almost $50 with beverages and tip, and only one order of legs; I had some soup). Lots of very old small interesting buildings. We got to the motel (Heritage Inn and Golf Club -- nice, but not quite as spiffy as it sounds, good location and value) in Rehoboth at about 5, (3399 on odo). DGS settled in watching Alien v. Predator and playing on the laptop and I went on a short shopping trip-- hoping to find a foam mattress pad for yet another uncomfortable bed, no luck. Got some salad fixings and beer -- good supermarket just across the street from the hotel. Shrimp salad for dinner. Went to the pool for a while after the movie and another 10 year old showed up so they played very actively together. Got to sleep pretty late and up late on Wednesday.

Wednesday, July 7: Late start; DGS slept in. Gave me a chance to write up our journal to this point. We packed up and started a driving tour of the area, beginning with the main Rehoboth Beach area -- elbow to elbow people on the beach (parked in a 30 minute spot to check it out and use restroom). (Started at the bank -- busy, needed to check balance and get quarters). Lots of shops -- is that the “Boardwalk”? Then we got gas and headed south along Coastal Hwy 1 thru the other small towns and the large town of Ocean City Maryland (did not look appealing at all). Went to a Walmart while looking for the road to Assateague and got a couple of cheap foam mattress pads (which helped the beds a lot). Spent some time at the Assateague Visitor Center (DGS enjoyed the touch tank), then drove on toward the Park. Saw about 14 of the wild ponies right next to the road, including one foal, and a deer grazing in the bushes -- so that was a very successful day trip. Spotted a likely beach on the way back (Tower Beach), may try that tomorrow --not as crowded, with good parking. Sam watched some of another AVP movie; we had hot dogs and then went to the pool. Had the pool to ourselves; played some catch and did some water aerobics. Still not getting to sleep early enough, but this our “vacation from the vacation” relaxing time. It was a little overcast today, so a little bit cooler (still hot, but bearable).

Thursday, July 8: It’s rather cloudy and much cooler this morning -- may reverse our beach plan for the day and try the little golf course. We did try golf ($10.00 each)-- of course it started raining as we started playing and we did terribly. DGS’s clubs are now too short for him, so he used mine and we only did three holes. Had lunch in the room and then drove up to Lewes to check it out -- it’s small with historical old buildings -- didn’t look through any of them. Checked out the local beach and decided to go back and spend a little time there. Lewes Beach has a handy parking lot, with meters, but I was just getting settled in when DGS came rushing back from the ocean crying that his phone was buzzing and in his pocket -- so it was toast. Then he was freaked out about how his Mom would react and didn’t want to stay. We did a little sand building and wading, but left after a while because it was not fun with the suffering about the phone disaster. Regrouped at the motel; talked with DD who figured out that she could get a free replacement for the phone so that helped with his mood. We stopped at a couple of shops (Michaels, etc.), took a look at Jungle Jim’s water park and then went back to Rehoboth Beach area and had a good dinner at Finbar’s (shrimp and chips for DGS and stew and beer for me -- about $33.00 with tip -- Thursday special). Went to the pool, but no one else in the pool, so he was on his own. Got to sleep a little earlier.

Friday, July 9. Leisurely start to the day; got a good night’s sleep. Tried the motel breakfast - mostly just sugar and carbs, so it’s good we’ve been eating in the room. I did some organizing and car cleaning and DGS had lots of computer time. We left late morning and went up to Cape Henlopen to the Nature Center and checked out the beach -- DGS played about half an hour, boogie-boarding, (no sunscreen with us so we had to leave); we decided to go back to the hotel and have lunch and return there later. We went to the observation tower (a WWII leftover; they're all down the coast here); I went almost to the top but DGS didn’t want to go up very far (height issues). When we got back to the beach, the surf was pounding even harder, but DGS did a lot of boogie boarding -- we spent a little over two hours there. The lifeguard leaves at 5:00 p.m. We had “Boardwalk fries” (just plain fries) and he had a yummy blueberry water ice -- different than an icee -- very smooth., $3.50 each. Had dinner in the room, then went down to the pool. The pther boy and his Mom from Baltimore were there again, so we had a nice visit while the boys played. DGS had a bit of homesickness at bedtime (maybe anxious for his new phone?). He is tired and not objecting to going to bed. Weather really nice today -- not oppressively hot, altho certainly hot. DGS is a boogie-boarding maniac -- he really took to it, and didn’t seem to mind the pounding and sand scraping that go along with the fast gliding rush of it. It was good that we had a good beach experience today -- no sprained wrists (that happened while trying skim-boarding on our last trip) or phone or other disasters!

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