Cape Henlopen and Lewes, DE

Our original plan for Monday was to visit Lewes, DE, to spend the day on the beach.  The weather did not serve us well for that, so we visited Cape Henlopen State Park.  The skies were cloudy, the wind brisk, and the rain would occasionally pelt us with wet. 

We visited Fort Miles and marveled at the different between this bare-bones "base" and the more up-scale and luxurious one at Dover we visited just the day before.  We surveyed the shoreline from the large dunes.  We climbed a World War II observation tower, got vertigo with the spiral staircase, and marveled at the 360-degree view from the top where the wind blew us sideways.  We learned how triangulation was used to get a fix on boats in the waters beyond and how we'll be using that same idea on the boat.  We saw really, really big anti-ship guns.  

Do you know about the Oozlefinch?  This is a bird which is the unofficial mascot of the Air Defense Artillery; the oozlefinch is portrayed as a featherless bird that flies backward at supersonic speeds.  I believe the imbibing of lots of alcohol caused this bird to appear to soldiers in a double vision.

We also walked the shoreline behind the nature center over to the rotting pier where people were fishing while being blown around.  Elliott found a dead seagull and he and Gary gave it a shoreside burial.  We stayed bundled up yet waded in the warmish waters.  It would be a really lovely place to visit on a sunny day, but we also enjoyed it from this different perspective.

We had been told that we must visit a specific store in Lewes and pick up a Bounty bar, which is an English equivalent (or better) to the Mounds bar we know and love stateside.  I remembered the store because it has gourmet food items on one side and then puzzles of all kinds on the other side.  We used to bring home puzzles for the kids from this place.

The candy bars (milk and dark chocolate, for those with discerning tastes) were found happily, and got a steel puzzle for Elliott.  

Very hungry by this time, so we searched out a few options for dinner, but two of the recommendations were closed, so we decided on an Italian place called Touch of Italy. It felt like walking into a New York  deli and I've never been in a New York deli.  But if I did, it would be like this, except probably a lot noisier.  We had a great meal, great service, and left with a loaf of bread and some Tiramisu (with real ladyfingers!!!!!) for later.  Oh boy, this dessert stuff is getting out of hand, eh?

A sweet time away and we got back later than expected, but dropped into bed quickly to be ready for whatever was going to come the next day.