Today: Delawhere?

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  When in Delaware, eat fresh strawberries, drink Dogfish Head beer, play lots of Phase 10 with Kristine and race 14 year olds to the front of the line at Jungle Jim’s (which is, in case you didn’t know, Delaware’s largest water park). As the Delawarians do.  I think.  Our friends Christie and Mike found a great beach house for a group of us to rent in Rehoboth/Dewey Beach.  I think I’ve driven through Delaware (is that how we got to Virginia?), but I’ve never really been there before.

Our route from Boston resembled a choose your own adventure novel.  We combined the powers of my Tom-Tom, printed out Google Maps directions (to ensure we didn’t find ourselves boarding the Cape May ferry), and my internal compass, which remembers the route to the Bronx as if it were freshman year all over again, and off we went.  Our first stop was to drop the little monster off at The Pawsitive Dog, where Clark would spend the week with Jenifer and Breslin.  I had separation anxiety, meanwhile Clark had the time of his furry life.

We put our Fast Lane pass to good use, cruising along the Mass Pike, the Merritt Parkway, the Hutch, and ye old George Washington Bridge.  New Jersey was largely  uneventful, but we did pass a few Real Housewives of NJ in their minivans on the Turnpike.  I don’t think any of them have Bravo contracts, but they seemed really real.  The Tom-Tom could not figure out what we were doing in Philadelphia, but Google Maps made us do it, and I kind of liked it.  We passed a giant ship, a million churches, the places where all the sports teams play, and some pretty bridges.  We crossed the Betsy Ross Bridge into Delaware, which nearly bankrupted the Fast Lane pass at $4 (that is, until I realized NJ cost us $8).  Betsy gave us the flag, though, so what’s $4?  We passed two Air Force bases, two regular airports, and a whole lotta corn fields.  And then we were caught in the most aggressive rainstorm I’ve ever witnessed.

The ride on 13 and US-1 was breathtaking.  We passed one family farm after another.  Is Delaware part of “America’s heartland?”  If not, it should be.  The area got a bit more commercialized as we approached the beach house (we passed something called the Electric Banana…), but there were farmstands on almost every block.  A local foodie’s heaven!

After eight or nine hours, we arrived in all of our glory.  In our badass rental flex fuel powered SUV.  With our Wheelie Cool(er).  I just now realized I am completely rambling… so I am going to save the best (including our adventures at the water park and brewery) for later, hopefully tomorrow.  Please.  Contain yourselves.

Also On Tap for Today:

• Long walk at the beach with Frenchie Fry followed by a much-needed trip to BYOD
• Daaa naa.  Daaaa na. Da na, da na… Shark alert!
• Flipping through my giant stack of magazines

How do you stay alert, focused and entertained on long road trips?