We drove to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware after spending three days in Washington. Along the way we stopped in Greenbelt, Maryland because Mark had heard about this planned community in the DC area. We parked at the local library and had a quick look around inside and refilled our water bottles. We walked around Roosevelt Center and saw the Old Greenbelt Theatre.
Our next stop was Annapolis, the rather small Maryland capital. It was a sweltering day and a stop at Annapolis Ice Cream Company on Main Street kept us cool, especially when I ordered a two-scoop cone that would put Dutch Dreams to shame.
In our search for a hotel in Rehoboth Beach, all the places we found were expensive. Cheaper hotels were nowhere near the beach. We were happy to have picked a nice place only a short walk from the beach, The Breakers. They also served a hot breakfast, as neither hotel in Baltimore nor Washington included breakfast with the room. Rehoboth Avenue and the boardwalk were teeming with people, as it was Saturday night. After our two Maryland stops it was getting dark by the time we got down to the beach and police were standing at the entrance areas by the boardwalk, presumably to let people know that the beach would soon be closing. We were taken by the number of the same restaurants and ice cream places along the beach. You’d never tell someone to meet you at Grotto Pizza, for example, as every block or even a few metres we’d pass another one. And the ice cream places advertised a hundred flavours. We’d have to stay there for months just to try them all. Fortunately I found my favourite ice cream flavour of all at a Safeway, Baskin-Robbins’ daiquiri ice, so I was settled on one flavour during our time here.
We just got a roast chicken and a large salad for our first dinner in Rehoboth Beach, but went out for a scrumptious lobster roll and fries at Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls on Sunday and Mariachi Mexican restaurant on Monday.
On the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk:
Over one hundred flavours on the wall to the left and right of the order windows:
In the spirit of tracking down presidential residences, Mark was interested in finding Joe Biden’s new house in North Shores, which is just north of Rehoboth Beach. We knew we were on to something when we saw a Secret Service vehicle blocking off Farview Road at Robins Lane. We drove around and parked at the corner of Anchor Road and Bayberry Lane where we saw Secret Service cars in the driveway of the house at 32 Farview Road. We could walk the entire (short) length of Bayberry and stand outside Biden’s house. We didn’t hang around and just walked back to the car.
On the afternoon of August 1 instead of going back to the beach, where we had been that morning, we decided to see the capital, Dover, and tour the Delaware Legislative Hall. We got there shortly after 3 p.m. and were the only visitors. Hardly anyone else was there either. I walked past the office of the Bill Clerk, Sheri Knott, and she happily greeted us and came out to show us around. She offered to take our photo in the House of Representatives chamber and even told us to stand, and then sit at the desk of the current Speaker of the Delaware House of Representatives, Peter C. Schwartzkopf:
When I looked to the ceiling in the House of Representatives chamber there was a domed carving of the seal of Delaware. I had to tilt my head way back to take it all in:
Ms Knott went to the office of the Chief Clerk, Richard Puffer, to answer one of our questions about past governor Ruth Ann Minner. Since we were curious about Delawarean politics he gave us the book Democracy in Delaware: The Story of the First State’s General Assembly by Carol E. Hoffecker.
We could always tell where our hotel was because it was next to the water tower:
Leaving The Breakers hotel on our last day in Delaware:
After we checked out, before our long drive to Dulles airport we wanted to drive south on Highway 1 along the narrow east coast of beach towns to see Ocean City in Maryland. We briefly considered going there instead of Rehoboth Beach and were glad we made the wise decision. Ocean City was too big and not quaint like Rehoboth.
Unlike our trip getting here, we managed to sit together on the hour-long flight to Toronto. Although we could not select two seats that were beside each other when we checked in twenty-four hours before departure, the plane was not full and when the announcement was made that boarding was complete, I moved to the empty seat next to Mark. We were an hour late in leaving but I wasn’t bothered.