Rehoboth Beach

Taryn’s good friend Sarah took the train up from Washington DC to join us for the day. But since she didn’t get in til early afternoon, Taryn and I headed down to New Castle to take Tula on a long walk and to look around town. New Castle is a wonderful old colonial town; with lots of really old houses, narrow streets (most of the streets in the neighborhood had to be one way) and old brick gutters. There was even a really old stone road, and I regretted turning down that one – so bumpy! There was also a long walking/biking trail by the bay, and quite a few people were out enjoying the nice morning. We walked about 2 1/2 miles, then headed back to Wilmington to the train station. One benefit of picking Sarah up there is that I’ll know exactly where it is when I drop Taryn off there at 4:30 tomorrow morning!

Once Sarah had met up with us, we decided first to head for Dover because it sounded like another pretty town to walk around in and maybe have a bite to eat. It was a pretty town – lots of old brick buildings, but there was no one out and about, and no shops or restaurants – kind of like a ghost town! It was a Sunday, so we didn’t expect the government offices to be open, but it’s the state capital, and one would have thought there’d be some shops and cafes and all in the area. The only people I saw when we split up a bit to see what we could find was a group of young kids who wanted to pet Tula and feed her cereal! (She enjoyed the Lucky Charms – I didnt have the heart to say no!) We wondered where everyone eats lunch during the week. There was literally no one around, and hardly any traffic. So we had to move on. We headed for Rehoboth Beach, where I had read there was a mile-long boardwalk lined with shops and restaurants, and after calling one of them to make sure it was open, we headed another 40 miles south. And it proved to be a good decision!

Rehoboth Beach reminded us a lot of Mackinac City – only bigger. The boardwalk was wide, and indeed a whole mile long. The beach was big and sandy, although not too many people were down there. There were all kinds of shops and places to eat, and people out and about. We walked around the whole area, and out on the boardwalk for a ways. Taryn and Sarah stopped for refreshments and some more time to get caught up, and Tula and I walked the whole length of the boardwalk and back. It was exactly what I picture a summer seaside town to be – complete with the creepy Zoltar fortune-teller machine!
The dunes and dune grasses were pretty and the setting sun made for some pretty colors on the ocean. The girls had spotted a Mexican restaurant they wanted to try, so that’s where we headed for dinner. It wasn’t very busy (most of the shops closed at 6), and I think we disappointed our waitress by all ordering the same thing! Sangria and fish tacos hit the spot for all of us, and was a good way to cap off a day full of fresh air! Then we had a bit of a drive back to Wilmington, and got Sarah to the train station for her 10:00 train, knowing we would be back in just a little over 6 hours to drop off Taryn!