meandering through the mid atlantic

on tuesday we took our teenage daughter to dulles airport where she met her aunt - and her grandparents - and they all flew off to south africa where they are going on safari through namibia and botswana, primarily. just like that, she is across the ocean and deep in another continent. we couldn't be more excited for her, but oh my, it does put a mama on edge a bit!

 

(tashi with sue, ornithologist extraordinaire and very generous aunt) 

we decided to make a tiny summer vacation of tashi's delivery to dulles, and after our goodbyes, dan, tristan, and i jumped into the car and drove eastward to the delaware coast where we camped for one marvelous night on cape henlopen.

 

with a late evening arrival into the park, we kept things simple and went out for dinner, rather than firing up the camp stove and fussing around with food and dishes. we found an outside table at a friendly restaurant and dined on seafood in the historically significant town of lewes. dan had shrimp and grits, tristan had a kids portion of mahi mahi, and i had fresh crab cakes. very tasty, all. 

it was a brief moment in lewes, but we got an eyeful of some stunning old structures and homes. we had no idea we were in the first town of the first state!

we returned to our tent site with a dozing tristan who we delivered to his cozy sleeping bag. 
dan and i enjoyed a campfire into the wee hours while listening to the waves of the atlantic slam upon the shore. it was clear night, the spaces between pine branches full of stars.

the next morning we arose to finish off our firewood, enjoy bagels, cheese, fruit, & coffee, play a little, and break camp. tristan sang in the tent and was gleefully occupied with piecing together and then reinventing the lego airplane his aunt sue gave him at the airport. 

 

he also embraced the opportunity to climb trees!

before leaving the campground we climbed the funky WWII lookout tower that was just up a short path from our camping space.

 

and then we headed to henlopen beach for the day. we had a very sweet time playing and picnicking and napping in the soft sand and great sea splash. 

 

 

 

 

 

(do you see the small black triangle in the water near the horizon? it's a dolphin. we saw lots!)

after a good several hours on the beach we headed to the resort area of rehoboth where we had a mediterranean dinner, followed by ice cream at a shop that had dozens of flavors, like crack, better than sex, boogers, dirty snow, and minty python. i enjoyed up all night, a coffee ice cream with fudge and cookie dough and other morsels of delight.

i am not much of a resort person, but i liked rehoboth. it was a good blend of kitschy, artsy, crunchy, and cosmopolitan. it definitely had a relaxed beachside vibe. 

but alas, the road lay ahead. dan grabbed a red eye espresso at the funky bookstore cafe and we drove across delaware in the darkening day. we marveled at a perfect orb of fire setting behind tall stands of corn and celebrated the amazingly bright orange crescent moon, all the while thinking about tashi in africa. we crossed the bay bridge in the pitch night, caught the buzzing beltway, and eventually headed down a dark seminole trail to our home tucked in the foot of the comfortable blue ridge. 

we arrived late, but sun kissed and energized. an email from tashi soon arrived; she had just awoken to her first sunrise in africa. 

a road trip makes a mama smile