Delaware - Day 15 - Lewes

Trap Pond State Park
Tuesday, 15 January 2019

today's route

The roads seemed clear this morning, but I was still nervous about black ice because it was obviously below freezing when we left.  To safeguard as best I could, I took only main roads, figuring their level of traffic would have cleared the snow off yesterday.  The many side roads I've been taking lately wind around, sometimes in deep shadow from pine forests, and get much less traffic, so I was really worried about icy skids in inconvenient places.

I was late to day care, but at least we got there with no problems.  As usual, Dexter was overjoyed before I'd even parked.  I left them overnight for the first time, but I'm sure it'll work out just fine.

I was aiming for Lewes (pronounced "Lewis") on the Atlantic, and the already flat Delaware landscape seemed even flatter near the coast.  The fields were covered in snow and the pine needles were covered in frost - all very picturesque.

Venus Observatory
When I was in Lewes last spring I mentioned I'd seen a historic marker in a cemetery and would report on it when I came back through.  That would be now, and I can see why I thought it was worth mentioning.  This wasn't a marker about some person back in colonial days or something: this marker was titled "Transit of Venus Observatory."  I could see the title as I drove by today - sufficiently startling that no wonder I thought it might be worth checking out.

Venus moves across the sun (from our point of view) twice every 120 years, and 1769 was one of those years.  People around the world were working together to take measurements to use for figuring out how big our solar system is.  The measurements were taken in specific locations, and Lewes was chosen to be one of those places.   www.capegazette.com/  This article shows a clear photo of the historical marker and explains a little about the point of this exercise.  In another article I learned that Benjamin Franklin himself, as president of the American Philosophical Society, helped choose the Lewes site.

The next Venus transit is expected in 2117, and even modern medical miracles aren't enough for us to be alive for that one.

On the water
Lewes is pretty small (2,700) and it's easy to just keep driving through town because there's seems so little of it.  The 2 branches of Rt. 9 go over the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal, a part of the Intracoastal Waterway.  Built about 100 years ago, it was intended to be used to haul freight but in reality it's been used mostly by pleasure boats.

The Lewes town beach and some condos and vacation homes are on the ocean side of the canal.  Also over there are the ferry from Lewes to Cape May (NJ) and the Cape Henlopen State Park, including Fort Miles.  I stayed in that park when I was here last spring and wrote about some of the fort buildings then.  That campground is huge, though, and very civilized - great for herding large numbers of vacationers but not so great for people like me who appreciate quiet, which is why I'm not staying there this time around.

Historic Lewes
I'd planned where I was going to go in town - the Historic Society and some of the old buildings - but it turned out so many roads were blocked with construction I gave up my plan and just drove around a bit.  Plenty of historic buildings in the main part of town.

Beginning 1637, Lewes was the site of the first European (Dutch) settlement in Delaware; it didn't last long but still has its claim to fame.  There were several tries there over the next 50 years and finally one lasted.

I stumbled across Mulberry Street and had to check it out.  When we were kids we often read a book called And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.  I have no idea what the book was about, but I had to see what I could on Mulberry Street.  (I've since looked it up and, if you don't remember either, here's what originally happened on Mulberry St.  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_to_Think_)

Mulberry Street in Lewes

Old houses.  That's what's on Mulberry Street in Lewes.  Very attractive, most of them in good repair.  Right behind me when I was taking the photo above was the building below.

Old Bethel Church

The marker shown on the right is on the building on the left.  If you can enlarge the marker photo, you'll see it mentions this building and Barratt's Chapel in Frederica as being the last surviving Methodist buildings from colonial days in Delaware.  As it happens, I've been planning to go to the chapel in the next few days, weather permitting, and I'm glad to have stumbled on this one as well.

The downtown area in Lewes is quite clearly old and very attractive, but didn't look like a good place for me to try to find a parking place.  Most businesses were lined up along Route 1 on the west side of town, and even there I couldn't always find an easy place to park.

I found a place that sold propane - just as well since I was nearly empty and it's expected to be quite cold tonight.  And I found a liquor store for a bottle of wine, and a grocery store for milk.  Lily was patient with all this but getting less so as lunch time came around.  I parked near the movie theater, bought my ticket early, and fed us both.

Movie
The movie I've been looking forward to is On the Basis of Sex, about Justice Ginsberg.  This is the first movie I've been to in over a year, mainly because it's taken me this long to figure out I need to dump the dogs at a boarding place to make the timing work.  Which is what I did.

I really like an earlier movie that Mimi Lederer directed called The Peacemaker, with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, like it enough to have brought it with me on this trip.  I'm not quite as enthusiastic about this new movie, though this one wasn't intended to have the fast-paced action of the other.  It's well-done, though, the acting is good, the cast is sterling, and as a lawyer I really enjoyed the final courtroom scene (I've been in similar situations myself, though sadly didn't come off as well as she did).

The drive to the campground
Even though I went to the earliest showing of the movie, Lily and I still didn't get back to the campsite until going on 5:00.  The sun was setting and driving visibility was a challenge.

I passed a couple of advertising signs for someone named Schagrin.  I don't care how you spell it, if your name was chagrin wouldn't you change it?

I passed a sign advertising Frets 4 Vets, which I'd never heard of so looked it up, and it looks like a worthwhile group.   https://www.fretsforvets.org  I remember hearing about a similar one in an NCIS program a few years ago, called MusiCorps.  http://www.musicorps.net  But anyway, this one looks like they're working on a good idea.

I passed a small sign saying "Hatchery" by some very large buildings and thought Aha! I was right.  These buildings are housing chicken farms.  For once, this place had a sign with a name: Mountaire Farms.  I looked them up and yes, that's exactly what they raise.  I tried to find some photos online to show what kind of buildings I've been seeing, but none of them were available for me to use.  I haven't been able to take any photos of my own because when I see them I'm always going down narrow (no shoulder) country roads with zero turnoff areas.  Maybe I'll get lucky.

I passed an open snowy field and - even from a ways down the road - saw hundreds of birds circling around.  When I got closer I realized they were all Snow Geese.  They seem to be all over the state.  Big white birds with longish necks and black wing tips.  So pretty.

I was tired by the time I got to our spot.  Plugged in the electric cord, put on my flannel pajamas, and reveled in the thought that I didn't have to take the dogs out for any walks tonight.