Delaware - Day 9 - the route south

Trap Pond State Park
Wednesday, 9 January 2019

today's route

There are increasing warnings on the morning weather reports about snow coming this way, so I decided to spend the next part of the month in southern Delaware.  You wouldn't think there'd be all that much difference between north and south, given the few miles and no major geographic features, but apparently there can be big temperature and precipitation variations.  So south I go.

Trap Pond is less than 10 miles from the Maryland border and about 30 miles inland from the ocean beaches.  I stayed here when I came north in March and liked it then, which is why I'm going back.

I passed a place called the Cathedral of Fresh Fire.  I figured I read the sign wrong and looked it up - and I read it right, all right.  I guess I'm willing to believe the organizers of this church are genuine in their religious beliefs, but what I saw online looked a whole lot like a scam to me.  Something like the Praise The Lord Club (to which many people including my relatives sent money).  I hope this place is okay because it just seems doubly wrong to bilk people for their religious beliefs.

Several times since I've been in Delaware I've seen people stopping at a red light, waiting, and then going even though the light is still quite red.  Not a right-turn-on-red.  These are go-straight-on-red or turn-left-on-red.  I know in some states it's legal to turn left on red if you're turning from a one-way street to a one-way street, but these situations weren't that either.  I haven't noticed any particular degree of impatience by Delaware drivers so these running-red-light incidents seem especially odd.

I saw a mockingbird today, looking just like itself.  They're so common in Texas and I rarely see them up here, so it's a little like home when they show up.

I also saw a huge flock of snow geese that I'm sure are wintering here.  They're so pretty - all that white with black on the wings.

snow goose

In Smyrna I passed the Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill.  I've never heard of such a place, let alone that's government-sponsored, so I looked it up.  It was established in the 1930s to provide a home and medical care for those with no income or place to live, and continues to function today.  (As the 1930s were marked by the Depression, I'm not sure how they distinguished this specific group, but that's what they say.)  But the website doesn't say a word about what constituted a chronic illness - either then or today.  It doesn't really make any sense to me, but maybe Delaware's rich enough to provide for its indigent this way.

Delaware's rich enough to not have a sales tax.

The weather today consisted of very strong wind gusts and some very warm sunshine (in areas not subjected to the cold wind).

I passed miles and miles of horses and agricultural fields and flat flat land everywhere.

We checked into the campground - I recognized it as soon as I saw it, which was a nice feeling - and went almost immediately to a day care where we had an appointment.

The Stay N Play Doggy Day Care is about 20 minutes down several country roads from the campground.  Gracie made a great first impression, as she always does; Dexter didn't, as he usually doesn't.  But after watching him for a little bit, plus my explanations of experiences at other day cares, the owner Jo Ann agreed to try them out tomorrow for a full session.

Today would have been my daddy's 98th birthday and I decided to celebrate for him by going to Fat Daddy's BBQ, not far from the day care.  I think they're geared toward Carolina-style barbecue, which I'm not familiar with - I'm just guessing from something I saw on the menu.  But it was good.  I got a half-rack of ribs with a couple of sides, and had plenty left over for another night's dinner.

Fat Daddy's BBQ

As you can guess, I also decided Daddy would have enjoyed Sully, so I watched it for him.  If you haven't seen it, it's worth it.  Who would have thought that after this guy had managed to land a plane on the Hudson River after both engines quit, and to save the lives of everyone on board, the NTSB would try to prove he'd endangered them instead.  Clint Eastwood directed it and did a good job.