Delaware Trip 6

Thursday we got up bright and early to go fishing again, though thankfully not quite as early as Wednesday and this time it was in a local lake, where the rules are catch-and-release, and we are pretty sure our kids caught one fish three times between the two of them; older son also caught an impressive big fish which he swears is the same fish he caught and threw back last summer. So this was an entirely successful activity for everyone except the sunburn. Then we went to the beach for a couple of hours, swimming and looking for sand crabs and the like, and took turns at the pool overlooking the beach when we'd had enough salt in our eyes. Came back to the condo for lunch; went out to a gift store and the drugstore with my mother to grab necessities like bug spray while my father took the kids to the aquatic center pool; played some Yahtzee, took showers and abandoned parents for the evening so they could go out to fancy dinner with friends.

Meanwhile we went to Subway in Rehoboth and then to Cape Henlopen State Park, where we visited Fort Miles like last year, climbed the concrete tower at sunset and went to the nature center for a ghost crab walk. Since we arrived early, we had time to see the animals that live at the nature center, including several horseshoe crabs, a skate, turtles, puffer fish, sea bass, flounder and hermit crabs. The crab walk was about 25 people, mostly families with kids, and required a brief hike through the evening pine woods to reach the beach, where we saw about 20 translucent crabs under little light besides Venus, one of the Lewes lighthouses and the lanterns on the nearby fishing pier. It was nearly pitch dark walking back under the trees, with the exception of dozens of fireflies.


Sunset over two of the big World War II defensive guns at Fort Miles in Cape Henlopen.


Here are the barracks, which are no longer used except for historical, educational and military events and storage.


Before arriving at the fort, we went to see the Kalmar Nyckel docked for the week at the Cape May Ferry launch point.


And we climbed the "ghost tower" from World War II that's open to the public. Here, looking from the top, is one of the towers that is no longer used.


Here are the Kalmar Nyckel and the ferry from the top of the tower.


The skate with hermit and horseshoe crabs in the nature center.


The guides were adamant that we not use flashlights or take flash photos -- not because they'd hurt the crabs so much as we'd see more using our night vision -- so this was the best I could do with my little Nikon with no flash (I didn't care use the big one as I didn't have the tripod and was afraid of getting sand in the works).

Rumors of bad thunderstorms overnight and maybe Friday so I'm not sure what the game plan is! Maybe trying Rehoboth again, maybe a movie if it's really bad outside!