Lewes greeted us with signs declaring its status as the first town in the first state.  It was our first destination for spending more than a few hours on our 2,000 mile road trip, as it’s where my late maternal grandparents-in-law lived when my mother-in-law was young, and since neither my children nor I had ever been there (and since my wife’s grandmother just died a few months ago), my mother-in-law rented a house for all of us plus my sister-in-law and her two sons to stay for several days.  Our family had the upstairs rooms.

It was a short walk from the Delaware Bay, which was freezing cold to my Southern self, but the children didn’t seem to mind.

When we weren’t watching children play in the sand, we visited the pre-Coast Guard era Life-Saving Station and Overfalls lightship.

We enjoyed touring the inside of the ship, despite its lack of air conditioning.

One night, we visited Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk, a place I apparently visited nearly 40 years ago, as I learned from my mother after posting a picture of it on Facebook.

There were french fries and taffy and a carousel and arcade games.

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I was born in Delaware nearly 40 years ago at the Dover Air Force Base but haven’t really spent any time there since the Air Force moved us just a few years later.  I wasn’t especially excited about driving 12 hours to spend several days on an Atlantic beach (we Atlantans prefer the Gulf of Mexico), but I enjoyed it, and the children very much enjoyed spending time with their cousins.  Lewes has fewer than 3,000 residents but has lots of history (nearly 400 years of it) and a nice, uncrowded beach.  The water, while cold, provided refreshment after morning runs or when we needed a break from the sun.  I can see why it’s a spot frequented by Washington, DC residents when they want to “visit the shore.”

Unfortunately, our days there had to end, and the next leg of the trip was a 9-hour drive to Hilton Head, SC.  Or, it was supposed to be 9 hours.