Weekend getaway

On Friday morning we drove toward the southeast area of Pennsylvania. Our first stop was the Brandywine Battlefield where we were defeated by the British on September 11, 1777. We had a one hour guided tour of the home of a Quaker family because their home was used as Washington's headquarters. We also spent time in the museum. Paul and I briefly visited there in 1997. We spent more time here this time, but Paul still wants to return some time in the future to spend more time hiking where the battle was fought. I think he'll have to wait until we are empty nesters. Our second stop was Longwood Gardens which is the largest botanical garden in the United States thanks to Pierre du Pont. Paul and I had also visited this site in 1997, but it was the first time the kids were there. The kids enjoyed Longwood Gardens more than the battlefield. Flowers are also more my cup of tea than battlefields. We saw two shows at two different water fountains. Nadia took a LOT of pictures of flowers using my old camera. We had dinner in Delaware at Red Robin using gift cards. It is the only restaurant where Nadia still orders off the child's menu. I had a bowl of chili for my dinner, and then I shared a pineapple upside down milkshake from the kids' menu with Nadia and Oliver. I ordered the one from the kids' menu because it was smaller (less calories). It was AMAZING! I think it might be the best milkshake I ever had in my life. YUM! During our most recent vacation we never spent two nights in the same hotel. We did spend two nights in a row at two hotels that were less than a mile apart from each other in Orlando. For this weekend getaway I booked us two nights at a Best Western in Dover. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that I hadn't been able to find a reasonably priced room that included an air mattress. We used an inflatable raft plus four pillows to create a bed for Nadia on the floor. The breakfast at this hotel is above average, but the mattresses on the beds are awful. On our last trip I found 2/14 mattresses to be hard to sleep on. I will be very glad to return to my own bed tomorrow night!!! The hotel advertised an outdoor pool, but it isn't actually available for use.

This morning after we ate our free breakfast, we visited the First State National Historic Park in Dover. We had a (free) private walking tour, attended a Juneteenth program that focused on the experience of African Americans in the military during the Civil War, and also had a tour of the colonial courthouse. We learned that Delaware used to be part of Pennsylvania. Delaware became the thirteenth colony shortly before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Because slavery was legal in Delaware, there was debate as to which side they would join in the Civil War, but they sided with the Union. Originally, I had planned for us to visit Rehoboth Beach. The kids have never spent time at a beach with a lengthy boardwalk. Rehoboth's is one mile long. After talking with a woman from our church on Wednesday afternoon, I had decided to take her recommendation and visit the beach at Cape Henlopen State Park instead of Rehoboth. I have fond memories of going to Rehoboth as a child and also in my early 20's, but evidently, it's changed a lot over the last almost 30 years. The weather was cooler today than yesterday. It was cloudy, but thankfully it didn't rain while we were at the beach. Because of the cooler air temperature plus the fact that the water temperature was 69 degrees, we didn't spend as many hours at the beach as planned. We shared a large pizza for dinner in Dover. 

Our first stop tomorrow morning will be the Air Mobility Command Museum. We drove by it today, and Paul is very excited about seeing the aircraft there tomorrow. I made a last-minute decision to include a visit to the Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington tomorrow before we see Matilda (musical) and then head home. We're planning to stream the church service tomorrow evening during our drive home. I decided to purchase a zoo membership because it will give us a membership with AZA which means we will get 50% off at other zoos I planned to visit over the next year. If I had made this decision earlier, I would have purchased a membership at WNC Nature Center because a membership there also includes an ASTC membership. Later this summer I'll renew our membership with Owensboro Museum which will give us an ASTC membership for $40. Hopefully Milo isn't too distressed by our absence. The kids will be attending overnight camp and Bible quizzing in South Carolina, but I think it will be three months until he'll be separated from me for more than several hours. I'm looking forward to printing two more photos for the map in our family room - Georgia and Delaware! We are now down to twelve states left to visit.