We drove up to Delaware shortly after I got off work. We got stuck in all kinds of traffic and arrived there after about 5 hours and 20 minutes. It was supposed to take 4 hours but we were not so lucky. It was the longest car ride we have taken for a good while. I mean we drove around a lot in Iceland but this was a continuous drive not drive, get out and explore then drive again. Once we arrived Lydia and Jared happily played with Randall and Christa's kids and we enjoyed visiting with Christa.
We were on the road again early Thursday morning. Jared had woken up at 5:38 so I was therefore awoken then as well. I went back to sleep for a little while but we ended up leaving their house by 7:45 am. The beach we chose to go to was about an hour away. We stopped for donuts on the way in a local diner and all loved the kronut the most. It's a cross of a croissant and donut and they do a really good job with them. A steady flow of customers came in while we were eating and we noticed that most of them ordered the cinnamon rolls. There were very few orders for donuts and while they were fine, I think we should have gone with the cinnamon rolls. Or more Kronuts.
Kronut on the right.
We stopped by the nature center first thing because that is where the bike barn is located. They have a big shed full of bikes of all sizes that you can rent for free for up to 2 hours. It was the best. We hopped on bikes and took off on the path. It was the favorite part of the "beach trip" for Mark, Jared and myself. Lydia also enjoyed it but she is more of a go and play at the beach all day kind of person. She was really the one who wanted a trip to the beach and requested that it be put on our Summer fun list. We biked around enjoying the scenery and stopped to climb up one of the observation towers. It was actually really hazy when we got there so our view at some points was not awesome but we got a good feel for the area. It was nice to thin about some of the history of the area and the context of it being Independence day. I do not often think about WWII war efforts here in the US, particularly here on the East Coast as far as look out towers and big guns in place. I tend to think of the Pearl Harbor of course and the horrible internment camps but apparently Delaware was ready to help out if German U boats were spotted nearby. Getting a little history in there felt good.
This is the Observation Tower we climbed, 120 steps up. (Thanks to Jared for counting)
After our bike ride we hung out in the nature center for a bit and then made our way to the beach. As far as beaches go this was not my favorite beach. The waves were very small and the water was so cold. It was really crowded but I expected that. Unfortunately the haze was still lingering for the first hour and half we were there and so the lifeguards were not allowing people to be out in the water past their knees. This made sense because you really could not see far at all but its kind of a bummer when you are at the beach and can't see much of the ocean. But eventually it burned off and as the day got hotter the water felt better. Lydia spent so much time playing in the water, she had a blast. Jared spent most of his time building in the sand but did spend a little time in the water. Mark and I enjoyed playing catch with our velcro mits and I even read for awhile. Around 1:30 we figured we had better start packing up. Besides hanging out of the beach we had plans to go into DC on our way home.
I have long wanted to be in the Capitol for the fireworks on the 04 of July. It's just one of those things like attend the MACY's Thanksgiving parade. Lydia also requested visit the National Zoo be added to our Summer list so we decided we would check out the zoo, eat dinner and then find a spot to watch the fireworks.
We left a little later than we hoped and were worried we would not make it to the zoo before it closed but we just squeezed it in. Sadly we did not see many animals. There had been thunderstorms throughout the day in DC, it was almost closing and there were fireworks being set off so I think the animals were hiding out. We really wanted to see the otters and could not spot them. We did see beavers, elephants and something else. Lydia asked if we could go again and we will try but I think its more likely we will head back in the Fall when its nicer weather.
We may not have seen many animals but we did luck to with parking! We got a free spot just minute walk from the zoo and found another free spot close to the Metro stop we planned to take downtown. The Metro was closed but fortunately there was a free and air conditioned Circulator bus driving close to downtown. We ate a slow but good dinner at a diner nearby (making sure to get our traditional Root Beer Floats) and then hopped on the bus.
I had read a lot of articles about places to watch the fireworks, and road closings and parkings and was really conflicted about where to go. When it came down to it even if it was less convenient I really wanted to be on the National Mall. We walked down there and sadly got to the screening tent too late! It was about 5 minutes till 9:00 and they were not admitting anyone else in. This was disappointing. We ended up sitting on the sidewalk in front of the African American Museum next to the Washington Monument. So I did get close enough. The fireworks were great to start but as more went off the cloud of smoke mixed with clouds really blocked the fireworks. I was so disappointed. I made my family walk all the way down there, couldn't get inside the mall and then could not see the fireworks just a cloud of smoke lighting up with colors. I mean the first few minutes were awesome and I'm glad we did it but it was not what I expected. I am not sure if it would have been better somewhere else or if I could convince Mark to try again.
You can tell how much Mark enjoyed the fireworks...
We left before the finale and walked back up to the bus pick up. We quickly got on a bus and were relived to see our car right where we left it. We felt pretty good about the spot before we left but still a little worried. Getting out of the city was of course awful but we made it through and I managed to stay awake the whole drive home to keep Mark company. Lydia and Jared started strong, enjoying the glowsticks we meant to wear while watching the fireworks but forgot in the car but were fast asleep within 45 minutes. They both slept in past 8:30 the next day which was very helpful.
We had a nice Independence day. It was busy and its funny to think that we were in Delaware, DC and then Virginia in one day but apparently this is how we roll these days. Cram in as much as we can and be together. I am grateful my family (especially Mark who really did not care to see the national fireworks) was willing and such good sports to go along with my crazy ideas. I am also really grateful I can choose to celebrate how I want and do it with those I love the most.
