By Land or By Sea?

Destination: Cape Mays, NJ (and back again)
Total Miles: around 250
Total Cost: roughly $60

I contemplated another title for this post: Mr. Darcy Rides the Ferry.

Which he did!

But we spent more time driving around (somewhat aimlessly) than we did riding the ferry from Cape Mays, NJ to Lewes, DE.

So...what happened today? Good thing you asked! I drove through Glasgow, Petersburg, and Dover...make it quite the international day!

Now for the real story:

I had no clue what exactly I was going to do when I woke up this morning to my alarm at 6:40 am. It wasn't snowing even though all the weather apps said it should be. So, I decided that a drive would be very nice.

Darcy and I headed off (honestly not sure what time...9 am?) and opted to drive up to Wilmington, Delaware. I looked up a couple sites to see, and we went exploring armed with nothing but the Dove promise of last night: Do something spontaneous. (The other applicable one says: Go where your heart takes you...but this seems contradictory to the first, and besides that, I have no clue where my heart would take me.)

Wilmington was a bust.

Wilmington, Delaware

I drove around and around trying to find this "interesting" ship...when I finally made it through the sketchy neighborhoods and creepy waterfront 'roads,' not only was the museum area locked up but also                         there was not a soul in sight. I kid                          you not.
There was the ship. The building. Me. Mr. Darcy. And another Honda Fit Sport that looked exactly like Mr. Darcy. After snapping a couple pictures (from the locked safety of my vehicle!!!), I scooted out of                              Wilmington.

I headed towards New Jersey...and found SNOW! Little flurries floating down slowly on a bleary, blustery morning. It made for a lovely drive across the state.

By now, I had a plan forming in my head. I would drive down to Cape May and take the ferry back to Delaware. On the way down, I would drive along the coast and stop for some yummy food.

Things I did NOT add to my formulating plan:
1. Hurricane Sandy left-overs.
2. Off-season closures...of everything.
3. Inability to hop on to the Parkway once I passed the initial entrance.

I did find some lovely lighthouses, and an excellent hot chocolate from a place called Red White and Brew.

By the time I reached Cape May, it was closing in on 3 pm. Which gave me two hours to find sustenance, see anything I wanted to see in Cape May, and get back to the ferry terminal.

No offense to the people from New Jersey...but the locals that I tried getting directions from were difficult to understand. Odd accents...

With hypoglycemia starting to play with my brain, I found a yarn shop. No. I didn't eat there! The last yarn shop I visited is located in Concord, New Hampshire (visited on my Boston trip with Kara and Amy). The lady (still difficult to understand), gave me walking directions to a restaurant called "The Pilot House." I think. Whatever it was, I ordered a lovely meal of blackened salmon topped with a mango-orange-pineapple salsa served with a side of seafood chowder.

I was so hungry, I inhaled the meal in under 15 minutes. Flat.

It was amazing!

The ferry ride back was fun! I've riden ferries before, but I have never had to drive my car on to the boat! And when the ride was over, I went to unlock Darcy...and couldn't find my key! A sweet lady helped me look around, and we found it on a seat where I had almost fallen asleep. She graciously took a picture of Mr. Darcy and I before we disembarked.

Tomorrow is going to be just as busy and fun...so for now, I will put some random moments from today at the bottom.

:)

Random Moments:
1. Signs in NJ: "Please use your seatbelts." (well...if I had more than one, I would...)
"Deaf Child Neighborhood" (ummm...this may or may not be slightly discriminatory...just tell me to watch for children, like normal)
"Drive Slow and Arrive Alive." (good thing EVERY car from NJ was passing me while I was going the speed limit.)
2. WaWa is both a gas station and a market. Sometimes both. Not always.
3. Full-Service gas station: never been to one before!
Questions re: why do they call it "Full Service" when they won't even look under my hood?! and do I or do I now tip them? Hope not...
4. The off-season may be the best time to drive around if you want limited traffic...but be prepared for almost nothing being open.
5. Since normal people go the beach for Spring Break, I decided for my first official Spring Break to do likewise. My beach just happened to be 34º F.