TRIP REPORT: O'nut does the Mid Atlantic: Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania

I have a friend that lives in Wilmington, DE that I went out to visit. We usually do some sort of driving tour and this time we went all over Delaware and across a ferry into New Jersey, as well as a little bit in Pennsylvania. So without any further delay....

Friday March 2: I flew out of LAX in the afternoon, but by the time I arrived into Philadelphia and got to his place in Wilmingtom, it was too late to do anything other than watch some t.v. before bed.

Saturday March 3: First up we took a long walk through Brandywine Park and had lunch, then walked back to his place, again through Brandywine Park.

Here's a shot of Brandywine Creek right outside his condo, looking towards the park. Yea I know, ya can't see much of anything.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b3...7/IMG_0387.jpg

Next we headed off to Valley Forge. But because there really isn't much of anything worth taking a picture of (it's basically just fields and woods with reconstructed (nee not authentic) shacks the Revolutionary troops bunked in), that that is the reason I have no photos from there.

After Valley Forge we headed back to Delaware, about 10 miles south of Wilmington, to a little town called Newcastle.

Here are some shots from this cute little old town. It was where William Penn first set foot in America!
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I love this early 1900's painted ad for Ivory Soap that was still on the side of this building. "It floats!"
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Cool old alleyway.
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My artsy shot of an old church.
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And it's graveyard.
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And my final shot from Saturday. Just a cute old street scene from Newcastle.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b3...7/IMG_0386.jpg

Very nice, really lovely shots and welcome home!

Welcome home! I didn't even know you were gone or I would have worried about you having safe travels.

Love the pics and I hope you had a great time!

Really interesting shots Onut! Thanks so much for sharing.

What beautiful pictures! I've never been back east, its nice to see pictures that people have taken of places I'll probably never get to go to! Thanks for sharing!

Sunday March 3. We headed off for our overnight trip. First stop was Rehoboth Beach at the southern end of Delaware.

Boardwalk. Not too crowded for an early March Saturday. I can only imagine how nuts it is there in the summertime.
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Rehoboth Beach sand dunes along the Atlantic Ocean.
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Near to Rehoboth is the town of Lewes, which is the place where the ferry terminal is located (you take the ferry over to Cape May, N.J.). It was a cute beach town but again, very quiet and calm due to it being March.

Here's I am on the beach, getting blown. By the wind people, by the wind!
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Here we see a cannonball from a British ship shot during the War of 1812. You can see the different colored brick around it. Story has it this building was hit by this cannonball. They repaired the hole and stuck the cannonball into the brick to show where it went through.
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Next we have a few shots from the ferry. Its about a 90 minute ride and it was SO ROCKY! Lots of people barfing and such, fun fun fun! You can see how big the squalls were. And it was colder than a witches.... well you know. ;)

Looking back at Delaware.
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Me and my 3 chins.
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And looking ahead to New Jersey! It's there, I swear!
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After the boat ride, we were off to gamble in Atlantic City for the night. We stayed at Caesars and gambled, and lost. A.C. reminded me of what Vegas was like 20 years ago, but the prices were on par with Vegas which sucked.

The view from our room. Yes, it looked out over the lobby area and if you looked straight down you could see part of the casino. It was really weird!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b3...7/IMG_0399.jpg

After some dinner and more losing, we headed to bed.

More More More! :D

Monday March 5. Got up and headed outside to BONE chilling wind. It was probably 30º, but REALLY windy so the chill probably made it feel like the low 20's.

I stepped out onto the beach and took a few shots of the boardwalk in Atlantic City.

Looking north.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b3...7/IMG_0400.jpg
Looking back at Caesars. The "old west" looking facade has a couple facades they kept intact from the late 1800's. And did you all know Monopoly was based on Atlantic City? I had NO IDEA!!! Park Place, Ventnor St, Marvin Gardens, all there. I was clueless.
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Atlantic City boardwalk.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b3...7/IMG_0403.jpg

We left A.C. to head back south to Cape May to look around there. Of course after driving 1/4 of the way we had to turn around and go another route as a bridge was broken. Thanks for the warning signs New Jersey, ONE MILE beforehand! Loosers! :p

Back in Cape May (deader than any other beach town we visited, but cute none the less).

Here's what remains of a class of ships the Navy tested back in WWI. They were ships made of concrete, but they ended up not being practical so the program was cancelled.

Here is one of those ships that broke free from a mooring and crashed onshore back in like 1920. It would have been to expensive to get rid of it so they just left it.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b3...7/IMG_0404.jpg

This is a bunker built during WW2, that was made to protect the entrance to the Delaware River from those pesky German U-Boats. There were all sorts of towers on the N.J side and DE side that were used to spot possible incoming German ships.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b3...7/IMG_0405.jpg

Here we have the Cape May lighthouse. Built in the 1850's. It was quite beatiful and in great shape.
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My artsy lighthouse shot.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b3...7/IMG_0408.jpg


And there ya have it folks. After here it was back to the Philly airport for my flight back home.

If you're ever in the area I'd suggest checking it out. Lots of history with some pretty nifty buildings filled with Americas past.

OMG, I love the semi-cobblestone road!!!! There is still one in Birmingham AL.

LOVE the pics Onut. Looks like you had a great time. I am going to mention the "Bridge Warning" to Mr. Dkat, I am sure he will say "Yep, that's NJ for you."

So I have to ask; DID NJ smell as bad as everyone says it does???

When are you coming to NC? We can go to Williamsburg, VA, the Andy Griffith Museum, Marshall University, uhhhhhhh and other places.

Great photos! Thanks! I've heard stories about Rehobot Beach ;-)

I so love the northeast, thanks for sharing, great pics!

I didn't know that Monopoly was based on Atlantic City either! I learned something new today. It looks like you had a great trip! Thanks for the report!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mikeland

Great photos! Thanks! I've heard stories about Rehobot Beach ;-)

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Yea. For those that dont know, Rehoboth is popular with "the gays" :lol: Kinda like a smaller Provincetown. We didn't see many however. In fact we saw one store owned by a couple old lesbians and that was it. I guess the Mid Atlantic gays hibernate this time of year.

Great pics Matt! Miss you!

Wonderful photos, thank you so much for sharing. I am glad you had a safe and eventful trip! :)