Trip to Wilmington, N.C.  4/19/08

After much deliberation, Holly and I decided to drive to Wilmington, N.C. for the kid’s spring break.  The airlines don’t celebrate the annual school break with great deals as they do on the odd Tuesday to Thursday in the middle of January, so we chose not to oblige their doubled and tripled prices.

The plan was to take the Cape May Ferry over to Lewes, Delaware, thus avoiding that beautiful stretch of rte. 95, which is about as much fun as dropping a bowling ball on your foot.  And what a great choice it was!  Jessica made three CD’s for us to listen to, and I have to say, we really enjoyed them.  Ever observant, Jessy not only knows what songs we each like, but was also considerate enough to include them in her compilation.  A little something for everyone. Including little Michael, who had us repeat every Beach Boys song at least twice.

Ferry

We stopped for a picnic lunch while waiting for the 2:30 departure from the Cape May terminal.  Holly and I prepared a little Salmon Salad with spicy Mustard (Inglehoffer’s with no preservatives) and some broccoli and carrots.  Desert was an apple and the kids had peanut butter on whole grain bread.  The only hitch so far was when little Michael suffered a bruised shin on the sliding board.  A long hug from Dad ended the misery.

The trip across the bay was really nice.  Little M summed it up best when he proclaimed, “This is the ever day of my life!”  Not a typo here…”the ever day of my life!”  I honestly can’t think of a better choice of words to describe the look on his face as he looked over the expanse of water.  Priceless!

We stopped at Lewes, Delaware for a quick stroll and a cup of coffee.  The kids split a hot chocolate, and once again, the only hitch was when Little M spilled some down his front and onto his pants.  As far as Lewes is concerned, we loved it!  What a nice treat.

 We plan to stop on the way back to do a bit of shopping and grab a bite at a real inviting Mexican joint located in the heart of the historic downtown looking out onto the water.

Dinner

With our fresh coffee on board and with Holly at the wheel we headed south on rte. 13 towards Salisbury, Md.  Our plan was to stop after a couple hours for dinner, but as we quickly discovered, there really aint a whole lot going on once you get past Salisbury. So, we took a stab at a couple small spots along the way, but quickly returned to rte. 13 (think,” The hills have eyes” here).  Finally, we came across a gem of a place.  A quaint little town called, Onancock.  That’s right folks, Onancock.  I had Holly repeat this over and over; my explanation being that I couldn’t remember what it was called.  I just liked the way she made it sound J

Onancock is a real quintessential Virginia landscape.  Beautiful homes with well-manicured lawns, lot’s of quaint shops and cafes, located on the water about an hour north of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  We ate at a place called, At The Wharf, which is owned by chef Johnny Mo.  I instructed the waitress to have Johnny Mo prepare my Ahi Tuna any way he recommend and I believe that put me immediately in his good graces.  Chefs like it when their expertise and skill is recognized (who doesn’t)? Johnny Mo came out to see how we liked everything and he specifically asked about the Ahi.  I assured him it was delicious.  And it was.

Virginia Beach

Running about two hours behind schedule, but with the kids still behaving beautifully, we crossed the Chesapeake at around 9:45 p.m.  Jessy has a real fear of bridges, but fell immediately at ease in the darkness, only the lighted bridge highway and the soft glow of the moonlit bay being visible.  Besides, Uncle Jeff and 5-year old Summer were waiting for us on the other side.  Jeff is stationed there with his Navy unit and it has been Summer’s home her entire life.

Shortly after pulling into the drive, Summer came running out to greet us.  The kids all had a really nice reunion.  And it was great to see Jeff. We have so much in common, but live too far apart to make frequent visits.  Not a good excuse though.  We will work to change that.

First light

As tired as we were, Holly and I got up early to take a look outside.  We both have a really good feeling about this place and although we are looking further south for relocation and another Bronco’s Gym, we wouldn’t be disappointed at all with Virginia Beach.  Trips to Puerto Rico to surf could soften the blow of winter.  We shall see….

Tomorrow we head to Wilmington.