To Delaware- Thursday, July 2, 2026

     Leaving Williamsburg and headed towards Philadelphia, we didn't have any firm plans for today except for driving north and probably avoiding Washington DC traffic.  We liked the idea of stopping at a beach again for Abby.  Although we've been through Delaware, we've never stayed there, so we decided to find a beach there.

     We packed up the car and said goodbye to the Williamsburg Woodlands, which we really enjoyed.  Scott and Julie agreed that if we came back to Williamsburg we would want to stay here again, but we also agreed it would probably not be any time soon and it would NOT be in the summer.

     We stopped at a Starbucks near William and Mary, passed the historic area and headed south.  We first went over the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, which we had crossed two days ago, and then went over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.  The bridge-tunnel is 17.6 miles long, which is shorter than we remembered.  The toll was $16, so that's almost $1 per mile.

     After we had driven a short way on the Delmarva peninsula, we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch.  Shortly after that, we were surprised when Julie found a Stuckey's that was still in operation.  Abby had to use the restrooms, but of course, we shopped a bit too.  Scott had to try one of the famous pecan logs (thumbs down on that).  Julie got some Chuckles candies and some old fashioned licorice drops among some other things.  Abby got a little stuffed panda in a panda-shaped purse.  Julie was disappointed that there were no Mexican jumping beans and tried to explain to Abby what they were.

     Just a short distance up route 13 was the Maryland Welcome Center.  When we stopped there, Abby was surprised to see a real live axolotl.   Her name was Ivy, and she was swimming in a tank behind the desk.  The women working there invited Abby back for a closer look.   Ivy was pretty still to start with, but she began swimming around before we left.  She seemed to be interested in Abby's panda and purse.

      We left the bigger roads, following our GPS, and when we passed the "Welcome to Delaware" sign, it was so small that we missed it the first time.  Scott made Julie make a U-turn so we could go back and get video. 

     Our hotel is between Rehoboth Beach and Dewey.  We admired the houses in the coastal communities as we got closer to it.   The Bidens own a vacation home north of town.  Other politicians and celebrities are often spotted here too.  Steven Universe was supposed to be partly inspired by this beach.

    Julie couldn't find a place that delivered pizza, so she went out to pick it up at a place called Grotto's Pizza.  It was only after she left that we learned that a different location of Grotto's along the boardwalk was part of the inspiration for "Fish Stew Pizza" on Steven Universe.  How did it taste?  It was pure beach pizza.  (Not good.)  Abby thought the fact that they put cheese on first and then the sauce made it "weird."  Keep Beach City weird.

     Abby had seen the pool on our way in today, so naturally, she wanted to go down to it.  She was a little freaked out by it because the water wasn't crystal clear and was lit from underneath by green lights.  She eventually warmed up to it and swam for maybe an hour, trying out her goggles again and swimming a pretty good beginners doggy paddle.  Scott got some pictures and video of her from above because of a set of windows that overlook it from the 2nd floor.

     We were tired and Julie was enjoying relaxing a little bit, but we had come this far for the beach, and Scott eventually talked the other two into going to the ocean.  We drove back through the main street at Rehoboth Beach looking for a place to park.  We had driven on this street before and were amazed at the number of interesting looking stores and shops.  It was very crowded though, and there was no place to park.  We eventually found a spot a few blocks away and since the beach was still right in front of us, we walked down to the ocean while Abby ran ahead.  

     As Abby played in the surf and Julie sat on a large sand mound, Scott walked back to the boardwalk area.  He passed the Funland Arcade and found Thrashers French Fries, both of which inspired settings in Steven Universe.  He got a small order of fries, which was actually pretty large, but he was not brave enough to order "The bits! The bits!" like Steven does.  The fries were excellent, but the seagulls started attacking him as he was trying to get video of them.

     After about an hour at the beach, we trudged back up through the thick sand, found a place to wash much of it off and headed back to the hotel. 

     Since we were going to be in Delaware, Scott thought maybe we could stop and see a memorial to Caesar Rodney, the Delawarean who had cancer, yet rode to the Continental Congress through a terrible storm in order to cast Delaware's deciding vote for independence.  His ride was commemorated on Delaware's state quarter.  A monument to him would have been an appropriate stop for our America 250 week, but the most important equestrian statue of him, used to be in Wilmington.  It was removed because he was a slave owner. and it has been moved to "Freedom Plaza" in Washington, DC.  We will NOT going there this week.  His silhouette is on many of the signs here still though.