LONG LONG TIME

We left the beautiful Pocono Mountains and drove through the eastern suburbs of Philadelphia and crossed the state line of Delaware. Then we passed through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops, and then we walked through the Lincoln Tunnel. Not really.

We passed Wilmington and got to our destination of Lewes, which is on the coast. It’s pronounced LOO-iss. Delaware is on one of the United States’ weird land formations. It’s on a peninsula. The east coast is on the Atlantic Ocean and the west coast is on the Chesapeake Bay. If you aren’t familiar, Delaware is on the Atlantic coast. Delaware shares the peninsula with the eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia. That’s even more weird that parts of those states are separated from the main part. It’s a beautiful area with mostly flat land. There’s a lot of farming in the center of the peninsula and lots of shipping and fishing on the coasts.

We really loved Lewes. The town’s motto is "The First Town in The First State," since Delaware was the first state and settlers came to the Lewes area in 1631. Fast forward a couple hundred years, Wiki says that Lewes Beach itself was an important stop on the Underground Railroad in the years leading up to the American Civil War. As a border state, Delaware was not part of the Confederacy, but was still dangerous for fugitive slaves. Several houses in Lewes housed escaping slaves. These safe houses were identified by the residents placing a single candle in the top window of the house. Lewes has a great downtown area where historic buildings have been maintained. It’s right on the waterfront, too.

The beach town of Rehoboth Beach is right down the road from Lewes. Rehoboth Beach is big in the summer. It has a boardwalk that is about a mile long. Beach businesses were all along the boardwalk. We don’t know how arcades stay in business with every little kid playing games on an iPad or smartphone. If you like popcorn and ice cream, this is the place for you. Most businesses were closed for the season, so we enjoyed the relative solitude of the day. By the way, Uncle Joe and Dr. Jill bought a vacation home in town several years ago. We managed to snap a pic before the nice men of the Secret Service came after us. By the way, we found the greatest liquor store in the world, which is located right there in Rehoboth Beach. So, we went in and said, “You did it! Congratulations! World's best liquor store! Great job, everybody! It's great to be here.”

Next, we tootled our way south to the very tip of the eastern shore and set up house near Cape Charles, Virginia. Our place was right on the Chesapeake Bay so we enjoyed several beautiful sunsets. The highest elevation around here is about 15 feet above sea level. The town of Cape Charles has grown in the last few years. We talked with Marshall, the owner of Cape Charles Coffee House and Restaurant, for a while and he told us a little history. The Eastern Shore has had the reputation of being a different world for many years. It looks like the secret is out. Marshall told us that the main street of Cape Charles used to resemble Harlem (I think in a bad way) and the area behind the downtown looked like Beirut (again, I think in a bad way). Now, main street is quaint and usable for tourist-types and the rest of downtown is developed with nice beach houses. It’s nice. The problem for us cats is that if we want to go to the mainland to get to the closest Publix or Marshalls, we have to travel over a bridge, through tunnels, and pay a steep toll. Not just any tunnels. These are two tunnels that happen to go under water for over a mile each. And, not just any toll. It’s over 13 American dollars one way. Kind of made our hair hurt.

Buster had a crush on Linda Ronstadt when he was a youngster. Buster says, what young male cat didn’t? She had an incredible voice and the way she performed seemed like she felt every soulful word she sang. Long long time is one of those songs. Check it: Love will abide / Take things in stride / Sounds like good advice / But there's no one at my side.

If you sign up to love someone and you’re all in, get ready to feel the highs and the lows.

Hasta luego,

Betty and Buster

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