Delaware

 Last Fall, almost a year ago in November, my Stepmother Kim and little sister Jami decided they were done with the fast paced life in Atlanta. It was time for a change. A new start. New jobs, new house, new location. They ended up in Milford, DE at a beach rental house before settling on a more permanent home a few months later. 

We finally got a chance to drive up to visit over Labor Day weekend. We split the 9 hour drive into two days because we weren't able to leave very early on Thursday. We arrived a little after lunch time on Friday and were welcomed by Kim, Jami, their dogs Fenris and Yonah, plus their cats Goliath and Abby. 

I've never seen their new house before except in pictures. Yet, I felt so much at home there surrounded by the furniture and pictures I grew up with. I loved seeing how happy and relaxed both Kim and Jami are. They've each found new jobs that they love and are settling in nicely! And of course Kim is busy with interior decorating, which she is so skilled at!

Here's a mix of phone and DSLR pics from our trip. 

Buddy's Memorial Wall

A cool countertop ice machine

The girls decided to play Minecraft, so Jayce and I got to ride in Grandma Kim's new convertible!

We drove over to Slaughter Beach which was practically empty. It's not known as the "swimming" beach because it's more on the Bay. It's a perfect place to walk, find shells, and horseshoe crabs.

We drove home at sunset and boy was the sky beautiful!

That night we relaxed and played cards. Shaggy got along well with his dog cousins Yonah and Fenris, but hadn't quite discovered the cats yet...

The next morning, Kim took us girls (Jayce was sleeping) to the Byler's Amish store. 

 

We also stopped by Dogfish Head Brewery. Unfortunately they were not doing tours because of Covid. 

There was a lot of relaxing on the porch that afternoon:

We ate dinner out in Downtown Milford at The Arena. Then we walked around the boardwalk for a bit.

It was such a beautiful evening! It can be hot and humid in Delaware being so close to the water, but that day was cool and dry.

The next morning, we got up early in order to get parking at Rehoboth Beach. None of the kids wanted to get up, lol. I finished a book while I was waiting on them.

We found an amazing parking spot just a few blocks away from the beach. We decided to do a little sightseeing and shopping first. 

I won the personalization jackpot! Do you know how many times I've looked for my name over the years?? It's always Jesse (for a boy) or Jessica. Never just Jessie.

 

The beach was CROWDED! But what did we expect for a holiday weekend? It was still possible to social distance.

We didn't stay long at the beach. The water was COLD and the waves kept knocking Jocelyn over. Jaina got sandy and wet (two things she didn't want to have happen despite being at the beach) so we headed to lunch at the Green Turtle.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, playing with dogs, and playing more cards. Jayce is a card shark!

We hit the road bright and early the next morning to head back home. We stopped a billion times, but it still only took us about 10 hours to get home. Not too shabby! We even had a bathroom adventure near Charlotte when we couldn't find a gas station or a fast food place with open public restrooms due to Covid and I accidentally got off on another hwy that took us to I-77 instead. Crazy!

We had the best time and can't wait to go back!