Wilmington, DE

 Monday, Sept. 27

A nice leisurely morning led to a wonderful meeting with a new/old friend. Kathy is cousins with an acquaintance and an acquaintance of my cousin. We met on FB a few years ago and instantly "clicked." So when we planned to come to Delaware on vacation, I put her on the itinerary. She actually lives in New Castle, which is just south of Wilmington.

Kathy and I  at her home in New Castle

She is a big Phillies and Eagles fan, but also follows the Flyers. Her politics mesh with mine. She's got a great sense of humor and the patience of a saint! Her house has 8 residents! Her daughter and son-in-law with 2 of her grandchildren live in one part of the house, then she, her husband Tom, her daughter Rachel and her 71 year old cousin, Denny, live in her part of the house. Denny is mentally challenged and she gave him a home when both of his parents passed. She babysits the 6 month old (Jaime) and her 9 year old grandson when he's not in school. Her one daughter is in college in Pa. so when she comes home, the house fits 9! She calls it pandemonium, but while we were there, things seemed to be in good control.  Even her dog Charlie listened to her! Of course, Paul was thrilled to have a baby to play with.

After a three hour visit, during which we met husband Tom and daughter Rachel, we left and headed to the riverfront in Wilmington. As per usual, we got bad directions from my GPS because I kept asking for Riverwalk instead of Riverfront! Finally I figured it out and we had a quick ride over to the Christina River. We found a place to eat that was right on the walk and had a very nice lunch.

Strawberry and goat cheese salad. Yum!

We then took a short walk along the river, but not to the end of the walk because my right foot decided to become painful so I limped along for awhile.

The back of our restaurant.

Interesting birdhouse.

The river, near the public dock.

Paul on the river walk.

We knew there was a public market down on the other end, so we drove over to it. However, it was very small and really had nothing we were interested in buying. It did have several interesting looking eateries but we had just eaten.

It was a quick ride back to the hotel in Newark (Delaware!) and we passed the University of Delaware stadium which is right across from our hotel. 

Go Blue Hens!!

We head north tomorrow, and will try to make Long Island our next stop, but who knows how far we'll get. We're trying to go at a leisurely rate!