Destination 13: Wilmington, Delaware

After Gettysburg, we went to Wilmington, Delaware, where Dad’s Aunt Pat lives. We got in pretty late Friday night, so we went straight to bed. This was the first time in 3 weeks that I got to sleep in my own bed and let me tell you, it was so nice. I didn’t have to deal with Daniel’s long legs falling heavily on top of me or Mary’s arm smacking me in the face. I sprawled out and slept like a baby…well, sort of. I still woke up in the middle of the night to the frighteningly loud snores of my family and decided right then and there that it was time to get some earplugs.

Needless to say, I went to CVS the next morning and bought earplugs. Since then, the sleep has been beyond perfection.

Anyway, the next day, we got to sleep in (hooray!) and eventually woke up to brewing coffee and a delicious breakfast with Aunt Pat. Because of the very hot weather, most of the day was spent lazing around the house. But around 2 p.m., we all went to Hagley’s Museum, where we learned about mill workers and the early days of Delaware.


The kids had a blast pretending to be from the "old days." They got to play with old cooking devices, write with quill pens and wash clothes the old fashioned way. Meanwhile, I got to enjoy a nice walk along a river covered in huge green trees, something that doesn't exist in California that I will definitely miss.

[Learning how to do the chores]

[Cleaning some socks]

[And hanging them dry]

After Hagley's, we went to a neighborhood pool, where we visited with Dad's cousin, his wife and his 22-year-old daughter. We swam for a couple hours and then headed back to Aunt Pat's for a delicious dinner of brisket, potatoes, corn casserole, blueberry pie and cookie bars. The food was sooooo good!

Heavily overstuffed, we waddled out of the house for the kids' first attempts at catching fireflies (or lightening bugs). Daniel, Mary and Robert were all successful at catching them, but they were far too kind because they let them all go! I quickly ran back inside because the mosquitoes were biting me left and right...yuck!

[Getting ready to catch some fireflies!]

[Not a good picture but if you look closely, you can see the green dots, which are fireflies!]

The following morning, we began our 4th of July by joining Aunt Pat at church. We met a lot of friendly people from the congregation and Robert did a lovely trick of "pull my finger." Yeah, you know how the rest of that story goes...

After church, we had a quick bite to eat before Dad, Mom and I went to the Nemours mansion for a tour. At first, I was more tempted to take a nap than visit a mansion. But after the tour of the amazing house and gardens that are comparable to the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, I was in la-la land picturing myself in that house....ha! A girl can wish.

[One of the many gardens]

[Henry Dupont's car collection...no big deal]

[My next car...a Rolls Royce...hahaha]

The tour lasted about 3 hours and by the end of it, we had worked up quite a sweat. It was a hot day and walking around the gardens drained any ounce of energy we had left. We decided that we'd skip 4th of July fireworks, especially since the kids see fireworks all the time, and enjoy a peaceful evening in. We had some homemade lasagna, corn on the cob and more pie for dinner, which was a perfect and low-key way to celebrate the holiday.

I know I've said this before but the love and warmth that we receive in a home is so much more refreshing and relaxing than the nicest hotel we could afford. You'd think that the kids would say otherwise but they feel it too. They seem happier, more energetic and a lot bubblier. In fact, as we drove away from Aunt Pat's, Mary said, "Delaware is one of my favorite stops." I couldn't agree more.