B®each

A couple or so weekends ago we towed Anna down to the shore. Since we had never been, we gave Delaware Seashore State Park a whirl. I fully knew going in that the place was big. It sports 348 sites with three point hook up on top of dozens of tent sites. All the sites are pull through. I was not mentally prepared for the fact it is very much a parking lot with bath houses sprinkled in. 

There we are is a sea of motorhomes and white boxes. I noticed the white box is becoming more and more brown or grey these days. Most motorhomes are black and tan these days also. The campground is right next to the beach which is very convenient to beach goers. It is also right next Indian River Inlet which offers great fishing. 

The campground is also next to a very cool, brand new, bridge. It is almost as much sculpture as it is functional. 

The intense blue light that is part of the bridge is more than captivating. I found myself staring at it as if it were a campfire. They do not allow campfires at DSSP.

Even the underside of the bridge is captivating.

Right down the road is Maryland's biggest tourist trap. Ocean City Maryland is 146 blocks of tourist trap. I like a good tour trap as you might know, but I love a great tourist trap. OC is a great one.

My favorite part of OC is down at the end of the boardwalk. Generations of trapped tourists have flocked here. You can feel their spirit.

Places like Playland draw hard on me.

It might be the ancient ski ball games. I love how they spit out tickets.

You can trade those tickets for worthless trinkets. Never do the math on these trinkets. 

Pick out your mood ring and move along.

The thing I like most about Playland is how old the machines are. Generations upon generations have pulled that drawer to get their stuffed doll.

I always feel compelled to give the cranes a try. Theses are old time machines, highly skilled at robbing tourists of their quarters.

No trip to the boardwalk would be complete without a visit to Dolly's or Fisher's. They is a debate who is better. I just go to both.

There are things that always catch my eye. 

Another boardwalk favorite of mine is the Ocean Gallery. Sadly I read it will be closing after this season. I am sure they will build some tasteless hotel on the site designed to get the maximum number of rooms on the lot.

The times are choking out the real life in OC. Land is worth much more than my nostalgic memories of the place. 

Camping at or near the beach is always a dramatic experience. The wind never seems to stop blowing. It is also a great place to loose an awning. A mobile awning repair service would do well at DSSP. I witnessed many people trying in vain to get their awnings back in after the wind unrolled them forever. It is way too easy to get overly happy at happy hour and forget to put your awning away before bed time. Thankfully, we never set our rope and pole awning up.

As far as weather, it was a 50/50 mix for us. The water was surprisingly warm for the beginning of October. It was wicked rough however. 

I wonder if any of you know what this is.

My prospecting friends would love to be able to use a rig this massive.

It is a dredge. At the inlet they fight the longshore current to keep the sand on the beach. They are constantly trying to pump it back to where it was. This fight is so serious that the pump for this dredge is inside of a building.

This is a dune they are trying to re establish. The sand however has a lot of big chunks in it. I was very curious why there was so much asphalt and steel chunks in it. I guess once the plants take root, it will not matter what is in the sand as long as the sand stays put until the next major storm.

Anna was obsessed with the new bridge. I kept catching her trying to capture it's reflection. She looks great freshly polished.

No trip would be complete without a stop to the Eastern Shore's favorite tours trap; the Farm Stand. I do not like to stop at these, but my wife, she wants to stop at every single one. Now here is the thing about the Eastern Shore Farm Stand; they are rarely items grown on the farm where the stand is located.  They also always have things no longer in season.

Pumpkins are in season. The box out back however said they were grown in North Carolina.

All farm stands have 'home made' canned goods. These were imported from Pennsylvania.

Everyone knows the best corn comes in October.

The potatoes we labeled 'new potatoes'. The bag said Idaho.

It says locally made. I suspect China is considered local now.

I love cauliflower. It too said 'local'. I will probably believe that as true.

Chile. it is a local town to Delaware.

Local New Jersey honey. So here is my rub with these farm stands; They are not from the farm selling them. They are often not local at all. They charge about 30% than my local store. 

Just outside of Wilmington we crossed another brand new bridge. I wonder if it is lit up like the one at Indian River Inlet. I will have to go back and find out.