Days 5-6: Delaware Beaches

Thursday was our first full day in Delaware. The main attraction in this (southern) part of the state is the beaches, so the plan was to spend the day at one along the ocean. But first, we took time to enjoy the campsite, and to put on our latest state sticker. Delaware makes 32 states we've spent the night in with our motorhome! Pretty wild.

We drove up route 1 to Bethany Beach. This was a popular beach that was supposed to also have a nice board walk. The town in general was very nice. However, driving anywhere takes forever. All through the beach area there are a ridiculous number of crosswalks. We eventually made it and were able to find a very good parking spot.

We got up to the boardwalk and then onto the beach. It was pretty crowded. Actually it was very crowded! We made our way to an open spot and set up the beach blanket. The beach didn’t allow personal cabanas or tents, so we had to leave ours in the car. The crowd wasn’t so bad that you couldn’t enjoy the beach, but because of where our spot was, and the shape of the beach (there was a crest in the sand and then a steep slope down to the water), having so many people around made it a bit of a challenge to manage the kids.

This was the first beach we had been to where the waves were an issue. The waves out at sea were listed as 1-2ft, but when they crested at the shore many were as tall as me. The actual waves were a challenge for the kids, but the resulting backwash after each wave was quite strong. This meant that we had to have one hand on Nolan at all times while he was near the water, and you couldn’t take your eyes off Sam. Allyson and I had to divide and conquer to let the kids play.

It wasn’t the greatest beach experience, but I assumed we would ride it out for a while for the girls' sake. However, to my surprise they all wanted to leave after about an hour. The water was just too rough to enjoy it. We packed up and headed back to the car. As a consolation for the brief beach day Allyson took the girls to the pool at our campground.

After dinner we headed down to Ocean City, MD. In general I thought it was a fun, touristy spot with a big boardwalk. But I have to be honest and say that Allyson and I both found it a bit trashy. Not super trashy, but there were elements of trashiness. On the drive towards the boardwalk you pass block after block of apartment and condo complexes. It just reminds you how much of a tourist place it is.

Despite the "trashiness" I thought the boardwalk was fun. It had your typical variety of of cheap, cheesy vendors. I wasn't planning on getting a luxury keepsake from Ocean City, so it met my needs. The biggest issue with the boardwalk was all the damn seagulls. These were some of the most aggressive seagulls I’ve ever seen. I bought some fries from Thrashers (which were delicious) for us to share. Caroline dropped a single fry on the boardwalk and a seagull feeding frenzy ensued. Seagulls were dive-bombing this fry from left and right. And it was one damn french fry! The girls did not like that so we could already see our time on the boardwalk would be limited. We agreed we would all share a funnel cake so that some of the kids could experience the greasy wonder I savored so much. We ate that and then headed back for the motorhome.

By the time we got back it was time to get the kids ready for bed. There was a severe thunderstorm warning so I had to hustle to pack up things I didn’t want getting wet. It never really stormed but it did rain for several hours, sometimes heavily. As I previously mentioned rain at bedtime in the motorhome is very relaxing, but I was looking forward to sitting around the fire and that was clearly not going to happen. So we turned in and hoped for a better beach day tomorrow.

Friday was our second go at the beach. This time we opted to go to the beach on Fenwick Island, which was very close to our campground. We had already scoped out a spot on our way back from Bethany Beach on Thursday. In general, this beach was much better for our family. It was not nearly as crowded as Bethany Beach and there were no restrictions on what we could set up. We trucked our stuff over from the car and set up our spot. The new cabana and beach chairs were a great decision and made for a much more comfortable setup away from the water.

While the beach setup was better, the water was still pretty rough. If you were out on a boat a couple hundred yards into the water you would likely think the water was great, but it was still creating decent waves on the beach.

It was better than the day before, and it did make for some more adventurous boogie boarding, but after a bit you could tell the girls weren’t digging it. Being in the water was a bit demanding. The waves and backwash required you to constantly be paying attention to the water so that you weren’t knocked over. The older girls did well in it, but it was a challenge again with Nolan. We ended up staying for about 90 minutes before deciding to head back. 90 minutes at the beach was definitely less than we would typically do, but with a pool back at the campground the girls were up for leaving.

After the beach the girls hit up the pool while the boys ran to the store for some groceries. Later we did dinner and then we headed up to Rehoboth Beach to check out another boardwalk. This boardwalk was nicer than Ocean City’s, however we had a new challenge. Nolan fell asleep early on in the 35-minute drive to Rehoboth. He woke up with a few minutes left and he was not happy! Basically, Nolan screamed and cried for the entire duration of his time at Rehoboth Beach, minus the minutes he was actively eating ice cream.

It was tough to fully take in the experience of the beach and boardwalk. We walked around a little bit (with Nolan crying) but we could see many more seagulls up ahead. The girls were not happy about the seagull situation the night before so they didn’t want to walk much of the boardwalk. Now, the seagulls situation at Ocean City was very bad, but there are a lot of places that have nuisance birds, so it would be nice if they don’t write off places with birds before even trying them.

Allyson and the girls wanted to walk out onto the beach, so I took Nolan back to the van. He cried the whole time. However, the ladies got to spend some more time at the water.

At one point when I got back to the van with Nolan he was still screaming so I got him in his car seat, turned on the van, and after offering him every comfort item imaginable I just shut the door and stood outside. A couple minutes later I opened the door to check on him as a group of three couples was walking by. The door opened, Nolan was still screaming, and I closed the door. One of the guys walking by remarked "now that's how you handle something like that." Sometimes you're just in survival mode 🤷‍♂️.

Eventually Nolan calmed back down on the ride back to the campground. We got back and then got the kids ready for bed. All of the activity wears them out on vacation so bedtimes are typically very easy for the girls. After bedtime Allyson and I sat out by the fire for nearly two hours! Having two hours alone together is very rare on a vacation. It was great to just hang out with one another