
JOURNAL
Wilmington, DE to Felton, DE
Today we set out on part 2 of our great bicycle touring adventure. Around 8:30 am, we were loaded up and ready to depart. Jason snapped a quick picture and said good bye. Just before pulling away…
We packed up camp at Killen's and pedalled away by ~8 am. A few miles down the road, we stopped at Williamsville Country Store for coffee and breakfast sandwiches. There were a half dozen comfy rocking chairs out front and we relaxed in a couple while enjoying our breakfast.
Soon we were joined by a crowd of locals. Mary was the first. She also told us a bit about how much the area has changed over her life and shared stories about her aunt who had just recently passed, former Delaware governor Ruth Ann Minner. She described her aunt as a down to earth and independent country girl sharing stories about inviting the guards in for dinner or sneaking out to the store without her escort. We shared some stories about our trip and our plans and after maybe half on hour got back on the road.
We biked mostly along country roads until Lewes where we picked up a portion of the Georgetown-Lewes trail. This trail is very recently constructed and still seeing active development, extending further to the west every year. The section we traveled seemed both well constructed and integrated into the community.
We stopped off at Old World Breads just after noon for some food and bought some delicious donuts (lemon & apple cider) and vegetarian lentil hand pies. We actually had to wait 15 minutes for the handpies but were treated to a delicious blend of red/brown/green lentils, sweet potato, ginger, red curry, Serrano pepper, and coconut milk. While waiting, we chatted a bit with a fellow biker and he told us a little about his experience mountain biking across New Zealand (including some time hanging out with their national team).
A short while after leaving the Georgetown-Lewes trail we turned onto the other major trail near Lewes, the Breakwater Junction Trail. It wasn't as well surfaced, but we passed through woods and wetlands for a much more scenic views.
Finally leaving the beach side trails, we turned onto the shoulder of route 1 and followed it most of the rest of the way to our destination in Ocean City. There were cars whizzing past and there were not as many views of the water as we'd hoped, but the shoulder was pretty wide and we felt reasonably safe. In Bethany, we stopped off to snack in a small park and watch some walkers/bikers doing laps.
For the final stretch into Ocean City, we had a full bus & bike lane to ourselves for more than 5 miles. The streets were densely lined with stores & restaurants while beach front apartments, condos and hotels towered above us. With a few miles to go, we stopped off grocery store and then took a short detour onto the boardwalk.
Just after dusk, we finally reached our destination, briefly meeting the hosts of our Air B&B (Sarah & Chris). We both absolutely loved the place. It was beautifully decorated and really comfy. We cooked some pizza in the oven and made couscous/salmon/beans/avocado/tomato bowls for dinner. Greg spent a fair amount of the night trying to figure out a route that would let us stop off at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. It seemed so close on the map but in the end required an 11 mile detour (each way) and the causeway may not have been safe or even legal to cycle on.