Dewey Beach, part two

We walked to the beach after dark on the Fourth of July, where a happy crowd was enjoying fireworks, both in the sky . . .

And on the sand . . .

I liked these fireworks - not very showy and not very loud (unlike the fireworks behind the apartment complex where we lived in New Jersey, which were much too loud and spectacular and booming). These fireworks were simpler, but the crowd seemed to enjoy them, with lots of kids and parents cheering after each one went off. This was also the first time I've been among a crowd that spontaneously chanted "USA, USA" every so often, and to me this seemed sweet, not jingoistic (is that a word?).

The moon was so big and orange that it almost competed with the fireworks.

On July 5th, we drove over to Cape Henlopen State Park. Beautiful.

They have a program at the park where you borrow a bicycle and ride around the bike paths for a few hours, and then return the bike. We tried this, and Neil loved it (although he wanted a bike with gears), whereas I felt as though it was insane to be riding around in 100-degree weather when you could be in the ocean. We made plans to pursue our own preferred methods of relaxation on the morrow.

Back to Nalu for lunch. Cobb salad for Neil and a pulled pork sandwich for me.

Yummy and inexpensive.

Then we decided to escape the heat in a movie theater, and saw Moonrise Kingdom. I loved, loved, loved this movie.

Back to the hotel. Neil decided to go looking for a bike shop where he could rent something with gears, and I headed for the beach.

Aaaah. The water is cold for the first minute, and then wonderful. One of those surprising currents - you think you're just standing in the surf, look toward shore, and realize that you have drifted about twenty feet from where you started, in just a couple of minutes. I could swim against the current and get nowhere - great exercise.

I may believe in the negative ion theory about sea air.

For dinner we took advantage of happy hour specials again, this time at a restaurant named Nage. Neil had the cucumber gazpacho, followed by baked brie with a small arugula salad.

I chose the summer vegetable lavash (baby squash, cherry tomatoes, cremini, and garlic mascarpone - no photo, unfortunately), followed by the goat cheese, cracker, and honeyed almond plate.

So we made a dinner out of four half-price appetizers, and it was just great. The couple next to us at the bar were celebrating an anniversary, and they ordered champagne for everyone, so there was that, too.

A second wonderful day of vacation. One more to go.