Dela--where???

So, we left DC and headed to Delaware, and that means taking the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. 

Under normal circumstances, this would be considered ho-hum, but at rush hour, they institute an overflow lane policy.  They dedicate one lane on the opposite side of the bridge to flow outbound, with no barrier in between.  The bridge is pretty fricking high first of all, there are practically no guard rails, and now you are adding in that one lane of traffic is going the opposite way at 65 mph!  Guess which lane Ian wanted to drive on, "just to show you!"?  I clutched the oh-shit handle the entire length of the bridge, which takes you a good 5 minutes to get over. But we made it, and then on to the beach house.

 Bethany Beach, Delaware is a quaint little beach town.  It has a boardwalk that runs along the beach, complete with little shops and restaurants.  The beach was awesome.  Kate even got to touch a horseshoe crab. 

The water temp was a bit cool for Marlina, but I actually braved the waters and the waves for a nice swim.  The water was nice and blueish/green and you could see for a foot or so.  What surprised me the most was that everyone who was in the water was within 15 yards of the shore.  No one ventured out much past that, and I don't know why.  It did get deep pretty fast, unlike Texas, where you can wade for hours in 4' deep water.  Also, no fishing poles allowed on this public beach.  If you want to fish, you must go to the state park which is located just to the north.
After the kids had had enough of the beach, and Ashly got thirsty (there is not supposed to be any alcohol on the beach), the girls and the kids (minus Ela who was taking a snooze on the beach, and we all know not to pet the rattlesnake) headed back to the house to get in the community pool.  Ian and I hung out until the tide finally reached our chairs and Ela had woken up.  After that, we headed to get some famous Maryland blue crabs for dinner.

This was not my first crab picking, but it was my first crab picking in Delaware.  We didn't boil/steam them ourselves as that is a bit of trouble and it is just too easy to go and pick some up.  Ian ordered up two sacks of crabs (about 10 pounds each if I remember correctly) and we headed to the neighborhood crab picking shack.  The shack is a covered, screened in porch with a bunch of picnic tables.  The neighborhood goes there to eat crabs because they don't want to mess up their house.  And boy are those crabs messy.  The kids didn't last long, and I think that Luke was the only one to belly up to the table and eat some crabs with us, but there was a nice family from Alabama doing the same thing we were doing.  I tried to watch their technique, but they were moving a bit fast for me to truly study it.  I guess I will have to stick to the way Ian showed me.  I kept telling Ian that I felt like Anthony Bourdain taking a tour of Delaware, talking to the locals and getting their take on the world.  The weather was about 72 degrees, I was eating crabs and drinking pink wine with friends; I was happy!  But I had to get up early in the morning because we were going fishing.....

Stay tuned..