Day 43 - Dogfish Danger

From – Easton (Maryland)
To – Lewes (Delaware)
Miles Driven - 59

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157611330346823/

Molly hit a new pinnacle of annoyingness overnight as her ability to take up over 80% of a bed continues to stagger me. It may seem a bit weird that I am sleeping with a K9 but please don’t think for a second that she is one of those needy dogs that constantly needs human companionship – she just wants something comfier than the floor to sleep on and, if she could speak, I’m sure she would confirm that she finds my presence in the bed just as annoying as I find hers. As such, I think we both woke up a little cranky on day 43 and hence we breakfasted separately. I went for the Days Inn deluxe continental breakfast whilst she had reconstituted unidentifiable grade 4 beef parts in gravy – each to their own I guess.

Anyway, today was just a short drive from Easton which is confusingly on the western coast of Delmarva (the nickname for the peninsula containing bits of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia – see what they have done there…) to Lewes (pronounced Lewis) on the eastern coast. It was an uneventful yet very pretty drive through vast flat fields that I later found out mainly grown legumes – not a particularly interesting fact but hopefully it will give you some idea just how uneventful the drive was. I did giggle when we passed through the town of Preston which, it would appear, is twinned with it’s namesake back home in Lancashire because this one was also a dump and the look in the resident’s eyes indicated a lack of will to live. And if any of the Prestonites in my family or circle of friends try to dispute this description then can I pre-emptively remind then that none of them actually live there anymore…

Lewes seems like a nice town; part eternal strip mall, part sea-side resort but it has the big advantage of being located right next to Cape Henlopen State Park – good news for travellers with hyperactive pooches. And so it was there I headed to roll out the usual tactic of trying to get the dog knackered before I abandon her for a night on the tiles. Little did I know that finding somewhere to walk her in a park that advertises “more than 4000 acres of dune bluffs, pine forests and wetlands” and being “pet-friendly” would be so damn tough. This lot are a seriously dogist and if you don’t think that’s a real word then you are dogist too – ignorance is no defence people. Almost every trail or beach had a no dogs sign and when I did find a huge sprawling beach that she was allowed on, it was with the proviso that she had to stay on a leash no longer than 6 feet. Now bare in mind that I did not see another human in about 4 miles of walking, doesn’t this seem a bit mental? Actually that’s a lie – I did see another human as a park inspector was on patrol on the beach but luckily I plenty of warning to get Molly back on the lead as his 4x4 coming over the horizon was the only thing visible in a 25 mile radius. The only other sign of human presence in the park were three surfers who were clearly mentally deranged given the freezing temperatures and just thinking about them turns me anatomically female. There’s also a 4 mile bike track that I went back and ran round later that afternoon – you know, cos I’m part man, part machine. Grrr.

As fun as my temporarily sad single existence is, I actually knew a couple of people that were going to be in Lewes that I could gatecrash on for the night and it turns out they were as eager to get away from their parents / in-laws as I was to have conversation with someone who isn’t covered in fir. Jaff can be officially categorised as my old chef instructor from the FCI but unofficially he falls into the drinking buddy box. His wife, Denny (I hope I spelt that right) is far too nice for him and her friend, Chrissie (who arrived with cookies…what a magnificent entrance!), also came out…think of it as charity work on her behalf to avoid me looking like a sad gooseberry. The chosen venue was Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats which is the other side of the State Park from Lewes and is the original site of the Dogfish brewery which I have sipped on many a time in the past. As you would expect, they have an extensive selection of their beers on draft which means the night was going to get messy even before it began. Even my fish was battered in a dogfish beer batter – I didn’t really stand a chance. Between us I think we drank most of the beers on offer, from Arms Akimbo to something that had a nose of asscheese, whatever that is…ask Denny. I liked their IPAs which come in a choice of 60, 90 or 120 minutes. Apparently the minutes relate to the amount of time the beer was “boiled and hopped” and the more it was boiled, the more it will screw you up. The three designations were 6%, 9% and 18% respectively. The 60 minute makes you think you’re attractive, the 90 minute makes you think you can dance and the 120 minutes make you think you’re the president of a medium sized African nation. There was another bar, more cookies and a whole heap of nonsense chat (I think I may have signed a movie deal for the blog and Denny has already done much of the casting work) – my idea of a great night quite frankly.

Back on the road tomorrow (with a headache no doubt) to hit some quaint towns and continue the Delmarva tour.