Friday arrived, and off we went. Finally pulling into the parking lot of The Comfort Inn in Georgetown, Deleware, the first thing Joshua saw was a pool! Clambering up to our second floor room, we unpacked:
"Mommy, we have a toilet!"
"Joshua, Mommy has coffee!"
The pool changed our plans to scout out where Cape Henlopen was. We could do that on Saturday! Joshua played . . . on ladders, ledges . . . with the bug net . . . the life preserver . . . he had a ball. There was another mother there who's son allowed Joshua to think he was saving him by throwing him the life preserver . . . all evening. His mother . . . a woman after my own heart:
"No gettinng in the pool unless someone is here", she fussed, wich I followed with:
"JOSHUA! ! !
"NO RUNNING BY THE POOL! ! !"
After a few hours, we headed back to our room. We discovered sausages in cans smell putrid; cheese and crackers are good, and sardines in mustard still rock! Five kinds of chips, trail mix - wonderful. Diet Coke means no sugar, it doesn't mean no caffeine . . . soo we got a Sprite that had no caffeine, plenty of sugar. Joshua was dancing on the ceiling!
Mid-debauchery we found the exercise room - Joshua had a lovely time playing on the tread mill, letting himself get slid off, screaming "helllllp . . . . !"
We left, belatedly observing the "No Children Allowed" sign.
"Elitest snobs", I sniffed, and we went to bed, dreaming of sunny beaches and nature trails.
Waking Saturday morning, planning to drive to Cape Henlopen and explore all it had, we ambled down to the lobby for breakfast, Joshua amazed at the doughnuts, I, grateful for coffee. We discussed our options. Joshua's thought was that The Sacred Pool was better than any old beach. What's one more day? We could see Cape Henlopen on Sunday. We visited Walmart for water toys, parked ourselves by the pool and lazed the day away in the sunshine and chlorine. I got ready to take pictures of my child running "willy nilly" up and down the pool steps and around its perimeter, only to discover that the memory on my camera was full. We were getting ready to embark on a grand, exhilarating, unphotographed adventure of a vacation!
For dinner we had Chinese, and settled into our room for the evening. Joshua had a track running around the tables and under the bed, and the hum of Thomas chugging along filled the air. Day Two was winding down. For us, it had been the ultimate in vacations; Joshua got to to play in this wonderful pool that was just his size; I got to sit in the sun and read: total relaxation.
Sunday dawned brightly, bringing with it a blissful, lazy morning by The Sacred Pool, enjoying the continental breakfast, leisurely packing for checkout. By lunch time, we were in the car; Cape Henlopen here we come! Pulling onto the highway, we saw another sign for the Cape May/Lewes Ferry. I was intrigued by the idea of a ferry trip. Hurriedly discussing it, we quickly decided to forego Cape Henlopen again. We had gotten this far without setting eyes on it, what was one more day? There was always next year!
The ferry was spectacular! Three floors, gift shops, food areas, a playground, you could live on this thing! We spent time and money in the gift shop, getting presents for our family. We spent some time having lunch in the food court. My excitement at being able to watch the ocean roll beneath us with the salty spray in our faces was outshone only by Joshua's amazement at his first taste ever of a Snickers candy bar. He had a great time on the Jersey shore, charming all the employees there, coming away with two coloring books, crayons, a stuffed whale, and a plastic boat, all compliments of his new friends. The ferry was a vacation unto itself, just as the hotel and pool had been.
Driving home tired but happy, all Joshua wanted to know was:
"When can we go back to the hotel for another 'Cation????"
****
This is the second essay I have submitted to our public radio station to be read on air. I am so tickled with myself, because this essay used to be an 1,800 word blog, and I finally succeeded in scrunching it up into a 700 word essay. Leaving out all the funniest and best parts, in my opinion, but it had to be done. Just wanted to share the accomplishment and the experience with you all, although this really was a composite of a couple trips.
Thanks for reading!
1 comments:
What fun. He's adorable in that little hat!
Good luck with the radio thing.
Post a Comment