An interactive trip with me on vacation

I'm going to write my blog with pictures tonight, to describe my relaxing weekend in Newark, DE, home of the University of Delaware, home of the Blue Hens (isn't that the silliest mascot you've ever heard??!) I was visiting my old friend Lulu (who I met my first time in China) and her husband Magnus.

We went to Georgetown, Delaware on Friday,

which was unfortunately Veterans' Day, so none of the government buildings were open, but this was the original courthouse built in 1791 and is still occasionally in use today. Georgetown is an old county seat, in the southern part of Delaware, and a very quaint place to walk around and get a glimpse of colonial America.
I can't stop talking about the "old" buildings I see around me this weekend. Ironically, Magnus is from Lulea, Sweden and when I mentioned that my first impression of Newark was that all the buildings looked sort of old and colonial, he looked at me a bit strangely and said one of his first impressions of this town was that everything looks so new. Many places in Europe, of course, were developed long before many places in America, but for a Midwesterner like myself, the Eastern side of America strikes me as well-preserved and antique.

We went to the Atlantic Ocean at Rehoboth Beach,

which would be a lovely place to visit in the summer time I am sure. There was a definitely an overly commercialized Myrtle Beach feeling to it as we were driving in, but then there is a long strip of small, mostly independently owned shops leading up to a wide boardwalk overlooking the beach. We picked up smooth rocks, checked out a Scandinavian gift store and observed a few groups of people bundled up in winter coats reclining in wooden beach chairs, perhaps catching some November rays.

We visited a great botanical garden and conservatory called the Longwood Gardens in Eastern Pennsylvania.

I was excited to find that one of the largest places of its kind in the world was very near to Newark since my newfound love of plants and gardening has led me to love touring such places. The photo above was actually a bit funny because these people offered to take it for us and then spent five minutes taking this terrible picture. Anyway, it's amusing now.
They had topiaries


a few beautiful roses left (this is mid-November),

fall colors, lakes and gazebos

and the most magnificent chrysanthemum display I have ever seen.


I've also enjoyed some great food cooked by Lulu and Magnus (a combination of Chinese, Indian with hints of Sweden and the U.S.) and got to sleep in three days in a row! Tomorrow I drive back to D.C. and then fly back to Chicago. I'm glad to get back to Fermin and home but I had a great time here and look forward to the next time we can visit.