Norma, Daphne, and I drove out to Rehoboth Beach and set up our tent at the Big Oaks Campground. The main reason we stayed there is because all the sites were taken at Cape Henlopen State Park, which is known for being booked months in advance.
Our site was fine. The place has a swimming pool, playground, small store, shuffleboard, and reasonably clean restrooms and showers. For the kids, the swimming pool was the big draw.

I counted seven Confederate flags at the campground.

We hadn't slept at a campground in a tent with Daphne for several years. She can be a problem because she hears things at night and then starts barking. How would she do tonight?

We went out to Rehoboth Beach. Norma was really wanting to show the kids live horseshoe crabs. In certain places in Delaware, you can see several hundreds at high tide when they come ashore to spawn between mid-May and mid-June, especially during the new or full moon. But it was not the new or full moon, we were not in one of these special places (though we weren't far), it wasn't high tide, and it was just past the middle of June. Still, she was hopeful so we checked some sandy areas such as Sunset Park and Monigle Park in Dewey Beach.
I managed to find a dead horseshoe crab that got stuck between rip rap boulders. It died recently and was still in good shape so I showed it. I told them how to identify its gender. This one was female.
The light was low and bright. It illuminated the hairs on the underside of the horseshoe crab nicely.
I pried off a hitchhiker that was attached to the horseshoe crab and showed it to the kids before tossing it back in the water.

On the main strip (Coastal Highway, aka route 1), we stopped at a pizza place for dinner. Daphne couldn't join us so I found a bench for us to sit at. Jimmy brought out food and drink for me. I don't mind not being included. I'd feel worse leaving Daphne alone.
We walked across the peninsula to the Atlantic Ocean where I went for a swim and the kids played in the cool water.
Someone nearby was fishing. He caught a few small sharks and showed us one before throwing it back.

We gathered at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand to hear the Devil's Brigade, described as a Celtic World Band. I thought they were pretty good.
I'm not of a summer beach person. I like the remote ones where I can find wildlife in the tidepools, but places like Rehoboth Beach have too many people and are too commercial for me. Maybe I will return in the off season, especially if I can paddle up the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal or explore the natural areas further south along the Delaware Seashore State Park.

Norma led us on a ~15-mile bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, and Cape Henlopen State Park via the Junction and Breakwater Trail, Georgetown-Lewes Trail, Gordons Pond Trail, and various connector roads. I towed Daphne in her trailer.

The Junction and Breakwater Trail is just 0.7 mile from the campground so it was extremely convenient. We rode clockwise, passing through a wooded area and then through a nice neighborhood where there were both purple and white pickerelweed flowers at the edge of a pond. This was only the second time I've seen white pickerelweed flowers.
While purple flowers are the norm, white flowers rarely occur.
- from Plant Delights - Pontederia cordata 'We-Du White'
The cover photo shows Norma leading the way. Jimmy is towing the youngest in a trailer. He really had a lot to tow. Fortunately, the trail was quite flat.

We saw lots of eastern prickly-pear cactii with bright yellow flowers.
In Cape Henlopen, we rode through Fort Miles where we saw a 66-foot long gun from the USS Missouri near the entrance to the bunker museum.
We biked over Munchy Branch.
Around here, I think Joyce took the lead. Her pace is much faster than Norma's. I stopped to take pictures of Munchy Branch and fell behind in doing so. The rest of the group turned off on Wolfe Neck Road to get back to the campground while I kept riding with Daphne in tow. It took awhile before I realized that I missed my turnoff. I ended up biking a few extra miles.

This is a very nice route but it was difficult for me to really enjoy it because Daphne complains so much about being in her trailer. She truly hates it. We've tried to comfort her by having Norma ride just behind me and giving Daphne lots of breaks to sniff and run around. But that wasn't so easy on this ride to let her do so.

Norma doesn't get bit much by insects. I do. My clothes was treated with permethrin to help give me some protection. We didn't see many mosquitos (if any) but there were smaller biting insects. I ended up getting lots of bites on my neck, ankles, and hands...the places where my treated clothes did not cover. Norma got no bites.

We had a pretty uneventful, quiet dinner at the campground. The place was pretty dead. The kids really made good use of the pool.

After eating breakfast with the rest of our group, Norma, Daphne, and I packed up our tent and then drove out to historic Lewes for a short visit. It was quite hot.

We spent most of our time at the Lewes Canalfront Park. Looking down on the muddy shore, we saw lots of fiddler crabs. Here's a right-handed one with a southpaw.
We saw, but didn't board, the historic lightship Overfalls (LV-118). It was basically a floating lighthouse. Its mushroom-shaped anchor helped keep it from drifting when the ocean ground was sandy.
Near the lightship, we saw a terrapin.
We received a really great personalized tour of the Lewes Lifesaving Station where we learned about the efforts that eventually led to the creation of the U.S. Coast Guard. Shown here is a historic boat at the Lightsaving Station which is being refurbished by volunteers.

Upon leaving Lewes, we met back up with Norma's sister's family for a visit to the DuPont Nature Center at the Mispillion Harbor Reserve.

In front of the Nature Center, we saw a red knot sculpture.
The Delaware Bay is the largest spawning area in the world for the ancient Horseshoe Crab. Every May, the Horseshoe Crabs come to Delaware Bay beaches to lay their eggs. At the same time, shorebirds - especially the endangered Red Knot - use the Delaware Bay beaches as a food stop on their annual migration from South America to the Arctic. They feed on the Horseshoe Crab eggs until they have enough energy for the final leg of their flight north.
- from Delaware Audubon - Horseshoe Crab Spawning and Red Knot Migration
Inside the Nature Center, we learned all about horseshoe crabs.

Outside the building, looking into the Delaware Bay, I spotted another terrapin.

We drove a short distance to the town of Slaughter Beach where we saw eastern prickly-pear cactii.
Someone at the Nature Center told us we could access the beach at the east end of Evans Drive near Bay Avenue. She was right.

This is a good place to come and see horseshoe crabs. Unfortunately, we were late and the tide was low.
On April 12th of 2004, the Town Council voted to declare Slaughter Beach a Horseshoe Crab Sanctuary. On June 12th of 2004, the Council adopted the Atlantic Horseshoe Crab as the Official Symbol of the Town of Slaughter Beach.
- from information sign at DuPont Nature Center

Norma wanted to show the kids living horseshoe crabs in the wild. We found some here. We picked up the ones that had got stranded on the beach and carried them to the water.

On our first day, I showed them a female. Today, I found a male. I also found a dead baby.

Walking along the shore, I found egg cases of knobbed whelk. They are commonly called Mermaid Necklaces or Venus's Necklace.
What might this be? It was squirting water. My guess is it is some sort of sea anemone under the sand. I don't think I've ever seen a sea anemone on the east coast.
This is some kind of mud snail.
Whelk shells are always a great find. I found this channeled whelk. I couldn't tell if something was living inside so I left it in the water.
We often hear about invasive animals from Asia. Are there animals in Asia that are invasive from the United States? The answer is yes.
Common slipper snails are native to the east coast of the U.S. Unfortunately, they are now considered uninvited guests in Europe, Japan, and the Pacific Northwest, having been inadvertently delivered with shipments of the Eastern oyster in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
- from Department of Ecology - State of Washington: Snuggle up! The common slipper snail gets close for comfort
Here's the beach.

The kids didn't get to see one of the magnificent horseshoe crab spawns but that came as no surprise given that their schedule wasn't free to allow them to visit during the peak spawning season. At least they got to see some live ones and other critters.

All three days and two nights, we had no rain, which was very fortunate.

Daphne stayed quiet in the tent which was a big relief.

Norma would have liked to have stayed longer but the next day was Juneteenth and she had quite a bit of volunteer work to do in our town to ensure the event's success.