The past weekend was a kind of strange series of adventures. On Thursday night we needed to head to NERV (Northeast RV) to get some maintenance done on Spud. Leaving right after work, we figured we could make a dinner detour since we were just parking overnight in the NERV lot. Lancaster seemed the obvious choice but after a lot of evening traffic and bridge construction, we decided that was too long to wait to eat. Instead, we decided on Lily Sushi & Grill in Kennett Square, PA. What we didn’t know was that they have third Thursday night activities in downtown Kennett Square. It made parking just a bit more difficult, and when we got to the restaurant, we were told there were a number of groups in front of us. As we were deciding whether to do take out or wait, a table actually opened, so we sat and ate. They had a “seafood ceviche” as an appetizer we had to try, because it sounded like us. It was nothing like traditional ceviche, but it was good, although it had some ingredients not listed on the description, like cut up shrimp and squid. Then we shared an entree which was raw tuna done in different styles. Again tasty and different.
We pulled into NERV around 11 PM and a few minutes later another van pulled in for the night. Once we were up in the morning we cooked breakfast, put together lunch for later and gathered belongings to spend the day in the waiting room, with Steve working and me relaxing. The couple from the other van was already there when we came in and I had a lovely time talking to them about their travels and lots of other related topics. Once they left, a different couple showed up and again we chatted a bunch of time away. Before we knew it Spud had rotated tires, moved water and electric lines, a new macerator, and a fixed step.
Then something happened that becomes important later in the story. We were discussing with one of the other couples how the spare comes off from its perch under the van. We found out we needed a special wrench we didn’t have, so we got one from Nick (one of the NERV owners) and he showed us how to lower the tire and jack the van if needed. More on that later.
Steve had a break in his workday so we drove a bit to Cove Barn, a three story antique barn, with SO much stuff. I met this dinosaur on the porch, he already had a snack so I felt pretty safe. Despite the variety I literary bought one record for Hillary’s upcycling, but I enjoyed looking around. The third floor had “vendor stalls” with sloped roofs, so it resembled being in someone’s attic poking around.
Once work was done for the day we headed for Lancaster, which was much closer this time. I was in the mood for something different than our usual Lancaster spots, so I did a bunch of searching. I came up with a place called Chellas, which was a totally gluten free restaurant featuring arepas and some related bowls. It had two locations, so I thought it would make sense to go to the one outside the city area for parking sake. First the lot wasn’t too RV friendly, but we made it work. Then it was a converted food truck with outside seating, which would have been all good except it seemed their menu was more limited than what I had seen online. I was dumb not to ask about it, but we moved into the city location, found parking and then looked at the menu and it was the same. We asked about the dishes we had seen online and it seems they offer them when you use the kiosk to order. We ordered a vegan arepa and a bowl with brussel sprouts, other vegetables and a delicious sauce to share. In the end I wanted another arepa to go with the leftover sauce and beans, but it wound up being a hassle with them being so busy and a mixup, so I took the leftovers back to the van and ate them with the corn chips we had there.
We made it home in time to go to bed in the house and get up in the morning for an Atlantic County Pride event that Hillary was vending at the next day. We had thought we might stay over somewhere but we really couldn’t find a sensible option. Instead we had made a Harvest Host reservation for the next night after the event, so we could enjoy Father’s Day (we planned to celebrate the next weekend, when all the kids could make it). We were staying at Bellview Winery in Buena, NJ. On the way there we decided we’d pick up dinner, as we weren’t sure the food truck that was going to be there would have food for us. We figured if we picked up a meal and there were things we could eat at the winery, we could always save our food. Fortunately, they are one of the rare remaining Jersey wineries that will let you bring outside food to their tables. We wound up finding a hidden gem of a Thai restaurant, Thai Corner. The restaurant’s location is Vineland, NJ, one of the towns I work in, but is at the very outskirts of the large town and maybe not truly in Vineland at all, except by address, something not uncommon in Jersey. It was about 10 minutes from the winery. Their menu said all their sauces were made with gluten free soy sauce, which opened up many options and they seemed very allergy conscious, asking us both if we were okay with peanuts. While they prepared the food I took advantage of a having a shower available in the van and cooled off.
We got to Bellview and parked out in the fields as instructed, dwarfed by 3 other big RVs, but with plenty of our own space. We walked over to the winery, following the sound of the live music. We’ve had Bellview wines before and know we enjoy their blueberry among others but decided to get a flight and try some other flavors and a glass of their white sangria. We took the drinks out to a table and Steve went back to the van to grab the food, as there were really no options that worked for us. He also grabbed his computer, as unfortunately there were some issues going on at his work.
Despite working, the weather was perfect, the music nice, the food and wine delicious and we had a lovely evening. Steve discovered he liked the dandelion wine from the flight so much he got another glass. I loved the sangria but knew more would put we out for the rest of the night. Definitely a place we will go back to. After a quiet evening we headed out for more adventures.
I had been wanting to revisit the bird rookery at the Ocean City Welcome Center. I’d been seeing pictures of the hordes of nesting birds and their youngsters. It did not disappoint.
We didn’t stay too long because I wanted to visit the Stone Harbor farmers’ market if we could make it a little before they closed. We might have made it, except, all of the sudden we hear a noise from the right hand side of the van and the lights come on indicating an issue with the tire pressure. Fortunately, we were able to pull over to the shoulder leading into a picnic area on the Garden State Parkway. A quick look showed us that the noise we heard was the front right tire deflating. We started to work on our roadside assistance, when a friendly police officer arrived and told us we would need to use a service he could call, due to Parkway rules, and then submit the claim later. Since we didn’t know the condition of our spare he asked them to send a flatbed tow truck just in case, which arrived rather quickly. This is when the fortunate timing of getting the special wrench for our spare just days before came in, and the tow man had our tire changed and us back on the road in just under an hour from when we pulled over. It wound up the spare was not only in good condition but inflated properly so we could continue our adventures and take care of replacing the tires during the week.
Too late for the farm market, but bought some produce in Cape May and headed to the lighthouse. Sat in one of the pavilions as we enjoyed the breeze, some picnic lunch, and a game. Then we walked the usual trails, a little warm but we did get to see the swans had three babies that were already getting big. When we got to the beach, the surf felt excellent on our feet. Soon we started spotting dolphins, one pod of maybe four was soon joined by another pod, all frolicking and we caught one jumping. The heat was too much to do much else for the day, so we stopped at our usual Good Earth Organic Eatery and picked up food for dinner that night at home. One last stop was at the Potato Homestead Farmstand in Woodbine, NJ. I used to order from their small coop when they were in Deptford. Now they are on a much larger farm and selling on a much larger scale, with coops, at farm markets and at the farm stand. It was fun to finally get there. Home again, but not for long…
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It was a few weeks ago when we were sure we didn’t have any plans for the 4th of July Holiday weekend, when we started looking for places to go. A lot of the campgrounds were of course booked, we were uncertain about doing Harvest Hosts and not having power in air conditioning season. We of course never expected the record high temperatures of this past weekend, but in retrospect are very glad we didn’t go that route. We did find a space at Trap Pond State Park in Delaware. We had hiked in this park before (see stairs in the woods in my Discovering Delaware post) but never stayed in the campground. The sites have water and electric, but unfortunately the “pond” is not swimmable.You can rent boats to go out on the pond, but in the end it was too hot even for that. Basically we found air conditioned activities to do during the day for the two outrageously hot days and spent minimal outdoor time.
Friday, we helped our daughter visit some Delaware record stores. After she headed for home we made our way South, stopping for some good vegan ice cream at the Creamery at St. Georges.
When we finally reached the campground it was bearable to sit outside and the place was full. There were a few brave campers with fires, which we skipped. We had packed lots of salads and foods that didn’t need heating.
Saturday morning after a short breakfast outside, joined by a friendly squirrel, we played some games inside, did some reading, and some scrolling our devices. When the hottest part of the day hit we went to check out some indoor flea markets in the area. We celebrated Steve’s birthday with some interesting ceviche, Mexican style at La Perla in The Route 13 Market. It was different but quite tasty.
We realized besides Steve’s birthday it was also our Spudversery as we had picked up Spud a year ago July 4th weekend. A wonderful adventurous and slightly crazy year.
Saturday night storms rolled through, cooling things a bit but driving us back indoors. By Sunday morning the air was again breathable for longer periods of time. We headed to a the Bethany Beach Farmers’ Market. It was nice near the beach with the ocean breeze. After picking up a variety of produce, we walked in the ocean for a while, on the very crowded beach. Next we headed for another farmer’s market at Nassau Valley Vineyards in Lewes, Delaware. There weren’t a lot of farmers there but there was live music which we enjoyed for a while as we shared tacos from one of the vendors and some of the winery’s sangria and mostly just being able to be able to enjoy the outside.
Our last stop on the way back to New Jersey was at Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge, which those of you who follow this blog have heard about many times. As usual, the birds didn’t disappoint. Though not as numerous as some times we’ve visited we saw some really beautiful birds, a red fox, a turtle and hundreds of flies. We therefore did not get out of the van this trip but enjoyed the views through our windows.
During the week leading up to the trip, we had both considered canceling due to the heat warnings, in the end it turned out well with a little creativity and a lot of air conditioning.