Salisbury, MD - May 28, 2009

Thursday 5/28
We slept in and had breakfast with Melissa (well, more like she made it and we ate it), Craig had headed off to work well ahead of our even stirring to get out of bed. After we'd got around and packed the last of our stuff back in the car we headed over to the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art.

Like the sign says...Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury, MD.

The grounds at Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury, MD.

Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury, MD.

Walking the trail around Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury, MD.

Canada Geese at Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury, MD. Yes folks, those are live.

Flowers at Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury, MD.

It may not sound like the most interesting place, but it was really neat...unfortunately they don't allow photography in the galleries, so you'll just have to check out their website or take my word for it. They had many wood sculptures of various birds that looks insanely realistic. The museum traces the origins of the art form from old Native American duck decoys, through the various mutations of the wood duck decoys and the era of massive duck hunting into the years when duck hunting became regulated and duck stamps originated all the way up to the modern wood carvings, ending a large gallery with all kinds of competition winners from the '90s to present. After viewing the galleries we went out for a short hike around the grounds, didn't see much but the Canada Geese and their young and I also spotted a female Red-winged Blackbird sitting on a nest. After we'd hiked a bit and got good and warm, we packed up and headed back towards Frederick. 

We stopped and had lunch at the Easton Diner in Easton, MD. The exterior of the restuarant didn't look as dinery (if that's really a word) as I would have expected seeing other diners in the state, but the interior was classic diner with some modern hints here and there. They had two nice aquariums that looked like they were actually maintained. The portions were huge...I had cheese ravioli with Italian sausage and some chicken noodle soup (no, not at the same time) and Bonnie and Katie both got the flounder sandwich which was pretty much the whole fish sans head and tail. Bonnie also got the salad bar which apparently had a colossal selection as she came back with about anything you could ever imagine a salad bar having. It was all pretty good and the service was decent, I'd go back.

After lunch it was back over the Bay Bridge and into rush hour traffic getting back towards Frederick. We also got into some rain which made it more fun. After we got back to aunt Cindy's place we just sat around and relaxed. Bonnie and I had a piece of pie for dinner and the girls finished off the left over chicken nuggets. The girls and aunt Cindy played some Boggle and Bible Trivia and then we all headed to bed. All in all, a fairly laid back day.

Delmar, DE & Assateague Island National Seashore, MD - May 27, 2009

Wednesday 5/27
We got up and had a quick breakfast and then drove towards Salisbury, MD where we'd be spending the night with Bonnie's cousin Craig and his wife Melissa. On the way over we passed over what was probably one of the top 3 longest and tallest bridges I've ever been over, The Bay Bridge. We got to Craig's house around lunch time and headed over to Delmar, DE where we enjoyed some good pizza and birch beer (yummy) at Delmar Pizza. We had a meat lovers and a vegetarian. Both were loaded with toppings and I can vouch for the great taste of the meat lovers and the vegetarian one must've been good because I think it pretty well got polished off too. After a filling lunch we headed out for Assateague Island National Seashore. We arrived just in time for a big school group to clear out of the visitors center and so we had it to ourselves.

Emily petting horseshoe crabs at the visitor center at Assateague Island National Seashore, MD.

As you can see, Emily petted some horseshoe crabs. We picked up a few souvenirs and then we got on the road to the bridge that crosses over onto the island. No sooner than we cleared the entry gate than we ended up in a stand off with one of the wild ponies.

Sleepy, the wild pony. Assateague Island National Seashore, MD.

He got out in front of our car and proceeded to fall asleep in the middle of the road. Finally I got tired of waiting and eased onto the shoulder and just went around him, where we were greeted with his more active friends.

Wild ponies. Assateague Island National Seashore, MD.

We moved on down the road and decided to go to the far end of the island and work our way back. We started out with a short walk on part of the dune trail.

Me walking the dunes trail at Assateague Island National Seashore, MD.

Assateague Island National Seashore, MD.

I don't think any of us anticipated how hard it was to hike in super loose sand, so I don't think we quite did half of the trail before we turned back. The next stop was much more agreeable to us all...the south beach.

Assateague Island National Seashore, MD.

Emily screaming her head off. She so enjoyed the ocean. Assateague Island National Seashore, MD.

Bonnie, Emily and I went down and got out and waded at the edge of the water. The Atlantic was quite cold, but that didn't stop us. Emily just screamed and screamed in happiness, this was her first time to be in the ocean in any way, so she really took it all in. After that, the girls were both pretty well wore out, so they decided to stay back while Bonnie and I explored a couple of the other trails. We walked a couple of different boardwalk trails where we saw sika deer, fiddler crabs, and a variety of birds including Red-winged Blackbirds, Laughing Gulls, Great and Snow Egrets, Greater Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Boat-tailed Grackles, Black Skimmers, Willets, and a lone Semipalmated Plover.

After our trip to the island we headed back to Craig and Melissa's where we were treated to a boat ride around the lake they live on. Emily got to steer the boat around a little which she enjoyed. After we got back, Craig fired up the grill and we had some burgers and mango salsa. After dinner we visited and Emily became better aquainted with the dogs. After we'd all had our fill of burgers and ice cream, we were off for bed and a somewhat laid back day to follow.