Herring Point at Cape Henlopen State Park

It was time for a day trip out of town. A change of scenery is always good for the mind. While I have been busy with work and dissertation stuff, and entertaining our little visitor earlier this summer, Ed has been at home holding down the fort. We simply needed a quick day-trip getaway to cleanse our brains! One of my colleagues (thank you, Andrew!) told me about Herring Point and the new bike and walking trails opened this year. So with the kids all gone to hike the mountains out West, Ed and I took Fawn and headed down to Cape Henlopen State Park to explore Herring Point. It was also a chance for me to use play around with the zoom on my point-and-shoot camera. (More about my fixation with point-and-shoot cameras in a later post).

 Playing around with the "zoomer"...

 Getting closer and closer...

It was a gorgeous day and perfect location-- definitely will be coming back here to enjoy a day on the beach.

 These were shot from my position high up on the hill as shown in the first few shots- so yes, this camera has an amazing 62x zoom! Love it!

 Such a roomy beach and not too many people-- everyone had room to enjoy a front row seat near the water. 

I didn't know that Herring Point existed, until this little trip. It's a beautiful, pet-friendly beach. It is remote so you do need to carry in everything you need for a day of sand and sun. 

 I've also seen this area referred to as the naval jetty, probably because during WWII this area was all part of Fort Miles.

In the distance, you can see Rehoboth Beach.

We then decided to explore the trails a bit. But it was getting hotter and so after a while turned around to sit on a bench and enjoy watching all the bikers go by. 

 The trails are clearly indicated on this map...

 Fawnie was getting hot and welcomed the shade...

A family of bicyclists taking a break... can't wait to come back and do this myself!

 On our way out of the park we stopped at this Fort Miles observation tower, and while Ed and Fawn waited below, I climbed up to the top. 

I love these diagrams of the tower- this is a great history lesson for the younger generation. 

 The inside was not at all creepy...

The steps do get narrower the further up you go...

 Here is the view from one of the levels near the top...

 ...and here is the view from the top. It was a hazy sort of day, so the view was not crystal clear, but you get the idea...

 ...that's the Lewes-Cape May ferry departing from Lewes and on it's way across the Delaware Bay. It's a 45 minute crossing. 

A good view of Fort Miles. 

And that's a wrap for our day at Cape Henlopen!