A day in Delaware

Things have not been too good here on the letterboxing front~ the whole summer seemed to slip by without so much letterboxing. I felt run down, tired and aching... found out later that I had Lyme Disease. That explains a lot!! I am on the antibiotic treatment and I am beginning to feel better- so Leafcutters and I decided to try to box on Saturday. I wanted to drive, get away from our 'home turf' so we ended up in Delaware. Northern Delaware, Wilmington to be exact.

We started our letterboxing adventure at A 'Shroom with a View by Psychiker and Syner in Kennett Square, PA. Nice box, nice park. Leafcutters and I have this unwritten game we play in the fall. We try to catch falling leaves before they hit the ground, we've been playing since I was a child and I have YET to catch a leaf. I spin, I run, I grab, I run farther... no leaf, but we laugh and laugh. It really is the best fall game, you should try it. So we were out finding the 'Shroom box and leaves started swirling all around me, my secret inside my head voice said, "Today you will catch a leaf!" So I ran, I spun, I grabbed... I still haven't caught a leaf but it doesn't matter- the time I spend with my dad in the woods are the best times of my life and I look forward to falling leaves every year. Secretly I hope I never catch a leaf.




So we left Anson Nixon Park and tried to make our way to Brandywine State Park for the next box. Now we don't live in the area and I am not familiar with Delaware, so I Mapquested a route for us to follow. Well never again, Mapquest got us lost 4 times. We stopped and asked a mail carrier for direction but he didn't know where BSP was either!! Although we did find this beautiful mill, where the post office was-- I will have to plant a letterbox there, it was just so pretty.






We headed to the limited edition The Great Pumpkin letterbox by Mother Duck near the Woodlawn Preserve close to the Ramsey Farm. The farm was closed due to weather but the box was there. Very fun location and it took us a little time to figure it out.

Next we headed to Brandywine State Park to find Hikers & Hounds Le Joile Rouge -- First a little history, I am a history major (American Studies) at Temple University. I have been for 10 years, it is rather difficult to try and finish a degree when you take only 2 classes a semester. But that is besides the point... I love finding tidbits of history information, something that I don't know. So Leafcutters and I headed to Le Joile Rouge not knowing anything about it- except it had something to do with Pirates. The park was packed with people, thousands!! There was a large cross country track meeting at the park-- high school runners everywhere, but not where this box was located. We found the box in great shape and it had this intersting bit of Pirate history. Look up Le Joile Rouge online if you want to know what we learned, I am still intrigued!!!

We continued on, our next destination was the hapPINEss beaCONEd letterbox by Carters in Bear at the Delaware Art Museum. What a great little museum!! I am used to the Philadelphia Art Museum, it's very large with lots of great works-- but for a Saturday afternoon the Delaware Art Museum was just right. It was nice to see some paintings I was familiar with and to be introduced to some 'new' works. A little pearl of art in Delaware. The sculpture garden was small but great- I really enjoyed this one piece. The box was tastefully hidden and a cute little stamp.

Next we headed to Rockwood Park for Mother Ducks Rockwood Park series. There were three boxes in the series, and each was a little gem not because the carving is fantastic or the location was amazing but because they were letterboxes of love-- the stamps were carved by her children (I'm assuming?) four year old Squirt and seven year old Miss P. That is one thing I love about letterboxing, it IS a family activity- from finding boxes, to carving stamps to placing boxes... it is a family affair. Thank you! This was an intersting park and I wish we had spent more time looking at the buildings and learning the history, we were getting tired. The flower gardens were beautiful also.

We then headed to Bellevue State Park for HSC Pride's Just Passin Thru letterbox. I enjoyed this park, it reminded me of Tammenend Park in PA. Leafcutters and I got lost following the clues and an easy box turned into a hard box, but it was worth it. We enjoyed the location and each others company.

By this time, we were tired and decided to skip the last four boxes. It was a long day. We came home to bad news, I just want to encourage you to hug, love and spend time with those you cherish. Life is sometimes too tragically short.