Going to Lewes (pronounced Lewis or is it Louis?)

We used the Atlas Obscura website to find unusual and obscure destinations near us.  The first destination on the list, since it sorts by distance from your location, was Assateague Island – check.  The next thing I noticed was that three of the destinations were in Lewes, Delaware (pronounced Lewis or Louis).  So we set the GPS for Cape Henlopen State Park, home of the former Fort Miles, a Word War II coastal artillery battery. 

Still trying to figure out what this is!

16" Battle Ship barrel modified for coastal artillery

 Even though some of the fort was closed for repairs and the museum not open on weekdays this time of year it is still an interesting tour.  All kinds of weapons used in the defense of the American coast during the war are on display and the museum, while closed, is in one of the bunkers.  Several buildings from the fort remain intact and provide a glimpse of life at the fort. 

Barracks at Fort Miles

  Because of the repairs and closed museum Fort Miles is on the list for a return visit. 

Next was the Cannonball House in downtown Lewes.  The cannonball house is the last remaining Lewes house bearing scars from the war of 1812. The foundation of the house has a patch where a cannonball fired from a British ship April 6^th or 7^th of 1813 struck the building. 

Cannonball above Marine Bear's Head

 
 There is plenty of metered parking in downtown Lewes.   Even better, we were lucky enough to find a spot in the public parking lot (free).  Since the Cannonball House is in the downtown area we decided to take advantage of our freebie and explore.  Lewes is another town with a nice, friendly downtown area loaded with shops and restaurants; bakeries and banks. 

Another Beautiful Downtown

 
 It’s a good thing Fort Miles is on the revisit list because downtown Lewes certainly is!
From downtown we got back in the Ram in pursuit of the Roosevelt Inlet Shipwreck.  With this we had little luck mostly because we were running low on daylight and did not want to walk the entire coastline in search.  This will certainly be number three on the list when we return to Lewes, DE.