Milton, DE

Because it was rainy and windy last night I did not sleep well, not because the noises bother me but because I worry about damage to the trailer.  It was so windy here last night that one of the campground hosts actually brought in his slide-outs fearing that the awnings over them would rip off.  Fortunately I had no damage to report.  Now that Veterans Day is behind us we were back in exploring mode. Because I was not fully fun due to the lack of sleep and alsoit was overcast and rainy we decided to take in activities that were not overly stressful.  Atlas Obscura showed two places in Milton, Delaware that seemed to fit the bill so off we go. 

Our first stop was Mill Park.  Mill Park is one of two parks in the town of Milton the parks are connected by The Governors Walk.  Mill Park features a fishing dock and has a boat launch across the street but, the most interesting feature of the park is a live-size statue of the towns namesake English poet and author John Milton.  This is no ordinary statue,  Mr. Milton sits at the end of one of the park benches with room for a guest to sit and keep him company. 

 Rumor has it that the statue can be found dressed in seasonally appropriate clothing updated throughout the year by unknown pranksters – or Milton’s ghost – depending who you talk to. 

The next Atlas Obscura find was less than a half-mile away.  The Steampunk Tree House.  This tree house originally started life as as an art project popular desert freakout that is burning man.  The tree house was subsequently disassemble and reassembled at a few locations including the Cochella music festival in 2008.  The project became in danger of languishing in storage for good until the creators of the tree house (The Five Ton Crane Collective) connected with the Dogfish Head Brewery.  This tree house is really a piece of artwork, the results of a Victorian scavenger hunt.

   When you get to the brewery entrance the first thing you notice (after the huge tree house) is the kitchen.  Basically an order-at-this-window-pickup-at-the-next operation.  After going in and getting the info on brewery tours (one is 1:15 long and $10pp.  The other is free, runs less frequently but is shorter) we decided to order drinks and grab a quick lunch.  I tried one of their developmental beers called Best Ever Dark Munich and it was great!  I usually drink Shiner Bock when in a beer mood and the DFH beer was better.  If they can get this in stores I am definitely a customer.  The food at the kitchen is basically gourmet comfort foods so you get a slightly smaller than expected portion for the price but it is worth every cent I had the bacon mac & cheese that was really creamy and cheesy.  Lori had a pulled pork that came with no sauce but had a chipotle mayo that gave it a little kick.  We didn’t hang around for one of the brewery tours but we’ll be back to see what concoctions they work up next.
After Dogfish Head Brewery we decided to take the long way back to Assateague, down Route 1 through Fennwick Island – another brilliant decision on my part because just as we were crossing into to Maryland and Ocean City a bald eagle swooped onto the top of a utility pole.  So I had to confirm that it was an eagle and stop and get a picture!