Day 025 - Pocomoke City, MD to Lewes, DE - Two Far 2023 - Oranges to Apples - CycleBlaze

May 10, 2023

Day 025 - Pocomoke City, MD to Lewes, DE

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It was a good ride today, even though about 55 miles of it was spent on highways. (Let me just say that the highways in MD and DE are NOTHING like those in GA and SC.) 

Riding along US-113 north of Pocomoke City, MD. If you have to ride on a highway, this is the way to do it.
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My first planned detour off the main highway was to ride through the town of Snow Hill.  In 2019 we stayed at a B&B in Snow Hill, and not much has changed - it's not prosperous, it's not poor, it's not touristy, it's just there.

Downtown Snow Hill.
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My next detour was to visit the Queponco Railway Station in Newark, MD.  It houses a small museum but it was closed, so I just took a couple of photos of the exterior.   Why it's named Queponco Station and not Newark, I couldn't discover.

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From the amount of rust on the rails, I'd say that this is no longer an active line, but the ties and ballast were in good shape.
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About 5 miles north of Newark, I did get off the main highway and onto a country road.  It was a very nice, and quiet, 8 mile stretch with some interesting sights.

Riding through the wood. I didn't see any wildlife, but the birds did serenade me through this stretch.
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Old building for the day.
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About halfway through this rural stretch, I saw a bunch of different animals in a pasture with a tall fence. I then spotted a camel, so I had to stop and get a photo.  I saw the woman in the photo below and shouted out, asking her if I could come on the property to get a photo.   She said yes and walked out to meet me.  I found out her name is Tabatha, and she is the owner of the FUNNYFARMPETTINGZOO.     

Ponies, goats, alpacas, and a camel are among the animals on the farm.
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Tabatha, the owner of the travelling petting zoo. She takes her animals to birthday parties, etc., and her business card has a great slogan - "Alpaca the Zoo, and Bring them to YOU"
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Two recently shorn alpacas.
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And this is Eli.
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Eli was very friendly. Tabatha called him over, and he came to get his nose scratched.
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A few miles past the petting zoo, I was back on a highway, entering Ocean City.

Entrance to the boardwalk.
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Ocean City has a very wide sandy beach.
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The boardwalk is reserved for people in this section, bikes stay on concrete. A short distance later the concrete ended and I was riding on the boardwalk.
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Once I left the boardwalk, I had a dedicated Bus/ Bike lane for several miles.
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The road after the Bus / Bike land ended - still not too shabby:-)
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A WWII observation tower, south of the Indian River
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I took another detour off the main highway to ride through the heart of Bethany. It seemed like a nice low-key beach town.
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Just as I was leaving Bethany, I rode past the Bethany Bike Shop.  They had so many bikes, I had to stop and find out what was going on.  I saw a woman outside of the shop and asked if she was the owner.  She said she wasn't, but two of her kids were.  She told me that all of the bikes were rentals and during peak season they would ALL be rented.  In fact, she stated there were an additional 200 bikes that needed to be assembled before the season started.  I can't imagine that many bikes on the road in such a small town.  

Bikes, bikes....
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and more bikes!!
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Leaving Bethany and riding along DE 1, I saw these markings. Everybody has their place!
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Ascending the Indian River Inlet Bridge.
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In the middle.
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and descending. Besides having a nice bike lane, there was a pedestrian walkway as well.
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Another WWII observation tower. This one is in the Delaware Seashore State Park.
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The tower was open to the public, and after only 96 steps you were on the roof. There were 11 towers built along the Delaware coast.
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View of the beach from the tower.
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The following photos are of information panels found at the site.

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After leaving the park, it was less than 10 miles to the hotel, where Jeanna once again greeted me with an ice-cold beer and a snack. 

LIFE IS SO GOOD!!

Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 1,262 miles (2,031 km)

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