2023 NE Vacation Day 11: NJ and DE

 We started off the day with a massive breakfast.

Then we popped back over the the boardwalk to get our picture with the Wildwoods sign.

Since the boardwalk was a bust, we decided to tour a local lighthouse.

We said goodbye to New Jersey and then spent some time in Wilmington, DE. First stop was the Brandywine Zoo.

This vulture was a real show-off

There was a beautiful rose garden in the park nearby. 

We couldn't leave the area without checking in on the nearby bridges.

Since we'd enjoyed our tour of The Breakers so much, we decided to tour the Du Pont home, Winterthur. It was the best home we've toured, to date. 

The tours are "self-led" but they only admit a few people at a time and each room hosts a docent who is more than happy to share details about the space and answer any questions. 

Mr. Du Pont wasn't just a wealthy man who liked to show off, but he was an avid collector who had a real eye for design. His collections include furnishings, tapestries, dishes, wall paper, artwork, and architectural elements, all of which were either incorporated into the house or which are house in museums on the property.

Handpainted wallpaper that the room was designed around.

After touring the home, we made our way to the museum. There were several galleries of furniture, dishes, and natural specimens. He also recreated an old-time carpenter's shop, clock-maker's shop, etc. 

We hit the gift shop, next, which was overwhelming in size and scope. The gift shop was the "cottage" that Mr. Du Pont and his wife retired to after he donated the house. 

After the gift shop, we decided to explore the grounds a bit.

After much searching, we finally located the magical children's garden.

The entire place was magical and we could have spent more time there if our legs weren't about to fall off and the grounds weren't about to close. So we sadly took our leave.

Dinner was in a historic tavern that offered lots of comfort food. 

Pot pie

Stuffed to the brim and with a few hours of daylight left, we did a bit of driving before stopping for the night in Pennsylvania.