on returning home from delaware

My trip to Delaware last June was marred by a case of identity theft. The day before leaving home, I had received a phone call from a number “spoofing” my bank’s phone number (which was entered as a contact in my phone). The person on the line identified himself as being with the bank’s fraud department; he told me someone had used my debit card twice in Atlanta, Georgia to the tune of $500 each time. After 45 minutes on the line with this person, who fooled me into believing he was from my bank, I found out through various notifications from the bank that I had in fact been talking to the fraudster! He had, while on the phone with me, stolen nearly $3,500 from my account from various places in Florida.

I had to stop by my bank on the way out of town to alert them to the fraud, but there was nothing I could do until the withdrawals had cleared.  Thus the situation hung over my head during my entire trip, and I couldn’t do anything about it until I returned home.  I was unable to fully relax and enjoy when I didn’t know the outcome of the fraud.

Luckily, my bank put the stolen money in my account fairly quickly as a temporary deposit. Finally it was resolved, but not until a month or two after I returned home. Apparently many other customers of our bank had been taken by the same scam. It was the “spoofing” of the bank’s phone number that fooled most people.

One of my intentions for my trip to Delaware was to take photos in black and white or sepia.  Since I never wrote a post featuring black & white photos, I picked some of my favorite below to convert.  The black & white lends a nostalgic air to the places I visited.

Another intention was to make a list of all the things I’d miss from my trip once I returned home.

1.  I’ll miss wandering through the kitschy beach town of Rehoboth, with its salt water taffy, ice cream, and souvenir shops, and its boardwalk along the beach.  I’ll also miss eating the best crab cakes around at Woody’s in Dewey Beach.

2. I’ll miss riding my bicycle around Cape Henlopen State Park, with its excellent bike trails through marshlands.

3. I’ll miss visiting the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, where I saw an excellent exhibit of African figures from the continent: “Spirit Revealed: New Works by Aaron Paskins.”  I loved finding cool art made from paper, especially one piece that looked like a found poem;  I’ve been trying to write some of those myself.

4. I’ll miss visiting New Castle and learning about the three cultures that vied for dominance in the region: the Dutch, the Swedes, and the English.

5.  Lastly, I’ll miss walking around the beautiful gardens and grounds of Nemours Estate.

There were still more places I wanted to visit in Delaware, but time ran out.  Since the state is so close by, I hope to get back there and revisit Dover and the First State Heritage Park, The Old State House, and the John Victrola Museum. I’d also love to visit one of the other wildlife refuges, like Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, and ride a bicycle again at Cape Henlopen State Park. I’d also love to explore more of Bethany Beach and the historic town of Lewes. Finally, I’d like to explore more of Wilmington.

I created a number of posts about my trip to Delaware, reflecting on specific themes for some of the days, and using 5 random nouns in some essays.

1. the call to place: delaware
2. anticipation & preparation: delaware
3. on journey: delaware
4. marshlands & american art in delaware
5. the kitschy beach town of rehoboth, delaware
6. delaware: new castle & old swedes church
7. delaware: nemours estate
8. poetic journeys: psychic at the beach

I visited Delaware from June 4-6, 2019.

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“ON RETURNING HOME” INVITATION: I invite you to write a post on your own blog about returning home from one particular destination or, alternately, from a long journey encompassing many stops.  How do you linger over your wanderings and create something from them?  How have you changed? Did the place live up to its hype, or was it disappointing? Feel free to address any aspect of your journey and how it influences you upon your return. If you don’t have a blog, I invite you to write in the comments.

For some ideas on this, you can check out the original post about this subject: on returning home.

Include the link in the comments below by Sunday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m. EST.  When I write my post in response to this challenge on Monday, March 2, I’ll include your links in that post.

This will be an ongoing invitation on the first Monday of each month. Feel free to jump in at any time.