On Thursday was the longest leg of our roadtrip- we drove for 6+ hours. We stopped every hour: to get coffee, to get lunch, to stretch our legs, to get some fresh air. We drove from the Outer banks, North Carolina to Brandywine, Delaware. Why there? The Longwood Gardens.
A lunch stop in Virginia revealed some obscure local diner. My expectations were low, but we had by far the best popcorn shrimp, served with French fries and…apple sauce?… Delicious. Even R, who is a very picky eater, had four big pieces. An hour later, in Maryland, we needed the bathroom so found a random cafe off the highway, turned out – it’s a cafe with all things cats! Even the name Kisa Cafe. Kisa in Russia is “kitty.”
We arrived in Brandywine, DE at around 3:30. Checked in, had something to eat, and, as much as I did NOT want to get into the car again, we went out to find a playground and to explore Kennett Square, PA. Aston Park had not one but three different playgrounds! I walked around, they played in the fresh air thus shaking off the cooped-up-in-the-car cobwebs.
Speaking on the area around Kennett Square. Pretty much living in a natural reserve, with woods and brooks. And: holy wealth! I’m talking mansions, with lawns the size of a small natural park.
The town of Kennett Square reminded me of New Hope, NJ or Red Bank, NJ. Quaint, tons of small shops selling jewelry, ceramics, clothes, furniture, and art. Very cute but all shops were closed since it was 6PM. Dinner was at a food court, with local vendors selling pizza, salads, burgers, and a beer garden. It was a music-themed bingo night! Shortly after, I saw R starting to put his head down on the table, my sign for “I am tired and I will start melting down soon if you don’t get me to bed.” So back to the hotel we went.
The next day we had tickets to explore the Longwood Gardens. I wanted to visit the gardens for a long time, but they are two hours from our house in NJ. That’s FOUR hours driving for one day. So I decided to incorporate them into our roadtrip.
We had timed reservations at 10 AM, were there by 9:45 and people were already lining up. It was Good Friday, and the weather was lovely. Three hours later, we were leaving and the line of cars trying to enter the gardens was a few miles long. Whew. I was happy we showed up early.
The gardens themselves are gorgeous, with carefully arranged and color-coded flowers, plants, and trees. The flowers are abundant and are planted in such a way that they don’t clash but complement each other. Many flowers give off an intoxicating fragrance. There is a room dedicated solely to orchids. There are bonsai trees. There is a section with manicured boxy bushes that look like they belong in a Minecraft game. The fountains outside are closed till may 9th so we didn’t see them in action.
And that is a wrap to our 2025 road trip!
Note to self. In my next post I would like to lay out some practical things of this road trip, such as behavior, cost, mental health, as well as positive and hard things.
Mom of Children 