If you have been following for awhile, you might remember that in 2017, Chris and I decided it would be fun to run a race in another state and make a camping trip out of it. For our first annual date race weekend, we camped at Shenandoah River State Park and ran the Shenandoah Leaf Peeper 10K. This year, we found the Herring Point 10K in Lewes, Delaware. Lucky for us, the race we chose was right in Cape Henlopen State Park, which had a newly renovated campground.

Cape Henlopen State Park is located on the Delaware Bay and was a strategic location for the United States during many wars. Cape Henlopen was the home of the Fort Miles military base, which was a key piece of our nation’s coastal defense during World War II. In 1964, the U.S. Army gave the land to the state of Delaware and Cape Henlopen became a state park.

We said goodbye to our boys on Friday morning and headed to Cape Henlopen State Park for our second annual date race weekend. We arrived in the late afternoon and set up our campsite. We went for a walk to check out our loop, grilled some pizza for dinner, and relaxed around the campfire.

The next morning, we hopped on our bikes to explore the rest of the campground. First, we set out to Herring Point, which was where our race started on Sunday. Herring Point is located at the point where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is named for Battery Herring which was used for military operations during World War II. We rode the path we would take to the race the next day and we rode the race course, as well. Afterwards, we headed over to check out the beautiful beach!

After the beach, we went back to the camper for lunch and then we walked over to the Fort Miles Historical Area. Fort Miles was built to defend the Delaware Bay and the Delaware River and to protect the shipbuilding cities of Wilmington and Philadelphia during World War II. The Fort Miles Historical Area is now home to the Fort Miles Museum, a gun battery, six barracks buildings, a fire control tower, an orientation building, and an artillery park.

First, we went inside the Observation Tower. Delaware’s coast housed 11 of these concrete observation towers to protect the shores from German naval threats during World War II. Sixty years later and these observation towers are still standing! This particular tower has been repaired and is open to the public.

And then we moved on to see the rest of Fort Miles Historical Area.

After we saw all of the Fort Miles Historical Area, we took a walk along the beach to see the Harbor of Refuge Light. It was really windy, but we made it! We passed a lot of fisherman along the way and stopped to chat with a few of them, as well.

On our way back to the camper, we stopped in at the campground’s Seaside Nature Center. They were just about to close, but we had just enough time to walk around and check it out.

The next morning was race day! We hopped in the truck and drove to Herring Point. We considered walking or riding our bikes, but ultimately decided to drive. We were expecting this to be a big race but we were wrong. There were only 43 participants in the 10K. We both placed first in our age groups and received a trophy which was super exciting!

After the race, we went back to the camper, got ourslelves ready, and drove over to Rehoboth Beach for the afternoon. We walked along the boardwalk and ate lunch at The Summer House (I highly recommend the Seafood Dip as an appetizer!). It was such a cute little town. We look forward to coming back with the boys someday.

The next morning, we packed everything up and headed home to our babies. We made it home just in time to get the boys off the bus. We were very fortunate to have both sides of our family stay with our boys for the weekend. Many thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, and TeeTee for making this trip possible!