The hell with water! We're runnin on beam!

When you camp next to a military base you don't get much sleep between the sounds of gunfire and grenades. Even so, the forecast called for rain Wednesday afternoon so we planned to rise early and make the 38 mile ride into wilmington before the weather became a problem. We managed to coax ourselves out of sleep around 8 am, but unfortuinately the rain did as well. After about an hour of unsuccessful attempts at hitch hiking, we chose to give in and just make the cold, wet ride. 38 miles later we arrived in wilmington soaked, but with a nice place to stay and shower up for the night (thanks again mom and dad!). We desperately needed to wash our clothes and wanted to avoid the rain as much as possible, so we called a cab and soon met mr. Neil. We directed him to take us to a nearby laundromat, but he did one better. The soapbox, a local laundromat/bar, allowed us to clean our wardrobe and start our night out at the same time. After that new experience, we headed down the road to the front street brewery for a few more pints. There we met Michael who was on his way to work just down the road. It was $1 mystery beer night at his bar and he promised to choose well when we ordered ours, which he did.
After getting to the bottom of many mysteries, we realized that we had been joined in the bar by Fred B. Noe, bourbon ambassador and seventh generation Jim Beam master distiller, who happily posed with us for this picture.








The night ended with a sketchy ride home from a gentleman who had to make 'just one stop before I take y'all home' for reasons unknown...

Today started with a lunch of enchiladas and tacos from a local mexican eatery and a ride back to the downtown area to window shop. When we emerged from one of the thrift shops we ran into three men on fully loaded road bikes who we joined for a few beers, again at the front street brewery.









Jon, Blake, and Aaron are on a trip that they're calling the 'Ditch the Van Tour' from Boston to Florida and playing shows along the way (yes, there are instruments in that trailer).

After a bit of food and a few drinks, we parted ways and headed back to the hotel. Tonight will be a night to hang out and relax for tomorrow. Teenage mutant ninja turtles the movie is on tv.