Beach Fun at Cape Henlopen

The troop had a great weekend at Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. This was a joint trip with Troop 97B, who were responsible for the majority of the planning. 

We met up at the church at 8am on Saturday, September 28, and arrived at Cape Henlopen around 11:30am. After setting up camp and eating lunch, the Scouts took advantage of a bit of free time to briefly visit the beach before walking over to the Fort Miles Orientation Building for the "Towers & Gunners" program, learning about how the site had been used during World War II to defend against the possibility of German battleships sailing into the Delaware Bay and threatening shipyards and other facilities. In the evening, we headed out to the Seaside Nature Center for a night hike, during which we saw numerous ghost crabs and experimented with using our various senses in the dark. 

Sunday morning, we headed back to the nature center for an interesting program on coastal animals. The biggest surprise was the live mantis shrimp, which can apparently strike at prey fast enough to boil water. The Scouts had so many questions, the program went on for half an hour longer than planned!

The afternoon was spent at the beach, during which the Scouts spotted a pod of dolphins.

Monday, we packed out and headed over to the bay for work on the kayaking merit badge. Numerous requirements were completed, and Scouts who had already earned the badge were able to enjoy spending time on the water. 

Many thanks to everyone who worked to make this trip such a success!