Secret places. From the time you are just a wee tot, you would search for secret spots to hide to be alone, play hide and seek, or to just think about the world around you. Remember when you were about four years old, and you would hide in a closet or under your bed? Later, as you got older, there might be a grand tree in your yard which you would climb and look down upon everything below. Perhaps, no one even knew you were in that tree.

In my humble opinion, a secret place can be anywhere you want it to be for any number of reasons. But, I have discovered for me…..a secret place is a pretty necessary accommodation. Thanks to COVID-19 and the pandemic, my husband and I have spent more than a year searching and seeking out secret places to have lunches and dinners in our car in locations unknown to most people in our state.

It all started when the restaurants were closed to dine-in customers, but they were still preparing take-out meals. We truly like supporting local businesses, so we would order take out meals then go find some pond, lake, river, stream, ocean, or waterway (even a ditch would do) to eat our meal. Fortunately, living in Delaware, you don’t have to go far before you get to any kind of a water destination.

We started our secret place exploration by first getting ice cream. Nearby was a beautiful large pond big enough for fishing and small boating. We found a driveway next to a house. I think it’s actually a boat ramp to be honest with you. That was one of our favorite places because all year we watched the ducks and geese settle in, one small boat with two guys fishing time after time never catching anything, and lots of fellows coming to fish for a few minutes just for some relaxation. Truly beautiful, and no one knew we were there most of the time.

On special occasions, we would go to our favorite creole restaurant, order, and head to the Nanticoke River. There would be lots of kayaking, more fishing, and often we had to maneuver our car so we wouldn’t block the activity on the boat ramp. Nothing like eating shrimp and grits with cornbread while watching the ebb tide of the river.

Around the corner from our home there’s a small park for picnics, fishing, and small boating. That’s a great spot if you don’t mind having the windows up for marsh gases. It’s not used too frequently, although once we found some young guys trying to kayak for the first time. We enjoyed the antics of the boys as we ate our McNuggets.

I guess one of our favorite places to go is in Maryland. If it would be a nice day, we would enjoy the drive there, order a crabcake sandwich, and go to the river park where usually there is no one at the picnic table. While there, you just might see deer, herons, cranes, egrets, and all sorts of wild life as you enjoy your lunch. Then we would take the backroads going home and comment on the corn growing in the fields as though we were expert farmers. Not!

We have many more secret places we have found on our excursions. My tops are stained with cocktail sauce or ice cream because eating in the car can be difficult. The floor of the car is gathering crumbs. My husband does a better job at eating in the car than I do. So, through this pandemic we have found a way to enjoy ourselves, do some exploration, and be together as we search for secret places.

I hope you have found ways to cope this past year. We took those sunny days and made the best of them. As Roald Dahl once said, “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.” I believe that’s true.