Vicki and I rode the city bus into Wilmington yesterday (Friday). We went with Nicole to DelTech to see if the bus might be a viable alternative to driving her back and forth to classes in downtown Wilmington. We had gotten copies of the schedule for the route that runs between Pike Creek and Rodney Square, but we managed to get the information wrong and found ourselves waiting at the wrong stop 2 minutes before the bus would stop 250 yards away. We ran like crazy and just made it, and that was the last snag we experienced in a great day.

I enjoy public spaces and events, and I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe because they make me aware of how connected we are – or that we can be connected in the human community, beyond the walls we live behind so often. The bus is a great public space, where just about anyone can come along for the ride. For $2.40, we got a ticket to go anywhere in Wilmington we wanted to make the time for until midnight.

People on the bus were happy to give us all kinds of helpful tips and advice when we asked for it. At the stop in Rodney Square, a student introduced herself to us, having overheard us talking to another “stranger” about waiting for the #10. She told us where the nearest stop to our destination (the DE Art Museum). She had just started the UD’s Parallel program at DelTech as well. The guy we had been talking with had on an Applebee’s tag. The older woman who had offered help to Nicole worked at the Grand. The first guy who helped us was from New Jersey originally and knew about the 24/7 bus system there. When he got off the bus at Price’s Corner, he took his bike off the front and rode away.

We met Nicole after her class and bought a lunch that we ate on the ride home. The day was beautiful. I took a bunch of pictures. And wondered why this was my first ride on a DART bus in our 11 years here.