Yesterday we published our newest guidebook to all 50 states available for sale on Amazon

In yesterday’s post we included the book’s Introduction and, as promised, today we are sharing a sample chapter on Delaware (proving the second smallest state in the U.S. has a lot to do).

We are also giving a presentation on road tripping in the U.S.A. at the Laramie County Library in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  It will be held in the Cottonwood Room (1st floor) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 5, 2023.  We will have all our books for sale before and after the talk and would be happy to sign them for you. We hope to see you there!

Delaware

1,247,066 acres (0.06%)

Statehood 1787 (1st)

Capital: Dover

Population: 989,948 (45th)

High Point: Ebright Azimuth (449 feet)

Name Origin

Delaware is named for the bay christened in 1610 by British Captain Samuel Argall for Thomas West, the third Baron of De La Warr (and Governor of Virginia, although he never stepped foot there).

Nickname

The First State won the race to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 7, 1787 inside Elizabeth Battell’s Golden Fleece Tavern in Dover.

Background

Delaware was settled by the Dutch in 1631 (see Unique Museum) and the Swedish seven years later, then dominion changed hands multiple times over the years until the British established it as part of Pennsylvania in 1664. The state has the strangest borders of all with the straight lines laid out by Mason and Dixon in 1764 (see Maryland) and a curving northern border that follows a 12-mile radius arc from the spire atop New Castle Court House. However, that circle left a thin wedge of land before hitting Maryland’s eastern border, which was not fully granted to Delaware until Pennsylvania formally gave up its dispute in 1921. Delaware is often called the “Nation’s Summer Capital” since many politicians and government officials vacation around its Atlantic coast to escape the muggy weather in Washington, D.C. Much of the state’s 381 miles of coastline along Delaware Bay are protected as State Parks and National Wildlife Refuges. The capital is home to the Dover Green, Monster Mile, John Dickinson Plantation, and an Air Force Base where the free Air Mobility Command Museum is open to the public without passing through a security checkpoint.

Must-Do Activity

Originally laid out by Quakers in 1731, Wilmington is the state’s largest city and much of its history is tied to one family: the DuPonts. Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours fled the French Revolution to settle in the Brandywine Valley in early 1800s. Éleuthère Irénée du Pont and his two sons started a successful gunpowder business allowing the family to put money into constructing public schools and museums. They also built lavish mansions like Nemours, Winterthur, Gibraltar, Eleutherian Mills, and Longwood (in Pennsylvania). Similar to California’s Hearst Castle, there are multiple tour options to explore 175-room Winterthur, which became a museum in 1951 with a 60-acre outdoor garden, Enchanted Woods, 1830s general store, tram ride, and Touch-It Room for kids. The Hagley Museum and Library is located on the 235-acre site of the original Du Pont mills, and exhibits a fully-functional 1875 machine shop, patent models, and many historic structures. Today the du Pont family is closely associated with the chemical research company they started, known for inventing polymers like nylon, neoprene, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar, Nomex, and Lycra. Wilmington is also home to the Delaware Art Museum, 178-acre Brandywine Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Delaware History Museum, gilded Hotel du Pont that opened in 1913, DuPont Environmental Education Center, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, and a historic riverfront shopping district.

No National Forest, So Try This Instead

Approximately 1.5-million birds fly over Delaware annually on the Atlantic Flyway migratory route. Some species, like bald eagles, overwinter in 15,978-acre Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge near where the Delaware River opens into the Atlantic Ocean. The Migratory Bird Festival is held here every May, when more than 250 species of birds can be spotted. Not coincidentally, this is the same month that horseshoe crabs come ashore to lay their eggs that are eagerly devoured by migrating shorebirds. The refuge was established in 1937 and the next year the Civilian Conservation Corps came in to plant over 50,000 trees, build a dike to create three freshwater impoundments, and construct several buildings. Now there is a 12-mile driving tour, plus five walking trails including the popular Boardwalk Trail and one that leads to a 30-foot-tall observation tower above Shearness Pool. Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge was featured on the state’s quarter in the America the Beautiful coin series, which depicted a great blue heron and great egret in a salt marsh. Further south near Rehoboth Beach, 10,144-acre Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963 to protect marshes, woodlands, ponds, and Fowler Beach, an official sanctuary for horseshoe crabs. The refuge has a small visitor contact station with an excellent gift shop and the nearby Cape Henlopen State Park (see Backpacking Destination) has the Seaside Nature Center with a touch tank, five huge fish tanks, and osprey nest cam.

National Parks: none

Only National Park Service Site

Delaware was the last of the 50 states to gain a National Park Service (NPS) site. Finally in 2013, First State National Historical Park was created from a group of buildings associated with Delaware being the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 7, 1787 inside The Golden Fleece Tavern in Dover (see photo). The tavern is long gone, but you can still read the marker on the corner of State Street when you visit the lovely Dover Green, which is surrounded by photogenic red-brick buildings. The NPS does not yet have a visitor center at any of the multiple sites across the state and relies on its partners to provide tours and information. Less than an hour’s drive north of Dover, we recommend you take a tour inside the historic New Castle Court House where the legislature met from 1732 to 1777. The New Castle Court House occasionally still holds minor court proceedings and flies the flags of the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, and U.S. Outside on the historic New Castle Green stands a statue of William Penn, who is considered the founder of Delaware since it was part of Pennsylvania until 1776.

Most Scenic Drive

Highway 1 is a coastal road that runs north on Fenwick Island from Ocean City, Maryland to the Delaware border where three miles of the barrier island are protected as Fenwick Island State Park. This is the beginning of 28 miles of beautiful beaches that end at Cape Henlopen State Park (see Backpacking Destination). Across the Indian River Inlet the road enters Delaware Shores State Park, which encompasses six miles of coast with a campground, beach volleyball nets, and beaches perfect for surf fishing, clamming, horseback riding, and surfing. The most developed area for tourists is around Rehoboth Beach, with its historic boardwalk lined by arcades and saltwater taffy stands, plus Funland amusement park and Jungle Jim’s water park. It also hosts a jazz festival, sandcastle contest, independent film festival, Halloween festival, and Championships of Skimboarding at nearby Dewey Beach.

#1 Roadside Attraction

Dover International Speedway hosts auto races throughout the year, but is best known for its two annual NASCAR events held here since 1969. This racetrack is known as the Monster Mile, and has a sculpture of 46-foot-tall Miles the Monster out front for photo-ops (see photo). The imposing gray beast has red-eyes and is crushing a full-size stock car in his right hand.  Before the cars start running, visitors can get up close to them in the FanZone.  Miles the Monster is available for photos year round by parking at the gates off Dover Leipsic Road. 

Unique Museum

The town of Lewes was founded in 1631 just west of Cape Henlopen (see Backpacking Destination), but its Dutch colonists lasted less than a year before being massacred by the native Lenape. The Dutch returned in 1659 and built many cypress-shingled structures that still stand, including the Ryves Holt House that serves as the Lewes Historical Society’s visitor center. The town’s name at that time was Zwaanendael, which means “Valley of the Swans.” A maritime museum currently occupies the 1765 Cannonball House, struck during the British bombardment in 1813. It does not have to be open to see the cannonball lodged in the brick, as it is visible from the street.  The free Zwaanendael Museum is located inside a stone building constructed in 1931 based on the city hall of Hoorn in the Netherlands (see photo). Exhibits cover a range of topics from the 1798 sinking of a British brig offshore to a foot-long Fiji merman, a common feature of sideshows where the top half of a juvenile monkey was sewn to the back half of a fish.

That’s So Delaware

Every September, Dover hosts the Amish Country Bike Tour when more than 2,000 cyclists tackle bike courses that range in length from 15 to 100 miles. Also known as “the ride for pie,” the event begins behind a horse and buggy at the starting gun. It is best known for its rest stops with delicious snacks, including homemade pie. To top it all off, there is a huge barbecue for everyone at the end of the tour, regardless of how far you peddled.

Top State Park

Fort Delaware State Park is located on Pea Patch Island, accessed from Delaware City by a ten-minute passenger ferry ride then an even shorter trip on a small bus. According to legend, Pea Patch Island got its name because a ship full of peas sank on a shallow sandbar and the cargo washed ashore, sprouted, and eventually the roots collected more sand until the island now covers nearly two acres. The fort and its moat were built over twenty years starting in 1848, and during the Civil War the fort held 16,000 Confederate prisoners. Tour guides dress in historical clothing, as do the soldiers, blacksmith, and laundress, who will teach you how to use a washboard. In September, overnight tent camping is allowed on certain weekends, when there are nighttime scavenger hunts and fireside ghost stories. At an observation platform on the Prison Camp Trail, you can look out over the marshland where up to 5,000 herons and egrets nest in trees in summer.

Favorite Short Hike

Redden State Forest encompasses 44 miles of trails and an Education Center with exhibits on the importance of forestry in Delaware. It is spread across 18 separate tracts covering 12,900 acres north of Georgetown on both sides of Highway 113. The forest is open for hiking, biking, horseback-riding, and in-season hunting. It also has several buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Ellendale State Forest Picnic Facility, Redden Lodge (built around 1903), the Manager’s House, and the Horse Barn, which opened in 2000 as the Education Center. The Redden State Forest Loop Trail is very flat and covers 4.8 miles through stands of mixed hardwood trees.

Backpacking Destination

We searched all over Delaware for a place that allows backpacking, but it was the only state where we could not identify a single one. As an alternative, we recommend camping at one of the 159 campsites in Cape Henlopen State Park and exploring its trails during the day. The park’s hiking options include the Seaside Nature Trail, Walking Dune Hiking Trail, and Beach Loop Trail (closed in summer for piping plover nesting). The Junction and Breakwater National Recreation Trail is a 5.8-mile-long rail trail popular with bikers (the park has a Loan-a-Bike program) and passes through wetlands, forests, and farmland. The railroad used to take passengers between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach before being abandoned in the 1970s. To extend the hike you can connect to the Georgetown-Lewes Trail or the Gordons Pond Trail. If you are up for an epic backpacking trip, the beach here is the eastern terminus of the 6,800-mile American Discovery Trail. Cape Henlopen State Park’s other recreational opportunities include swimming, kayaking, kiteboarding, beachcombing, and climbing up the 83-foot-tall Observation Tower. While at the State Park, visit the Seaside Nature Center to see its touch tank and five 1,000-gallon fish tanks.

Cool Campsite

Trap Pond State Park encloses 3,300 acres, including a large stand of baldcypress trees. It was these trees that originally brought loggers here, so they excavated Trap Pond to power their sawmill. Following the cutting, the peat bogs dried out and wildfires blazed in the 1930s, including one that continued for eight months straight. At this point the federal government acquired the land and this area became Delaware’s first State Park in 1951. Today visitors can learn more history at the nature center before heading down the road to one of 142 tent and RV campsites. Canoeing is a popular activity, and the park offers the Cypress Point Trail boardwalk into the swamp and the 4.9-mile Loblolly Bicycle Trail (with a Loan-a-Bike program).

Wonderful Waterfall

Delaware does not have much vertical topography, which means its rivers slowly drop without the dramatic cliffs and falls found in other states. One place to see these cascading streams is Alapocas Run State Park, where the 1.8-mile Alapocas Woods Trail gains 226 feet of elevation and the Greenway Trail climbs 300 feet over four miles. At Brandywine Creek State Park, the River Loop covers about five miles and changes 250 feet in elevation, while Rocky Run Loop undulates up a cumulative 300 feet over three miles.