Skip to main content
Category

From the Books

Free sample stories & chapters from books about the Delmarva Peninsula by Secrets of the Eastern Shore.

John H Muiholland Featured Photo
CharactersFrom the BooksWay Back Machine

This Milford, Del. Man Helped Ice Cream Parlors Take Off in the 1920s

This is a free excerpt from my book, You Wouldn't Believe! 44 Strange & Wondrous Delmarva Tales. That's right, the book has 43 other stories like this one. Info on the book here. The only folks who screamed for ice cream when that delicacy first came on the market were the filthy rich. The history of the ice cream parlors we know today dates back…
March 1, 2023
Chocolate Candy Murders Featured Photo
From the BooksWay Back Machine

Flirtation to Fury: The Chocolate Candy Murders

This is a free excerpt from my book, You Wouldn't Believe! 44 Strange and Wondrous Delmarva Tales. More info about that and my other books exploring the history, travel, and culture on the Eastern Shore and in Delaware here. If Shakespeare had written tragedies in early 1900s America instead of early 1600s Britain, he would have had another character named Cordelia to write about. The plot…
January 27, 2023
From the BooksWay Back Machine

The Spookiest of Swamps: Pocomoke River State Park in Days Gone By

This is a free excerpt from my book, Eastern Shore Road Trips #2: 26 MORE One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. The chapter involved has lots more on the road-tripping agenda, including visits to the town of Snow Hill and the Furnace Town Historic Site. More info about this and my other books exploring the history, travel, and culture on the Eastern Shore and in Delaware here.…
September 21, 2022
From the BooksMiscellanyRoad Trips

Road Trip! Kent Island, Maryland

This is a free excerpt from my book, Eastern Shore Road Trips #2: 26 MORE One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. More info here about that and my other books exploring the history, travel, and culture on the Eastern Shore and in Delaware. Every year, millions of travelers looking to get away from their busy big-city lives catch their first glimpse of the Delmarva Peninsula in the shoreline of…
August 14, 2022
Delaware Beach Safari Featured Photo
DestinationsFrom the BooksRoad Trips

ROAD TRIP! Delaware Beach Safari

This is a free excerpt from my book, Eastern Shore Road Trips #1: 27 One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. More info about that and my other books exploring the history, travel, and culture on the Eastern Shore and in Delaware here. There are two kinds of beaches on the Delmarva Peninsula, and they are as different one from the other as big cities are from rural…
August 3, 2022
Dover Ingenuity Road Trip Featured Photo
DestinationsFrom the BooksRoad Trips

Road Trip! The Dover Ingenuity Trio

This is a free excerpt from my book, Eastern Shore Road Trips #1: 27 One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. More info about that and my other books exploring the history, travel, and culture on the Eastern Shore and in Delaware here. When Eldridge Reeves Johnson graduated from Dover Academy in 1882, the school’s director gave him some blunt advice: “You are too god damned dumb to…
August 3, 2022
From the BooksWay Back Machine

The American Theater Was Born in … Pungoteague, Virginia?

This is a free excerpt from my book, You Wouldn't Believe! 44 Strange and Wondrous Delmarva Tales. More info about that and my other books exploring the history, travel, and culture on the Eastern Shore and in Delaware here. Everybody’s a critic. But not everybody’s a critic on the level of Edward Martin. On a summer night in 1665, he ventured out to Fowkes Tavern…
July 26, 2022
Isaac Mason Underground Railroad Featured Photo
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

“We All Knelt Down in the Snow-Covered Ground:” Isaac Mason’s Journey to Freedom

This is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. The book first came out in 2017. I released an updated version here in 2022. More info about the book here. BIG PICTURE: Where Slavery Meets Sadism If a movie ever gets made about the life of Isaac Mason, it would need to be done by a director who comes…
May 25, 2022
From the BooksWay Back Machine

When a Bunch of Birds Lost their Minds and Attacked Hog Island Light in 1900

NOTE: This is one of the fun stories from my book, You Wouldn’t Believe! 44 Strange and Wondrous Delmarva Tales. You can find more information about the book–including how and where to buy it–at this link. The scene that unfolded on a late-winter night in 1900 on Hog Island was straight out of the Alfred Hitchcock classic The Birds. A flurry of unusual avian activity…
February 15, 2022