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

Eastern Shore Secrets: Winter of 1977 at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Maryland's Eastern Shore
From the BooksWay Back Machine

The Great Eastern Shore Deep Freeze of 1976-77!

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. Deep freezes used to be commonplace affairs on the Delmarva Peninsula. Newspapers and diaries from the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s are stippled with reports of cold spells so deep…
January 16, 2022
New Year's Day Tradition on the Eastern Shore: Girls Are Bad Luck
From the BooksWay Back Machine

FOLKLORE! Girls Are Bad Luck on New Year’s Day

NOTE: This is an excerpt from my book, You Wouldn't Believe! 44 Strange and Wondrous Delmarva Tales. It's in a section of several stories about bits of folklore. Find out more about You Wouldn't Believe (and my other books) here. I first learned about this strange tradition regarding girls and New Year's Day on the Secrets of the Eastern Shore Facebook page, thanks to a…
December 30, 2021
Tallulah Bankhead Featured Image
CharactersDestinationsFrom the BooksRoad Trips

ROAD TRIP! Visiting with Tallulah in Kent County, Md.

This is an excerpt from my book, Eastern Shore Road Trips #1: 27 One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. The full trip here is titled "The Road to Rock Hall" and includes stops at Caulk's Field, Rock Hall, the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, and other spots. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which lies to the left (or southwest) on Sandy Bottom Road. The sweet little vestry house…
March 4, 2021
Harriet Shephard Featured Image
CharactersFrom the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS: The Other Harriet’s Wild Ride to Freedom

This is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Adventures on Delmarva. The book tells keystone stories about the Underground Railroad, with each story attached to place or places that you can go visit. More info about the book here. BIG PICTURE: A Ride for the Ages American history has its share of famous horseback rides. There is the “Midnight Ride” of…
March 4, 2021
Nylons Made in Seaford Delaware Featured Photo
From the BooksWay Back Machine

The Day Seaford, Delaware Went ‘Almost Hysterical with Joy,’ 1938

This is an excerpt from Eastern Shore Road Trips #2: 26 MORE One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. Each chapter in the book includes not just modern-day travel destinations, but historical snippets that give a sense for the history and culture of the place at hand. The peach boom that had lifted the fortunes of so many Delaware farmers and businesses for so long came to a…
September 30, 2020
Sam and Emeline Hawkins Underground Railroad Featured Image
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS: The Strangers Who Risked Everything for Sam And Emeline Hawkins

 This is a free excerpt from the Secrets of the Eastern Shore book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. The book tells true-life stories from the Underground Railroad, and all of those stories are linked to places that you can go visit in your travels on the Eastern Shore and in Delaware. BIG PICTURE: Redemption Song One thing I’ve learned in working on…
May 4, 2020
Thomas Savage Eastern Shore of Virginia Featured Image
CharactersFrom the BooksRoad TripsWay Back Machine

JOURNEYS: The British Teenager Left Behind to Live with the Indians in 1608

Every chapter in my book, Eastern Shore Road Trips 2: 26 More One-Day Adventures on Delmarva, is a mix of fun places to visit and interesting stories from days gone by. This free excerpt is from one of the road trips set on the Eastern Shore of Virginia--the book also includes lots of trips in Delaware and on Maryland's Eastern Shore, of course. Thanks for…
May 3, 2020
Harriet Tubman the Christmas Escape
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS: Flying for Freedom on Christmas Eve (the Christmas Escape, part 3)

This is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. It’s the third of three chapters in the book devoted to The Christmas Escape of 1854, one of the most famous of the escapes engineered by conductor Harriet Tubman. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained story that’s linked to a place you can visit today in Delaware or…
December 17, 2019
Sunset atBlackwater 2013 Featured Image
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS: Love Stories at Buttons Creek (Christmas Escape, Part 2)

'Love Stories at Buttons Creek' is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. It’s the second of three chapters in the book devoted to one of the most famous of the escapes engineered by conductor Harriet Tubman. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained story that’s linked to a place you can visit today in Delaware or on…
December 12, 2019