This is an excerpt from the coming-soon book, 181 Great Events on Delmarva, which includes more than 100 suggested side trips that are located nearby one of the featured events.
When the crowds at the beach get to be too much, you have several sweet parks to choose from near the oceanfront in Southern Delaware. The one that in my experience offers the best measure of refuge from crowds is the James Farm Ecological Preserve on the southern shore of Indian River Bay.
The 150-acre property, managed by the nonprofit Delaware Center for Inland Bays, has three miles of trails, three observation decks, wildflower gardens, and waterfront views full peace and serenity. More info here.
Along the trail that leads out to the beach at Pasture Point Cove, you may come across an interesting sign. It reads: “In Memory of Wilma Rudolph Tucker: A Damn Good Dog.” It looks like the sort of sign put up by park managers and tourism professionals, but it isn’t. When I put a picture of that sign up on Facebook, the post found its way to a woman from the area, Diane Linda Turner, who wrote in a comment: “Wilma was my dog, and that was her favorite spot to play. She really was a damn good dog.”
Wilma was a Carin terrier. The sign has been up there since the early 1990s. Here’s to the sweet memories we all make with our pets!
This side trip in the book accompanies a wild and crazy annual summertime event in Dewey Beach called the Running of the Bull, in which a couple of guys under a cheesy bull suit chase revelers down the beach in imitation of the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
–posted by Jim Duffy on June 2, 2020 for Secrets of the Eastern Shore/Whimbrel Creations, LLC. All rights reserved.