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Destinations

Unique places to go & things to see on the Delmarva Peninsula–the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and Delaware

Harbor Seal Wikicommons by Amanda Boyd USFWS
DestinationsNatural Wonders

The Deal With Seals: What Brings Guys Like This To Our Beaches?

Seals tend to live farther up in the North Atlantic—off of Massachusetts, Maine, and Canada—but every year in the colder months between about January and April a good number of them embark on a hellacious journey to points south in search of more temperate waters. That’s when they land on our beaches—mostly on the Delaware coast and in the lower Delaware Bay, but sometimes in Maryland…
February 5, 2015
Marty's Playland in Ocean City
DestinationsWay Back Machine

The Great Throwback Arcade on the Boardwalk in Ocean City

What will strike you most when approaching Marty’s Playland are the old familiar sounds from back in the day—the rumble-rumble-ka-thunk of skee-ball, the thwick-ding-ding of classic pinball, the spooky monotone of The Fortune Teller, and the pop-clack-THWACK-clack of an air hockey game. We are talking here about a veritable symphony of old-school childhood fun. There are quite a few fun arcades in Ocean City, but…
February 5, 2015
Mermaid at 2nd Time Around Recycled Metal Sculpture in Millsboro (JD)
Destinations

The Long-Distance Truckers Who Turned Their Front Yard into a Sculpture Garden

    Judging by the looks of things outside of their house in Millsboro, Del., Judy and Lou Hagen don’t like to let anything go to waste. The Hagens’ modest home is just outside of town on Route 24, and chances are, you’ve never seen anything quite like what they’ve done with the yard. Yup, that sure is a giant metal brontosaurus swooping down with teeth…
February 5, 2015
Peanut Sign at Stuckey's in Mappsville (JJP)
DestinationsWay Back Machine

The Old-School Stuckey’s in Mappsville

    There are the fake new Stuckey’s, and there are the genuine old-time Stuckey’s. The Stuckey’s in Mappsville, an itty bitty burg of 400-and-some souls on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, most definitely falls into the latter category. As far as I can tell, this is the only genuine Stuckey’s left in the Shore region. Walk through the door and you’ll feel like you’ve…
December 5, 2014
The Freedom House in Cambridge
CharactersDestinations

The Freedom House in Cambridge

The story of this fabulous piece of folk art begins with my friend Branden Spear. A young home-improvement contractor in Cambridge, he got locked up in a dispute with the officials on a local historic-preservation board about whether he could use a certain type of window on the hard-to-see back side of this house. First, the decision got delayed over and over and over again.…
December 5, 2014
The Ghost Ships of Kiptopeke (JJP)
DestinationsWay Back Machine

The Ghost Ships of Kiptopeke

    Step out onto the beach at Kiptopeke State Park for the first time and you’ll need to do a double take. Why, yes, that is a humongous arc of a jetty made out of eerie-looking ghost ships. It’s like some naval version of the scene at the end of the original “Planet of the Apes” where we see the tattered remnants of the…
December 5, 2014