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One-of-a-kind people on the Delmarva Peninsula–the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and Delaware.

CharactersWay Back Machine

From Frankford to the Front Lines and Back: World War II Hero Ernest Marvel

NOTE: This is a special guest post. Lucas Pineda Walls is my 13-year-old great nephew. In getting to know him I learned about his great interest in World War II—almost obsessive, actually. I asked him if he would be interested in telling the story of one of our Delmarva veterans from that greatest generation. This is a lightly edited version of the story that he…
July 20, 2023
Robert Banks Featured Photo 2
CharactersWay Back Machine

A Korean War Hero from Cambridge and the Price of our Freedoms: The Story of Robert Banks

Imagine a young soldier stationed halfway around the world. He's been through hell on the battlefield and landed in a prison camp where food comes in starvation rations, infectious diseases run rampant, and winter nights descend in a bone-chilling freeze deeper than anything he's ever known. His comrades in arms are dropping like flies, their bodies tossed unceremoniously into ditches. One thing keeps this young…
June 17, 2023
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
CharactersWay Back Machine

William Major Parker: The Pioneering Black Keeper at Killick Shoal Lighthouse

Stories from the golden age of lighthouses in the 1800s tend to be white-men-only affairs for sad and obvious reasons—slavery, discrimination, and prejudice. But tantalizing exceptions to this rule are out there, including the remarkable story of William Major Parker and his career as a keeper on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. We’ll meet him in a moment. First, a smidgeon of scene-setting. The work…
February 25, 2023
Robbins Davis Dawgs Featured Image Georgia Cambridge
CharactersWay Back Machine

How Bout Them Dawgs? The Crazy Connection Between Georgia Football and Cambridge, Md.

The 2022 college football season begins in earnest in the month I'm writing this, and the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs are once again ranked among the nation's top teams. I can sense the question forming in your mind: What in the world does this have to do with the Delmarva Peninsula? Executive summary: • Georgia's official nickname is "Bulldogs." • The team's rabid fan base…
August 27, 2022
Featured Photo Escape from Lewes Storm with Boat Sized
CharactersWay Back Machine

Rowing to Freedom: A Long & Stormy Escape from Lewes

Picture yourself standing on the Delaware coast, somewhere near Lewes. "A fierce gale was blowing" on that January morning in the mid-1800s. "The waves were running fearfully high." Three friends stand with you on that shoreline. Today was supposed to be the day you would make a shared and cherished dream come true. Everything was planned to perfection, except for this weather. The four men…
June 2, 2022
CharactersHome Page Feature

The Greatest Honeymoon in History

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. When 19-year-old Vernon Cooper landed at the mouth of the Wicomico River, the Wisconsin native didn’t catch on immediately that he’d found his forever home. He didn’t have a crystal ball. He…
January 28, 2022
Holly Making for Story on Fruitland Market Featured Photo
CharactersWay Back Machine

Fruitland’s Accidental Auctioneer: A Christmas Holly Tale

NOTE: This is an excerpt from my book, You Wouldn't Believe! 44 Strange and Wondrous Delmarva Tales. Find out more about that (and my other books) here. Another chapter in this book, “When Delaware Delivered the ‘True Spirit of Christmas,’” tells the story of how the seasonal holly wreath industry took off in the late 1800s and early 1900s, starting in Southern Delaware and then…
December 13, 2021