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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

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
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
CharactersWay Back Machine

The Miraculous Reunions of Underground Railroad Hero William Still

I am posting this during the week of the bicentennial of William Still's birth on Oct. 7, 1821. Let's get the obvious question out of the way first: Why bother about a Philadelphia guy on a site devoted to stories of Delmarva? I mention Still countless times in my book of Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. That's because he played two key…
October 4, 2021
CharactersWay Back Machine

This Milford, Delaware Man Who Helped Ice Cream Parlors Take Off in the 1920s

In the beginning, the only folks who screamed for ice cream were filthy rich. The history of the ice cream parlors we know today dates back to France in the late 1600s, but the sweet treat didn’t take off with the general population until the arrival of industrial refrigeration technologies in the 1870s. Even then, there were problems. Early parlors served ice cream on paper…
March 25, 2021
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
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
CharactersWay Back Machine

The St. Michaels Seafood Packing Plant that Helped Blue Crabs Rise To a Whole New Level in the Early 1900s

The next time you’re at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md., take a few moments to remember that you’re walking in the entrepreneurial footsteps of William H.T. Coulbourne and Frederick Jewett. It’ll be easy—the gift shop is where the Coulbourne family lived for many years, and the Coulbourne & Jewett seafood-packing plant stood at the heart of the museum’s campus, on Navy…
February 19, 2021