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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.

Thomas Savage Eastern Shore of Virginia Featured Image
JOURNEYS: The British Teenager Left Behind to Live with the Indians in 1608 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
Somerset Steak Knives Featured Image Small
Somerset Journey: The Steak Knife Was Invented in Crisfield, and That Story Begins on Marumsco Creek CharactersWay Back Machine

Somerset Journey: The Steak Knife Was Invented in Crisfield, and That Story Begins on Marumsco Creek

The story behind the creation of the steak knife in your kitchen drawer involves a bit of manufacturing ingenuity, but there is more to it. Think romantic sleigh rides, a devastating fire, steadfast religious faith, and then—a Christmas gift from a friend that changes everything. This Somerset County, Md. tale begins with a farm boy who hated farm work. He much preferred puttering around in…
March 31, 2020
Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Cochrane WikiCommons Muboshgu
SUDLERSVILLE CHARACTER OF THE DAY: Hall of Fame Slugger Jimmie Foxx CharactersWay Back Machine

SUDLERSVILLE CHARACTER OF THE DAY: Hall of Fame Slugger Jimmie Foxx

One of the excursions in my book Eastern Shore Road Trips (Vol. 2): 26 MORE One-Day Adventures on Delmarva is a tour of baseball greatness with stops honoring five major league greats who hailed from the region, including four Hall of Famers. This excerpt is the section of that trip dedicated to slugger Jimmie Foxx. Itty bitty Sudlersville, Md. is the first stop in this…
December 3, 2019
WAY BACK MACHINE: On the Trail of Lady Eglantine, the Miracle Hen of Greensboro CharactersWay Back Machine

WAY BACK MACHINE: On the Trail of Lady Eglantine, the Miracle Hen of Greensboro

This excerpt from Eastern Shore Road Trips #2: 26 MORE One-Day Adventures on Delmarva is a bonus section that comes at the end of a road trip chock full of other interesting stories that are set along the backroads of Caroline County, Md. between the towns of Preston and Denton. Pretty little Greensboro, Md. lies just a few miles north of Denton. That this place…
August 8, 2019
Charlie Adams of Crisfield, Maryland
Crisfield Character of the (Memorial) Day: Charlie Adams CharactersWay Back Machine

Crisfield Character of the (Memorial) Day: Charlie Adams

Meet Charlie Adams. It was back in 1939 that he first set up shop outside of Gordon's Confectionary, selling copies of the Crisfield Times newspaper. He was five years old then. By the time "Mister Charlie" finally retired from the corner paperboy game, it was 2006, and he was 72 years old. As the years went on, he became quite a celebrity: “I’ve met a…
May 27, 2019
Featured Photo for John Fletcher Hurst of Dorchester County, Maryland
WORDS OF DELMARVA WISDOM: “What may be the manhood and history [ahead for] a plain boy in rural life?” CharactersQuote of the DayWay Back Machine

WORDS OF DELMARVA WISDOM: “What may be the manhood and history [ahead for] a plain boy in rural life?”

Think about this question the next time you pass by a couple of kids working the water’s edge with fishing poles or crab nets. Such scenes remain quite common along the backroads of Delmarva, of course, just as they were when John Fletcher Hurst was growing up in Dorchester County, Maryland in the 1840s. Despite suffering from occasional debilitating bouts of asthma, young John loved…
February 28, 2019
Featured: Thomas Downing of Chincoteague, Virginia
Chincoteague Character of the Day: Thomas Downing, the ‘Oyster King’ of NYC CharactersWay Back Machine

Chincoteague Character of the Day: Thomas Downing, the ‘Oyster King’ of NYC

Growing up in Chincoteague, Va. in the 1790s and the first decade of the 1800s, Thomas Downing spent much of his time fishing, oystering, digging up clams, and catching terrapins. He must have spent a good bit of time around the kitchen as well, considering the way he grew up to become one of the most famous restaurateurs in New York City—the “Oyster King of…
February 9, 2019
Beach scene in front of the Plimhimmon Hotel in Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean City Character of the Day: Rosalie Tilghman Shreve & the Plimhimmon Hotel CharactersWay Back Machine

Ocean City Character of the Day: Rosalie Tilghman Shreve & the Plimhimmon Hotel

A century ago, the Plimhimmon Hotel was the most famous and iconic structure in the then-fledgling resort town of Ocean City, Md. Old pictures of the place, with its elegant oceanfront porches, expansive decks, and swooping, cone-shaped tower, have a way of leaving us modern folks weak at the knees from yearning for the splendor of yesteryear.  But there is much more than nostalgia to…
December 15, 2018
Julia Purnell of Snow Hill, Maryland
NEVER TOO LATE: The Snow Hill Woman Who Became an Artist at Age 85 CharactersDestinationsWay Back Machine

NEVER TOO LATE: The Snow Hill Woman Who Became an Artist at Age 85

Most every chapter in the new Secrets book, Eastern Shore Road Trips 2: 26 More One-Day Adventures on Delmarva, ends with a fun and interesting story from days gone by. In this free excerpt from the road trip to Snow Hill, Md., that "Way Back Machine" section tells the story of a woman there who became an artist at the age of 85, after landing…
June 26, 2018
Francis Townsend Sr. of Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean City Character of the Day: Dr. Francis Townsend and His ‘Miracle Cure’ CharactersWay Back Machine

Ocean City Character of the Day: Dr. Francis Townsend and His ‘Miracle Cure’

The more I learn about Ocean City, Md. the more I marvel over the way the fledgling resort drew so many men and women full of entrepreneurial zeal.  That zeal wasn’t just the province of hotel magnates and boardwalk businesses. Case in point: Francis Townsend Sr., a native of Snow Hill, Md. was the first physician in the town’s history, practicing between 1900 and 1945.…
May 19, 2018