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Spring Sailing Options Delmarva Featured Photo
Destinations

Sail Away! Nine Easy Ways to Get Out on the Water

You don't have to own a boat to get out on the water on the Delmarva Peninsula. Here are a few easy options, available in ticketed fashion rather than by putting a group together and chartering a vessel. • THE STEAM FERRY: The Patriot is a replica 1930s steam ferry that offers narrated cruises on various themes along the Miles River, sailing out of St.…
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…
Belltown Delaware Featured Photo
Way Back Machine

THREE THINGS ABOUT BELLTOWN: History Hiding in Plain Sight Just Outside of Lewes

The remnants of old Belltown fall into the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it category of sites to see while visiting the Delaware beach resorts. The super-busy intersection that locals call Five Points will demand your full driving attention as you make your way just above Lewes along Route 1 or Route 9. Two big-box hardware stores dominate this intersection, but just beyond there, on westbound Route 9—don’t blink!—is a…
Cape Henlopen Lighthouse Featured Image
Way Back Machine

Fall of an ‘Ancient Warrior:’ The Cape Henlopen Lighthouse Collapses, 1926

When it comes to iconic images of Delaware, the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse ranks at or near the top of the list. Its likeness can be found in galleries, on greeting cards, on websites, and in logos. There’s even a mini-replica set in the middle of a traffic roundabout on the way into Rehoboth Beach. That’s pretty impressive, considering the fact that the lighthouse toppled into…
DestinationsWay Back Machine

On the Rocks at Cape Henlopen: Breaking New Ground Since the 1800s

This is a free excerpt from the revised 2nd edition of Eastern Shore Road Trips #1: 27 One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. Every chapter in that book has an afernote like this, telling a story from days gone by. This one appears in the road trip devoted to Rehoboth Beach. Thanks for reading! Sometimes the best stories a pretty scene has to tell are actually hiding…
Lewes, Delaware
From the BooksRoad Trips

ROAD TRIPS 2 EXCERPT: False Starts in the “First Town”

This is an excerpt from Eastern Shore Road Trips #2: 26 MORE One-Day Adventures on Delmarva: Lewes is the Goldilocks of Delmarva beach resorts, perfect for people worried on one hand that places like Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City will be too crowded, but afraid on the other that places like Assateague Island won’t offer enough in the way of creature comforts. There is one big…
Election Day in Lewes, 1787
Quote of the Day

QUOTE OF THE DAY: The Year Election Day in Lewes Turned into an All-Out Brawl

Angry crowds swarmed through Lewes brandishing clubs, swords, and guns, knocking down anyone who stood in their way; and some victims lay unconscious in the street. Many residents … retreated behind closed doors. Others scampered out of town. It was election day, 1787. The animosity on display that day centered around geography as much as politics. Early on, most people in Sussex County lived along…