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Maryland

Quote of the DayWay Back Machine

This Rug Tells a Bedtime Story: When Pittsville Was “the Strawberry Capital of the World”

"The Strawberry Capital of the World:" That's the title of the artwork above by a famous "rug hooker," Mary Sheppard Burton. The setting is our own Pittsville, Md., one of the towns just off of Route 50 between Salisbury and Ocean City. (The artwork is below here as well, in a bigger size at the end of the story.) Burton was born in Salisbury in…
May 28, 2023
Month of Fundays Happy Dog Featured Photo
Month of Fundays Newsletter

Month of Fundays! June 2023

Time for summer fun! You will find more than 100 options to do just that here in the latest issue of my Month of Fundays newsletter. Highlights: • Bathtub races down Main Street! • High-flying aeronautics • Lavender beauty! • The running of the bull (not Pamplona, Dewey Beach)! • Cruises on the Bay! • Tall ships! • Music, music, more music! • Carnivals, circuses,…
May 28, 2023
Shore Fun Evil Title Change Featured Photo
The Newsroom

Adventures in Publishing: My Evil Book Title

My latest book was briefly released under one title, Shore Bets! The Delmarva Fun Guide, but now it goes by another title, Shore Fun: The Delmarva Wanderer's Guide. What's up with that? The book got off to a fabulous start out of the gate with that first title—press releases, TV appearances, initial sales. It even landed at the top of a best-seller list in regional…
May 24, 2023
Way Back Machine

What This Old Building Says About Salisbury–and all of Delmarva

In 2022 The City of Salisbury, Md. received a big state grant to help get started on a plan to rescue and revitalize the dilapidated old Union Station building on Railroad Avenue. Seeing those headlines inspired me to put together this bullet-point look at how that old structure fits into the fabric of the history of Salisbury—and, in fact, the whole of the Delmarva Peninsula.…
April 18, 2023
Frenchtown New Castle Railroad Featured Photo
Way Back Machine

A Railroad Milestone, with Doomed Cow, Peach Baskets, and a Modern Cocktail

As I was putting this piece together, railroad safety was front and center in our 21st-century news media. Two big train derailments, one spewing toxic chemicals in an Ohio town. Who’s to blame? What should be done? How can railroad safety be improved? I don’t have answers to those questions, but I can tell you about the birthplace of railroad safety—the very first place in…
March 26, 2023
Month of Fundays Happy Dog Featured Photo
Good Times & Fun Events

MONTH OF FUNDAYS! March 2023

March has arrived, and so has the newest issue of Month of Fundays--your guide to fun times, cool events, and great stories about the Eastern Shore and Delaware. See the new issue at this link. Highlights: • A guide to 20+ St. Patrick's Day parades and parties • An Eagle Festival at Blackwater • A Chocolate Crawl in St. Michaels • A new Seafood Jamboree…
February 28, 2023
Storm of 1939 Featured Photo
Way Back Machine

The 10-Minute Storm that Turned into the ‘Worst Tragedy in Skipjack History,’ 1939

Nothing in the forecast for Feb. 3, 1939 hinted at trouble. The Baltimore Sun promised a ho-hum winter day: “Rain today, and probably tomorrow. Colder tonight.” Oystermen in the Chesapeake Bay didn’t see any red flags during their workday. A pair of then-young watermen, Art Daniels and Jimmy Murphy, were aboard the Robert L. Tawes out of Deal Island, Md. Years later, they remembered toiling…
February 25, 2023
Sunset atBlackwater 2013 Featured Image
The Newsroom

Fri., April 7, 2023: Author Jim Duffy Book-Signing Event in Snow Hill, Md.

The award-winning writer Jim Duffy of Secrets of the Eastern Shore will be in Snow Hill, Md. for a book-signing event on the evening of Fri., April 7, 2023. The affair will take place in the midst of Snow Hill's monthly "First Saturday" celebration with late shopping, gallery openings, dining specials, vendors, and more throughout the downtown area. The signing will happen at Bishop's Stock…
February 25, 2023