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Way Back Machine

Stories about the way things were on the Delmarva Peninsula–the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and Delaware.

Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Mickey Cochrane WikiCommons Muboshgu
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
Steamboats on the Choptank
MiscellanyQuote of the DayWay Back Machine

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Steamboats, Steers, & Slapstick on the Choptank River

A couple of months back I had a great time reading Trappe: The Story of an Old-Fashioned Town by the historian Dickson Preston. Trappe is in Talbot County, Md., across the Choptank River from Cambridge. Preston spends some pages in there discussing the steamboats that used to ride up and down the Choptank, including the Avalon and the Joppa. The section at hand here begins…
November 21, 2019
Tubman Travels Book Cover Art
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS Book Excerpt: Kessiah Bowley’s Flight From The Auction Block

‘Flight From the Auction Block’ is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained story from those Underground Railroad days. Each story is linked to a place you can visit today in Delaware or on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, but they are also perfectly fit for armchair reading in the comfort of your home. …
November 19, 2019
Harriet Tubman Escape: "One More Soul Got Safe!"
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS BOOK EXCERPT: ‘One More Soul Got Safe!’

'One More Soul Got Safe!' is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained story from those Underground Railroad days. Each story is linked to a place you can visit today in Delaware or on Maryland's Eastern Shore, but they are also perfectly fit for armchair reading in the comfort of your…
November 10, 2019
Fashions in Chestertown, Maryland in the Mid-1700s
Quote of the DayWay Back Machine

Quote of the Day, Mid-1700s: “Foppery, Idleness & Dissipation are Striding Briskly On” in Chestertown, Md.

In his book Rivers of the Eastern Shore, the writer Hulbert Footner travels up this waterway and then that on, reporting on what he sees and discussing the history and culture of the towns he comes upon. Here is a little bit of what he had to say while sailing up the Chester River, on the Upper Eastern Shore of Maryland, about Chestertown in the…
November 3, 2019
Tubman Travels: Harriet's Escape
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS: ‘I’m Sorry I’m Gwine to Lebe You’

This excerpt from the Secrets of the Eastern Shore book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva, tells the story of Harriet Tubman's own run for freedom in September of 1849.  More information about the book, including where to buy it in stores and online, is available here. BIG PICTURE: Strangers in a Strange Land The first time I went looking for Red Bridges Road…
September 12, 2019
The New Hoopers Island Bridge
From the BooksQuote of the Day

QUOTE OF THE DAY: A ‘Monument to Man’s Stupidity’ at the Hooper’s Island Bridge

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 backroads adventuring through remote South Dorchester County, Md. and out to remote Taylors Island and Hoopers Island. The story of how the modern Hoopers Island bridge came into existence is a tale of politics and bureaucracy.…
September 4, 2019
The Big Quarterly in Wilmington, Delaware
From the BooksQuote of the DayWay Back Machine

QUOTE OF THE DAY, 1930s: ‘The Big Quarterly is a day of joy, gladness, and freedom’

Follow in the footsteps of American heroes. Click on the cover for info. This book excerpt below is from Eastern Shore Road Trips #2: 26 MORE One-Day Adventures on Delmarva. It comes from a chapter that has you strolling alongside the pretty and historic Christina River as it runs through downtown Wilmington, Del. I am posting this a few days before the 2019 edition of…
August 21, 2019
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