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The People’s Choice: The Top 10 Secrets Stories of 2019

Envelope, please! Judging by my website statistics, here are the stories that the 100,000 or so folks who visited the Secrets of the Eastern Shore website liked best during 2019 ... • Chincoteague Character of the Day: Thomas Downing, the Oyster King of NYC • How a Big Hurricane on Aug. 22, 1933 Created the Ocean City We Know Today • Love Point on Kent…
December 17, 2019
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS: Flying for Freedom on Christmas Eve (the Christmas Escape, part 3)

This is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. It’s the third of three chapters in the book devoted to The Christmas Escape of 1854, one of the most famous of the escapes engineered by conductor Harriet Tubman. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained story that’s linked to a place you can visit today in Delaware or…
December 17, 2019
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

TUBMAN TRAVELS: Love Stories at Buttons Creek (Christmas Escape, Part 2)

'Love Stories at Buttons Creek' is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. It’s the second of three chapters in the book devoted to one of the most famous of the escapes engineered by conductor Harriet Tubman. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained story that’s linked to a place you can visit today in Delaware or on…
December 12, 2019
Way Back Machine

The Year Smallpox Ruined Christmas in Sussex County, Delaware

The people of Sussex County did not have a very merry Christmas in 1919. Their holidays that year were filled instead with fear, distrust, and contention, culminating in a near riot in mid-January at the historic town circle of Georgetown, the county seat. The story begins in early December when reports surfaced that a contagious infection had popped up near Millsboro. At first, everyone thought…
December 10, 2019
From the BooksTubman TravelsWay Back Machine

A TUBMAN TALE: “The Good Ol’ Ship of Zion” (Christmas Escape, Part 1)

‘The Good Ol' Ship of Zion' is an excerpt from my book, Tubman Travels: 32 Underground Railroad Journeys on Delmarva. It's one of three chapters in the book devoted to one of the most famous of the escapes engineered by conductor Harriet Tubman. Each chapter in the book is a self-contained story that's linked to a place you can visit today in Delaware or on Maryland’s Eastern…
December 5, 2019
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
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
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
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
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