Looking for a sweet stroll on a nice day? Maybe find your way to the Wye Natural Resources Management Area in Queen Anne’s County, Md. To get there you’ll turn off Route 50 a little way above Chesapeake College and find yourself along a lovely two-lane drive that eventually winds its way down to gravel and dirt.
There are a number of trails at Wye. My favorite is the Ferry Point Trail, but there are a couple of other trails I haven’t taken yet, so maybe one of them is better.
The scene up top here is from the Holly Tree trail. Let’s do the math, shall we? I’m not sure when that sign went up, but I took it in 2025. Perhaps, then, this tree first took root somewhere before or around 1750. So this tree was a sapling when …
• The steam engine first appeared, setting off a little thing called the Industrial Revolution that spurred the development of our modern capitalist economies.
• Europe’s Enlightenment period was reaching its peak, with famous names like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu throwing out ideas that changed the world–and that folks are still debating about today.
• The Ottoman Empire ruled the roost in West Asia and North Africa.
• The Qing Dynasty ruled China–it was during their rule that the construction work on the Great Wall of China was finally completed after 1,400 years.
Meanwhile, …
• Europeans settlers were arriving in the British colonies in big numbers, their population climbing to 1.5 million (that’s about one-fifth the number people who live in just New York City today).
• The French and Indian War was just getting started.
• Various European powers claimed control over most all of North America, putting their names on maps and deeds and such, but those claims were mostly just a mirage. The real ruling powers in 1750 in various parts of the continent at that time included the Iroquois Confederacy (Ohio Valley up to New York and into Canada); the Comanche Empire (a vast territory in Southwest); the Creek Confederacy (in the southeast); and the Cherokee Nation (the Great Smoky Mountains and surroundings).
Lots to think about, looking at one little tree!
The Wye Natural Resources Management Area is one of the 125-plus Delmarva destinations you can find in my book, “Shore Fun! The Delmarva Wanderer’s Guide.” Plus, 150-plus annual events, broken out by season. Info on that all-in-one guide to wandering the Eastern Shore and Delaware is here.
–posted by Jim Duffy for Secrets of the Eastern Shore/Whimbrel Creations LLC. All rights reserved. Thanks so much for spending some time on this site!
