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Published: July 23rd 2019
The drive from Pine Grove Campground in Chincoteague VA to Steamboat Landing RV Park and Marina in Milton DE on Wednesday, June 5, 2019 was short and uneventful. I chose the Milton park as there are no RV parks close to the state capital, Dover, and because of its otherwise relatively centralized location among my other attractions of interest. The park is on a dead-end road about a mile from DE 1, a major four-lane divided highway. Very convenient. Most of the sites are occupied by permanent or seasonal non-residential units, and my time at the park was very quiet and serene.
My first stop on Thursday, June 6, 2019 was the
First State Heritage Park Welcome Center and Galleries in Dover DE. First State Heritage Park had me off balance for a while, thinking it was a state park in the more traditional sense with hiking, fishing, playgrounds, picnicking and camping opportunities. Instead, First State Heritage Park is, essentially, an historic district featuring several of the buildings on my visit list. It turns out the visitor center is housed in the Delaware Public Archives building which is within the First State Heritage Park. After speaking to the attendant, I wandered into what appeared to be a
research room where two large paintings were hung. One featured a scene from the Revolutionary War while the other had the Civil War as the theme. Both are very interesting and merit a short stop. In the entrance hall, I found a small exhibit about the history of the Delaware State Fair. Upstairs, the featured exhibit celebrated the centennial anniversary of the end of World War I with interesting trench art, great paintings and silver pieces??? What? I’m merely the reporter!
After leaving the visitor center, my first stop was
Legislative Hall: The State Capitol. I was directed to a tour that was “almost done” and was given several options by the retired history teacher docent. Of course, I selected the “whole enchilada.” She and I were one-on-one for 30-45 minutes while I got a Delaware history lesson par excellence! William Penn is seen by many as the father of representative government in Delaware. In 1681, he became proprietor of two colonies in America – Pennsylvania and the three lower counties of Delaware. He tried to unite the two into one, and, in 1682, called on the freedmen of both colonies to elect their neighbors to attend a joint General Assembly. To Penn’s
regret, the delegates refused to unite into one, and over time, their relationship worsened. Eventually, each colony was granted the right to have its own separate elected legislature, while both areas continued to operate under the same governor. Delaware’s separate legislative body met for the first time at the town of New Castle on May 22, 1704. Since announcing its independence from Great Britain, several weeks before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the General Assembly has functioned as Delaware’s legislative body. Amidst fears of British invasion, the state capital was moved from New Castle to Dover during the American Revolution. On December 7, 1787, the State of Delaware became the first state to ratify the newly enacted U.S. Constitution, thus earning the state motto, “The First State.”
After the guided tour of the first floor, I headed for the self-guided tour of the second floor where I found an impressive display honoring Delaware’s veterans, including a “Roll of Honor” and a “Chair of Honor.” Paintings of several notable native sons adorn the walls, including that of Major George S. Welch. Welsh was one of the few United States Army Air Corps fighter pilots to get
“Look Taxpayers, No Marble!”
Legislative Hall: The State Capitol - Dover DEairborne and engage Japanese forces in the attack on Pearl Harbor. After World War II, Welsh became a test pilot for North American Aviation which was under strict orders from Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington that North American test pilots should not, under any circumstances, break the sound barrier before the X-1 achieved this milestone. Fellow North American test pilot Al Blackburn speculates in his book
Aces Wild: The Race for Mach 1 (1998) that Welch may have broken the sound barrier two weeks before Chuck Yeager. Welch himself never made the claim.
Another native son profile I found interesting is that of USMC General Thomas Holcomb. On December 1, 1936, as a two-star general, Holcomb became Commandant of the Marine Corps. As Commandant, Holcomb stated before an April 1941 U.S. Navy General Board session, convened to discuss expansion of the Marine Corps, that African Americans had no right to serve as Marines. He said, "If it were a question of having a Marine Corps of 5,000 whites or 250,000 Negroes, I would rather have the whites." I wonder if he might have reported a fugitive slave a hundred years earlier! Such was life in a border
state, I guess. With his advancement to lieutenant general on January 20, 1942, he became the highest-ranking officer ever to command the Marine Corps up to that time. Holcomb went on to serve almost 44 years as a Marine (seven years as Commandant). When Lt. Gen. Holcomb retired on January 1, 1944 and because he had been specially commended for the performance of his duty in combat, Holcomb was advanced one rank on the retired list, in accordance with a newly passed Act of Congress, making him the first Marine ever to hold the rank of (Four-Star) General. The attraction is worth a visit and the guided tour is worthy, but, if given a choice, many might prefer the condensed version of Delaware’s history.
My next stop was the
Old State House. Built between 1787 and 1791, it was the first permanent state capitol building in Delaware and was originally home to both state and Kent County governments. The first floor of the Old State House features a courtroom while the second floor features the former chambers of the state legislature. The impressive dual stairway, known as a geometrical staircase, served as the entry portal to the state's legislative chambers. Over
the course of 224 years of continuous governmental use, the Old State House had undergone a number of structural and stylistic changes that had radically altered its original 18
th century appearance. These changes, over time, included the 1873 Victorian-style remodeling of the building's exterior and the addition of a number of wings to accommodate increasing governmental needs. In 1933, the General Assembly re-located from the Old State House to a new, more spacious home in Legislative Hall; and, in 1976, the Old State House was restored to its original appearance as part of Delaware's bicentennial celebration. The most recent $3.5 million restoration and modernization of The Old State House took place between December 2005 and December 2007.
After the docent’s presentation, I headed for the self-guided tour of the second floor where I found a nice exhibit about Maryland’s place on the Underground Railroad – “Delaware’s Network to Freedom.” You're right, Gen. Holcomb's ancestors were not part of the network! The exhibit tells the story of Samuel D. Burris, a free negro conductor on the Underground Railroad. Here, I’ll quote an 1837 Delaware law (from one of the placards I photographed) to convey the harsh consequences of assisting escaped
slaves, “… if any person or persons shall, knowingly entice, persuade, encourage, aid or abet any negro or mulatto slave or indented servant, to leave the service of his or her master or mistress, or shall, knowingly, aid or assist any negro or mulatto slaves or indented servants in escaping from the service of his or her said master or mistress, every person so offending, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall forfeit and pay to the State, a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, and shall be imprisoned for a team (sic) of not less than three months nor more than six months, and at the expiration of said imprisonment shall be disposed of, if a negro or mulatto, as a servant to the highest and best bidder for the period of seven years.” Burris, who lived in Philadelphia PA with his wife and children, was caught in Delaware, arrested and placed up for sale to the highest bidder, a member of the Underground Railroad who attended the auction under an alias. He was rushed to Philadelphia, reunited with his family and sped to California where
“Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!” – From Long, Long Ago
Delaware Agricultural Museum & Village - Dover DE he lived out the rest of his life. That was the Underground Railroad in action.
After returning to the spacious, free parking lot to retrieve the Ram, I made my way to the
Delaware Agricultural Museum & Village in Dover. There actually are two components to this attraction – an historic farming village and an indoor museum with numerous pieces of antique farming and household equipment. The typical historic village consists of a farmhouse, a blacksmith shop, a water-powered sawmill, a one-room school, a church, a general store and a barber shop. Most of the buildings have an accompanying narrative about the history of the relocated structure but virtually no documentation of the furnishings, some of which are unique and worthy. Inside, there is an exhibition of the woodcarving folk art of Jehu Camper, a well-known native son; Grandma’s Wash Day, an exhibit of vintage washing machines – some of which I have no recollection from my travels; and an otherwise standard bill of fare for a rural life museum. The museum might hold the interest of those that are well-schooled and don’t need any documentation or those that are first-timers who would be totally awestruck, but the average tourist who has been
exposed to turn-of-the-century life could make better use of his/her time.
My final stop of the day was the
Delaware State Vietnam War Memorial, also in Dover. The very nice garden-like memorial has a (standard these days) mounted Huey helicopter and a list of the fallen from the state. Other memorials, which appear to have been added later, honor Korean and Middle East veterans, war dogs, Gold Star Mothers and “dust off” crewmen. Dust off is the call sign for helicopter units dedicated to evacuating the wounded from the battlefield. A plaque notes that dust off flew 496,573 missions in Vietnam between 1962 and 1973 and that 211 crewmen died. Their motto then and now is, “No Hesitation, No Rationalization, No Compromise – Fly the Mission.” My hats off and thanks to a group of men I, fortunately, never met but always knew they were there if needed. An empty chair honors the 82,000 Americans Missing in Action since World War I. “You Are Not Forgotten.” Nicely done and effective.
Friday, June 6, 2019 found me heading down DE 1 to the coast and the
Lightship Overfalls LV 118/WAL 538 in Lewes DE. The Overfalls Lightship Station was located near the mouth of Delaware Bay and
marked the Overfalls Shoal where the shallowest spot had a depth of only ten feet. Just four different lightships serviced the station between 1898 and 1960, when a buoy was installed to mark the location. LV 118/WAL 538 was the last lightship constructed for the United States Lighthouse Service before the Service became part of the United States Coast Guard and spent her entire working lifespan at Overfalls Shoal. When I arrived, I man and a woman were sitting on a porch in front of the gift shop, a rare commodity at the lightships I have seen. As the gentleman and I toured the vessel, I couldn’t help but notice the excellent condition of the paint and the cleanliness of the nooks and crannies. There was nothing unusual or extraordinary beyond the standard bill of fare for most lightships; however, this might be the best example of its type of the dozen or so I have seen. Highly recommended.
I headed south along the coast to Fenwick Island DE and the
Discoversea Shipwreck Museum. The museum is located in a strip mall upstairs from Sea Shell City. The shipwreck museum, which opened in 1995, is "the product of years of research
A Crusty Old Fella
Discoversea Shipwreck Museum - Fenwick Island MD and hard work with a goal of preserving our maritime heritage." The collection of shipwreck and recovered artifacts is “one of the largest in the Mid-Atlantic” and contains about 10,000 artifacts, both regional and worldwide. My followers know that I’m into things old, but I’ve never found an urge to embrace maritime artifacts. Actually, I’ve never had an attraction to pottery shards or pieces of flintlock firing mechanisms or any other “incomplete” fragments of our history. An archaeologist I am not! Discoversea Shipwreck Museum has some of the coolest maritime artifacts I have seen anywhere, and I can’t remember ever seeing so many great specimens in such a small room. Most well-know museums would be envious. In addition to the artifacts, placards provide an education – “The 1622 Spanish Fleet,” “The Wickedest City on Earth – Port Royal, Jamaica,” “An Irish Immigrant Ship,” and “The Quicksilver Galleons” are examples. Other placards explain the electrolysis process used to rid the artifacts of unwanted contaminants. Best of all, the admission fee is merely your donation.
Saturday, June 6, 2019 found me heading west, to the western coast of the eastern shore – if that can make any sense at all! My
first stop was the
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in Saint Michaels MD. The major reason the attraction landed in my crosshairs was the
1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse, and I was expecting a building with an adjacent lighthouse, but instead got an adjacent historic district of sorts, all under the umbrella of the museum. The Small Boat Shed has a variety of working and recreational Chesapeake small watercraft while the Maryland Crab Meat Company Exhibition features one of the largest seafood packing houses in the town that called itself the Seafood Capital. A recreated crabber’s shanty is located at Waterman’s Wharf, and an oyster harvesting skipjack, the E.C. Collier, has multimedia presentations revealing the front end of the oyster industry. Other exhibits feature waterfowl, bay history, an heirloom garden and a living shoreline to name most. River cruises are available. When I learned the admission was for a two-day ticket, I figured it would be more involved that most museums. I was right. The museum is very well-done but might be a little bit more than the tourist who is constrained by a tight schedule wants to undertake, particularly those who are "bound and determined to see the entire enchilada."
Down the road a few miles,
I made a stop at the
Tilghman Island Watermen’s Museum on Tilghman Island MD. This small museum is another example of an outstanding narrative of the pulse of its community. Waterfowl and seafood provided sustenance for the locals while both offered employment opportunities as hunting guides, fishermen and cannery workers. Several paintings by local artist William E. Cummings are on display and numerous photographs help tell the story of the island. Very well done and worth a stop if passing through or if making the short drive from Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, but its end of the road location makes it a "ya gotta wanna" for most.
I had a nice low-keyed week in Delaware. RV parks are scarce, but I found one centrally located which suited my needs adequately. I probably won’t return as an RVer, but might visit Dover or one of the beachside communities as a motel-hopper in the future. As I prepared to depart and connect the electrical tether from the Bighorn to the Ram, I discovered a bird nest had been built in the kingpin area – complete with a clutch of four eggs. That was one busy lady over the past seven days! The eggs would
have never withstood the 55 m.p.h. trip down the highway so I removed the nest, which probably meant the death of the chicks. Perhaps a snake or raccoon would find them soon and put them to nutritional use. Sometimes life's events must be must be summarized concisely, “It is what it is.”
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