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Published: December 2nd 2007
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Obfuscator writes: We left our campsite at Killen's Pond State Park, and drove into Dover. Dover has a great many museums and things to look at, particularly for a city that doesn't seem to be all that big. The first stop was the capitol, as we always enjoy seeing them when we can. Delaware's capitol was a bit strange. For one thing, they called it Legislative Hall, and it seemed a lot smaller than many we've seen. I guess this shouldn't really come as a major surprise, since Delaware is pretty small. That wasn't the only strange thing though. The building also has unusual architecture, which makes it look distinct from the typical American capitol design. Instead of a large dome and all marble construction, Delaware has basically no marble, and a smallish cupola atop their Legislature.
The Chambers of both the House and the Senate were likewise modest, with the House feeling somewhat claustrophobic. They were adorned with some pretty murals depicting Delaware history, which were done in a rather Impressionistic style. This of course, was the new Statehouse. The old one was across a large green from it, though it was stylistically rather similar. Mainly, it was smaller,
with wood shingles on top. We weren't able to get inside the old Statehouse though, as they were in the midst of major renovations, which left it closed to the public.
When we were done in the Statehouse, we wandered across the large green, and into what was called a Visitor's Center/Biggs Art Museum. There wasn't much to the Visitor's Center, other than a gift shop and some very helpful people, but the Biggs Museum turned out to be well worth our time. The Museum was basically a showcase of the collection of some very rich collector (whose name was Biggs). The museum was all American art and furniture collected by this fellow, and the collection ranged from about the 1700's to the modern day.
We spent a couple hours in that museum, I think, though I had little concept of time there. It was really an exceptional collection, and we got to learn a fair amount about Delaware history by looking at it. We also got to talk to a couple of very helpful and friendly ladies who work in the museum. They recommended a couple of places to eat, though one of them wasn't going to
be open again until Friday. The other, Beyler's Country Market (I think that's what it was called anyway), turned out to be a decent bet. Beyler's is just a bit outside Dover, and it's sort of a big supermarkety place. There's a lot of the normal staples you'd find at any supermarket, but there's also a really good deli, and we're told, great ice cream (though by the time we were done with the deli, we had no room for ice cream). The weird part is that the store also sells all kinds of Amish crafts and we saw what appeared to be Amish teenagers working there. Now, neither of us is an expert on Amishology, but that didn't strike either of us as kosher according to their customs as we understood them. Perhaps the Amish in Delaware go by slightly different rules? Who knows? Maybe these Amish get to drive forklifts? (Onaxthiel adds: And ride real motorcycles in their bike gangs?)
When we were done poking around Beyler's, we turned around and went back to the Capitol. We had been told that there was a tour of the grounds and square every day at 2:00 PM, and not
Something a bit odd here.
You may not be able to see in this picture, but all the parking on this one way street is angled, against traffic. seeing any other options we were likely to squeeze in that day, we figured it would be fun. We ended up being the only people on the tour, which I guess should come as no particular surprise when you tour places in late November. We met our tour guide at the Visitor's Center, and she showed up in period attire. Now is a good time to mention that we've been slightly surprised, but pleasantly so, by how many cute re-enactor girls we've encountered in Delaware. Granted, that's just two, but that's two more than we've seen in any other states. The first was at the Museum in Lewes, and the second, here.
Our tour took us around the town square, where she pointed out all sorts of neat old buildings, including the house where the first person was murdered via mail (she ate poisoned chocolates). Apparently a lot of the buildings around there had burned at various times in history, so a fair amount of them were newer than you might have otherwise thought. Also, there were a great many taverns around the capitol square, since they were great meeting spots I guess. One of them which was no
longer standing, the Golden Fleece, was where Delaware delegates signed the Constitution, thus making Delaware the first state. The smaller green adjacent that we were touring, was also a site in which Lincoln's martial law was really enforced, with militia troops bayoneting Democrats who were taken to be disloyal during the Civil War.
We left Dover after that tour, and drove north toward Newark. We tried to find the site of Cooch's Bridge, which was the only battle of the Revolutionary War that was fought in Delaware. Apparently there's not much to see there, but a marker and a bridge, but we wanted to anyway. Unfortunately the directions we had received for it from a Delaware guide book proved to be less than helpful, and so while we must have come within a couple of blocks of it, we were never able to find it. We drove a bit south to Lum's Pond State Park, where we cooked some dinner, watched Rocky, and went to bed under the noise of an inconveniently placed Rescue Heliport.
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