April 2023
At first you do not notice a difference driving from coastal Maryland to coastal Delaware, but then the lack of public beach access hits. The entry points to the beach are few and far between and stretched between them are a lot of private gated communities with private beaches (and more importantly private parking) and long stretches of undeveloped raised berms obstructing any view of the water and also devoid of parking other than the occasional small fee lot. Once you reach Rehoboth Beach, about one hour north of the Maryland border, public beach access opens up – though not the ability to park for free. Another change was the speed limit. With all the private gated beach communities comes very low speed limits on the main road. Delaware has a lot of history, but the more I travel the country, the more I realize that history can be found in so many places if you take the time to look. I did enjoy the northern section on the border with Pennsylvania and found a few nice beaches.
LEWES / REHOBOTH BEACH. My friend Mike told me to check out the cannonball in the wall of the cannonball house but it was recently stolen and later found but not replaced. I did go to the beach (very nice) and meandered around the quaint town. Rehoboth Beach is nearby and larger and more typical of what you would find in a beach town with plenty of stores, bars, and restaurants. Also the place I found my lodging for the night.
DOVER. Cuter than I expected. I primarily walked around First State Heritage Park and the historic area though primarily on the outside as most places were closed (the day of the week and State budget cuts). I did talk for a bit to a woman at the Public Archives who told me about the very large wall paintings. Almost no one was around so if you want to avoid crowds, a good place to be on a Tuesday.
RED CLAY VALLEY BYWAY. This is not a single byway but rather an interconnection of narrow roads with no great description of how they are connected. I did manage to drive many of them (I think) by plugging in various sites. The area is beautiful with lovely stone buildings, some lavish estates, rolling green hillsides, and little streams. I was able to see the Ashland Covered Bridge but the Mt. Cuba Center where I had hoped to tour was not open that day. Instead I stopped for a bit and chatted with the woman working at the Ashland Nature Center and she gave me some good tips on where to go next as well as told me about all the great work the center is doing.
