Day 6: Finally, Delaware!

We have finally arrived at our destination: Lewes, Delaware; the first city in the first state. (photo above is the view from the porch of our condo)

We are quite excited about that but first I must document at least a few details about the boring stuff earlier in the day.

The fog lifted a little and the sun actually shone through for a bit to reveal a beautiful little lake in front of the Otter. As we ate breakfast we could now see that there was a footpath that would have allowed us to easily walk around the entire lake. Oh well.

We made what turned out to be a really good decision to leave the parkway and head west (briefly) to I-81. We took that about 150 miles north to I-66 which took us east to Washington D.C. where we took the beltway around to U.S. 50.

We waived at Tex in Annapolis before crossing the bay bridge onto Maryland’s eastern shore and before too long we were standing at the Delaware state line.

A light rain fell on us most of the way up I-81 and on I-66 until we had crossed the mountains. However, the color was spectacular. The dogwoods that had lined our path since Mississippi continued to show their white brilliance but now at the lower elevations the redbuds were also in full bloom. Virginia is indeed a beautiful place.

It was cool and windy as we ate lunch in the half-empty parking lot of a Home Depot in Manassas, Va. but by the time we found/stopped for a photo at the Delaware state line it was downright balmy; the warmest temperatures since we left Louisiana.

I know at other state line crossings into Delaware they do have larger signs welcoming drivers to Delaware and proudly proclaiming the state’s marketing slogan “Small Wonder” (which, frankly, I wonder about).

However, on state route 404, there is only the small sign you see in the photo below and we crept along on the shoulder of the highway looking for it.

Fortunately there was a turnout just past the sign, which was next to (of all things) a fire tower. By fire tower I mean the kind that people sit atop to watch for forest fires.

That seemed odd for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the lack of forests in Delaware. Another oddity was an obscure plaque that had been placed near the base of the tower in 1974 to commemorate the surveying of the southern border between Delaware and Maryland. You may have heard of the two surveyors, a Mr. Mason and a Mr. Dixon. What seemed odd to me was that we were not on the southern border of Delaware (a.k.a. the Mason-Dixon Line) we were a good 20-30 miles north of there on the state’s western border with Maryland. Why was this plaque placed at this place?

I joked to Betsy that this is probably the Delaware state fire tower, in other words from atop the tower a person could see across the entire state.

Actually that is not too far-fetched. Here are some factoids to help readers put Delaware in perspective.

Delaware is about 2,500 square miles, which is about twice the size of Bexar County. The state population is about 750,000, which is about half of Bexar County’s. The highest point in Delaware is 448 feet and the lowest point is, of course, sea level. Thus, to state the obvious, Delaware is very flat. Bexar County may not seem that hilly but the highpoint is over 2,200 feet and the low is less than 600.

There is a significant amount of agriculture in Delaware, with numerous tilled (and sometimes irrigated) fields and occasional grain silos. I even saw/smelled a feed lot for a dairy farm. There are lots and lots of roadside stands selling fresh fruits and vegetables.

Delaware also has a lot of small towns and there seem to be a plethora of strip malls and sprawl-type development. There also appears to be a lot of the “modest house on five acres next to a highway” type of development. I certainly would not characterize the place as rural, but Delaware is probably more rural than most people would think.

In summary, our 45-mile traverse across the state from the Maryland border to the Atlantic Ocean at Lewes fell somewhere between bucolic and butt ugly.

However, when you arrive in Lewes via State Route 404/U.S. 9 the only appropriate description for the intersection with State Route 1 is butt ugly. Gas stations, chain groceries, Home Depot, etc. etc. etc. are splayed out along SR 1 in a dysfunctional assemblage that appears to have been designed to make the town as unattractive as possible.

Fortunately, the further you drive into Lewes the better it gets.

The core of the town’s residences are well-preserved mostly frame structures on small streets interspersed with a nice mix of churches, a library, and an occasional appropriately-located business.

It just has a very clean, comfortable feel to it.

The downtown consists of about 3 streets that parallel a canal that is crossed by a drawbridge. The buildings in the downtown are mostly brick and have been either carefully restored or exceptionally well-maintained. There is a bank or two but most of the downtown businesses cater to tourists, either restaurants or retail, and these establishments are surprisingly upscale. In other words, there are no little shops selling seashells and tie dyed t-shirts.

The canal, the drawbridge and the downtown are about a ½ mile from the town beach. Crossing over the bridge there are some strip malls with a restaurant or two, a motel, an ice cream stand and a Dairy Queen strung out along the main road. But for the most part the side streets are a mishmash of houses and most of those houses appear to be vacation homes, many of them available for rent.

We are in one of the few apartment/condo type of buildings and also one of the few to have a direct view of the water.

We checked in with the realtor to get our keys and arrived to find that the exterior of the 12-unit condo building is under construction. Parking in the area is at a premium but there is one of those huge trash containers that contractors use at construction sites plunked down in the parking lot in front of our unit, taking up about five parking spaces. Also, just outside of our front door is a port-a-potty for use by the construction workers who will reportedly start using their nail guns at 7:30 a.m. every morning.

We are going to try to parlay this inconvenience into getting a discount on our rent but the fact of the matter is that, once you get inside, the place is perfect with an awesome living area and porch on the second floor that looks out to the beach.

We talked at some length with the condo HOA treasurer (his wife is the president) and he said the contractor and his workers are exceptionally nice folks. It will be interesting to see how this all works out.

After we got unpacked we went back out to the butt ugly highway to the Food Lion supermarket (which is a very nice store) “just to get a few things for breakfast” and ended up with $200 worth of stuff not counting beer (which is not sold in grocery stores in Delaware).

Of course we stopped at the liquor store to pick up a variety of Delaware-brewed beverages (more details on this will surely come in future posts).

We drank a couple of beers on the porch as the sun set (we face northeast and cannot directly see the setting sun) and watched the ferry for Cape May, N.J. take off. Then we walked downtown for a late supper.

                                          Condo living area

                                          Our "reserved" parking area.