There are no National Parks in 22 states. Delaware is one of them. Other states with no National Park include unlikely Georgia and Pennsylvania. When you count the states with at least 1 NP, you come to 29 of them. Delaware is just south of Pennsylvania. In fact, Delaware’s largest city Wilmington has almost become a suburb of Philadelphia. When we went to Philadelphia to see the Mutter Museum and other attractions, Ruth & I spent some time in Delaware because it was, at the time, our least visited state. It was time well spent. Now, Delaware is likely to get to claim to be the home of a President because Joe Biden mostly resides in Wilmington. Does that mean that a National Park in our 2nd smallest state is likely to occur? Perhaps.
If that happens, it will probably be in or near New Castle, which is 6 miles south of Wilmington, a city with many tourist attractions like Winterthur. If you want to read about others, dig into my archives and find a blog called “A 50 Stater’s Delaware”. Why does New Castle deserve to be home to a National Park? That’s an easy question to answer. Delaware was the first state because it was the first colony to ratify the new US Constitution. The Golden Fleece Tavern in Dover, Delaware’s capital, was where a vote to ratify the US Constitution was held. New Castle was home to 2 signers of the US Declaration of Independence. It’s already a National Monument. The entire town is also a National Historic Landmark District. The Amstel House Museum is there as is the Court House Museum. The town has cobblestone streets, a lot of Colonial and Federal architecture, and a Georgian courthouse. George Washington attended a wedding in a New Castle parlor. It has been under 4 flags–Great Britain, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States.
The town of Newark, scene of the only Revolutionary War battle in Delaware called Cooch’s Bridge, is not too far from New Castle. We also experienced the towns of Milford, Lewes, Seaford, and Dover of course. One of the more interesting towns named Odessa is in the northern part of this state, which is only 96 miles long and 9 to 35 miles wide. I wrote about towns named Odessa on 8/21/20. Odessa’s first name was Cantwell’s Bridge.
You’re never too far from a beach in Delaware. I was surprised that many roads near the Atlantic Ocean were covered with water. Delaware’s Rehoboth Beach is the closest one to Washington, DC and is well used by its residents.
The main business in Delaware is Dupont. We visited its first factory. But Delaware is also known to be the originating place for spacesuits, Teflon and baby wipes. Other big businesses that began in Delaware include Jell-o, Playtex, and GORE-TEX.
The best sandwich in Delaware is said to be the Da Vinci that was invented at Touch of Italy, which has many locations in this state. However, I favor Capriotti’s Bobbie, a sandwich that’s made with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce and served on a sub roll in Wilmington.
Hank
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