Delaware. The one state on the East Coast I hadn’t been to. That’s pretty much all the state meant to me. No one ever has a reason to go there. It’s not on the way to anything. There aren’t any major events held in Delaware and unless you’re wanting a beach and live in south Pennsylvania, there’s no reason for you to visit. Do you live in California and want to see the the Atlantic Oceans? Go to Florida, it’s cheaper and easier to get to. So when I drove into Delaware at 9pm, I was thrilled to be there. By the way, I’m being sarcastic there. I found a hotel in Millsboro which charged me $130 for the eight hours I’d stay there and went to bed. (Hey they had free wifi though! or was it $100 for wifi and $30 for the room?)
Bright and early the next morning I woke to head out to the beach. I’ll give this to the state, they have some nice beaches. Big sandy beaches with fairly easy access dot the coastline. I wish I could have spent the entire day there, but instead I just watched as the sun rose over the Atlantic, felt the sand between my toes, and jumped back in the car to visit something I’d been wanting to see for awhile.
Before I left the state though I had a few more thoughts on it. The state is tiny. It’s like 40 miles wide at its widest point. Most people who will travel through Delaware will do so on I-95 for all of 24 miles on their way to somewhere else. (Maybe that should be their marathon: “The Delaware Marathon – Not quite 26 miles, because our state isn’t big enough for a full marathon.”)
I’m still not sure why Delaware exists other than Maryland didn’t want to deal with hurricane so they convinced some patriots to form it’s own state. I can picture the governor of Maryland thinking “wow, that last hurricane cost us a lot of money in clean up and headaches. What if we gave most of our coast away to another state? But who would want it? I know, we’ll create a NEW state!”
The Delaware state motto is “Liberty and Independence,” dating back to their glory days of being the first state to ratify the constitution. They should change it to “The Beach State” though, because that’s really what people should know about Delaware, they have beaches.
I realize I’ve been very hard on Delaware in this post, but after driving 10 hours out of my way and adding an extra 8 hours on my drive home, Delaware was a bit of a let down.
Other potential state mottoes for Delaware, feel free to add your own in the comments:
- Delaware – Come for the photos, leave because you have somewhere else to be.
- Delaware – Are you lost?
- Delaware – Hold on a second, I’m in… Delaware? Wait, no I’m out of it now.
- Delaware – The state which a single hurricane could completely destroy.
- Delaware – That state that wont be here thanks to global warming.
- Delaware – Size doesn’t matter, guy!
- Delaware – Wait, this state gets two senators?
Similar to North Carolina, most of the “wilderness” lies to the west, including Shendoah National Park, the Washington and Jefferson National Forests, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The AT runs through the state in the west as well. On the east the mouth to the Chesapeake sits. The Chesapeake is fascinating to me. More than 150 rivers flow into the bay, six different states drain into the bay, and at its height had 9000 people working in it (of course not so much anymore thanks to city run off pretty much screwing over wildlife – in the 70s we found out there was a marine dead zone where there was so little oxygen in the water, nothing lived).
A few months ago I took a trip up to New England and visited six states in one week. It started by spending some time in Boston after a conference. Boston is a cool city because it blends the old with the new. As you walk between sky scrapers you’ll run into reminders that Boston is REALLY old. Buildings built in the 1700s sit in the shadow of new construction and modern engineering. At the heart of Boston is a park which is alive with all kinds of people. Pick up soccer games, rec league softball, runners, readers, tourists, bikers, bladers, and business folk mingled around the park which is surrounded by skyscrapers on three sides. 
Bivy Life 