September 12, 2023
September 12, 2023
The Appalachian Mountains and the East Coast are very old. After hundreds of millions of years of erosion, the Eastern shoreline has been deeply cut with long and wide bays leaving extended peninsulas of land. One of these is the Delmarva Peninsula, so called because it is shared by Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Our goal is to explore it today.
South of Dover, we quickly discover the majority of Delmarva is flat farmland that could easily be mistaken for the Midwest. Surprising for a region so close to the Washington-Philadelphia population corridor. In antebellum times, it was filled with slave plantations. Our first stop is on Maryland's eastern shore of the Chesapeake at Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park.
Harriet was born a slave here. After seeing her sisters sold ‘down the river’ to Southern plantations, she became determined to escape north. Fortunately Pennsylvania and freedom was only a hundred miles north. In Philadelphia she was homesick so she returned repeatedly here to guide all her relatives north. As a small woman she found it easy to travel without raising suspicion.
The museum mostly covers Harriet Tubman's life. While it is fascinating, I was disappointed that there was not more information on other Underground Railroad routes and all the other people that were essential to successfully conduct thousands of escaped slaves north. Tubman could not have done it without significant help along the way. There is already another Harriet Tubman National Historic Site in New York devoted to her life.
From the west side we drove across the Delmarva to Assateague Island National Seashore. At the Visitor Center we watched the park film to learn about its history. Ocean City just to the north was long a popular beach destination. Development was set to expand here but a hurricane convinced the government this strip of sand needed to be set aside in 1965. Without these seashore reserves, the East Coast would likely be one long line of private beach houses.
It is fascinating to learn how ephemeral these coastal barrier islands are. A man-made jetty protecting Ocean City has altered sand movements causing Assateague Island to move wholesale several miles to the west.
We drove across the bridge to the island and down the length a few miles. It is still filled with holiday campers even though school has started. I guess lots of people like the extended summer everyone is experiencing. Aimee and I walked the beach a little ways. Assateague Island is also famous for its wild horses. While we saw several of them; their droppings were everywhere.
From Assateague Island we drove south toward its southern end stopping at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center. NASA has a launch site on Wallops Island. It is NASA’s oldest space center. I was a little surprised to learn how many facilities NASA has. Next door is a large number of radio telescopes for NOAA, the National Oceanic and Administration Administration.
We drove another hour south on the Delmarva stopping in Exmore, VA for the night.
The Appalachian Mountains and the East Coast are very old. After hundreds of millions of years of erosion, the Eastern shoreline has been deeply cut with long and wide bays leaving extended peninsulas of land. One of these is the Delmarva Peninsula, so called because it is shared by Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Our goal is to explore it today.
Harriet was born a slave here. After seeing her sisters sold ‘down the river’ to Southern plantations, she became determined to escape north. Fortunately Pennsylvania and freedom was only a hundred miles north. In Philadelphia she was homesick so she returned repeatedly here to guide all her relatives north. As a small woman she found it easy to travel without raising suspicion.
The museum mostly covers Harriet Tubman's life. While it is fascinating, I was disappointed that there was not more information on other Underground Railroad routes and all the other people that were essential to successfully conduct thousands of escaped slaves north. Tubman could not have done it without significant help along the way. There is already another Harriet Tubman National Historic Site in New York devoted to her life.
From the west side we drove across the Delmarva to Assateague Island National Seashore. At the Visitor Center we watched the park film to learn about its history. Ocean City just to the north was long a popular beach destination. Development was set to expand here but a hurricane convinced the government this strip of sand needed to be set aside in 1965. Without these seashore reserves, the East Coast would likely be one long line of private beach houses.
It is fascinating to learn how ephemeral these coastal barrier islands are. A man-made jetty protecting Ocean City has altered sand movements causing Assateague Island to move wholesale several miles to the west.
We drove another hour south on the Delmarva stopping in Exmore, VA for the night.
posted by Mike and Aimee at 5:25 PM
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