LSD and Annapolis

No this post is not about drugs. As we travel around the country we always see those oval stickers that let people know the places they love. We have an OBX - Outer Banks and HI - Hatteras Island on Opus. One of my favorites was from Ocracoke's Albert Styron's Store - ASS. The one we saw in Delaware now takes the place as the most unusual we have seen. We had to ask, what is LSD? Well it promotes the unique lifestyle in Lower Slower Delaware far away from the more northern hustle and bustle area of Delaware.  

We are heading south way too slowly. We awoke to temps in the 30's and frost on the CRV. The good news was that it was sunny and warmed up real fast so we did a bit of exploring in LSD.

We went to nearby Milford, an old ship building town on the banks of the Mispillion River. Previously, the old dam powered a sawmill. Today it is part of the river walk, a very interesting little park. We also checked out the Mispillion River Brewery and gave it a thumbs up.

There is an art project along the river walk that celebrates the old ship building industry and the new happenings in Milford. All the ships are a replica of the Augusta, an old ship that was built there. It had sunk and was recovered and restored by the city. We found this part of LSD to be very neat and we did not even make it to the ocean.

On our last day here we ventured back across the Bay Bridge to Annapolis to tour the capitol. This capitol, built in the Georgian style, is the 36th we have toured. The Maryland capitol is the oldest state house in continuous use since 1772. It was also the first peace time capitol of the United States from November 1783 to August 1784.

The dome was constructed between 1785 to 1794. It is the largest wooden dome in North America and is held together with wooden pegs not nails. The model shows the interior rotunda and the outside dome.

Two famous people who visited the capitol are Ben Franklin, who designed the lightening rod system to protect the building, honored here with a bust and Marque de Lafayette, the Frenchman who led troops in the Revolutionary War depicted in the painting. In 1824 he returned to the United States and toured the 24 states to instill the spirit of 1776 in the next generation of Americans.   

Looking up at the interior dome above the rotunda.

The Old Senate Chamber with the "Ladies Balcony" as women were not allowed on the floor. In the balcony is a statue of Molly Ridout. Two important events in American history took place in this chamber. One was in January 1784 when the Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War.

The other event was on December 23, 1783 when George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. This established the idea that the military of the new country should be under the civilian rule of the president. 

This exhibit in the rotunda has Washington's original resignation speech. I have always liked the idea of seeing the words and signatures of historic figures on display, especially the original documents in the National Archives 

The Old House of Delegates Chamber. It has been restored to its 19th century appearance. The painting. The Planting of the Colony of Maryland depicts the arrival of the first colonists in 1634.

There are exhibits of two Marylanders who were born into slavery and then became important figures in the freedom movement, Harriet Tubman....... 

,,,,,,,and Frederick Douglass. The displays had copies of the records of their birth. There are plans to erect statues of both these famous Americans.

The State House Caucus Room has the silver service from the USS Maryland and portraits of former governors and other political figures. The sliver service from ships is something we had not seen before, but Delaware had the same thing.

Between 1902 and 1905 a new annex was added with larger legislative chambers and more offices on the upper floor. Great effort has been made to keep the Georgian style of the original building.

In the grand staircase of the addition is a painting Washington Resigning His Commission that was done in 1858 by Edwin White.

The new House of Delegates Chamber for the 141 delegates. The assembly meets for 90 days each year. 

The new Senate Chamber for the 47 senators. 

The portraits in this chamber are of  Maryland's four signers of the Declaration of Independence, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll.

This is the new, 1905, annex side of the capitol.

Annapolis is a very interesting city with narrow streets and many buildings dating back to Colonial times. 

The rows of businesses and homes give you a look back in time even with the modern amenities. 

Main Street offers a great view of the harbor. Of course, the U.S. Navel Academy is here so it also has a college town feel.

Docked in the harbor was the Lynx, a replica of a ship built in 1812. It was a privateer that was given permission to raid British ships during the War of 1812. Here is a link to the site about the ship. 

Buildings along the waterfront with the capitol dome that overlooks the city. Both the city and the capitol are well worth a visit if you are in the area. 

We are now on Hatteras Island to kick back and celebrate our 49th anniversary before heading south. for the winter.

Dover - Delaware Capital and More

After three months in WashPA we are slowly heading south. We continue to have an issue with the leveling jacks and were not able to get an appointment to have them repaired. We did have a mobile service come and look at them but they could not get us in for a repair, so for now I will raise them manually. The new plan is to try and get an appointment in Florida. As for the acceleration problem we have driven over 300 miles and so far it has not been an issue. Who knows???   

Our original plan was to stay a couple days near Annapolis and tour the capitol. Since the jacks are a pain in the butt, we decided to head to Delaware for a longer stay and tour that capitol and then do a day trip to Annapolis. Driving to the Delmarva Peninsula means crossing the Bay Bridge over Chesapeake Bay, a very high level experience. We are staying at the Delaware State Fair Campground in Harrington.   

Delaware is known as "The First State" since it was the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 7, 1787. It ranks 49th in size and 45th in population. Legislative Hall, the second capitol building in Dover, was built in the Georgian Revival colonial style. It has been the home of the state government since 1933 with a couple expansions as the government got larger.

In 1776 Delaware not only declared its independence from Great Britain, but also from Pennsylvania which had controlled the area since 1682. The Delaware Continentals statue honors those from the state who fought in the Delaware regiment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. 

The state has 21 Senators who are elected to four year terms. Only two presidents have ever been to this capitol, in 1998 President Clinton addressed the legislature in this chamber. President Obama came here to pay his respects to Beau Biden, the son of Vice-President Joe Biden, who passed away in 2015.

I always like the tours where you get to sit in the big chair. Such a feeling of power.

The state seal of Delaware. 1704 was the year the lower counties established their own legislative assembly, 1776 was the year they declared Delaware an independent state and 1787 was the year they signed the U.S. Constitution. The corn and wheat symbolize agriculture, the blue is for the Delaware River, the ox is for husbandry, and the ship is for the ship building industry. The men are the citizen-solder militia. The motto is "Liberty and Independence", 

The House of Representatives has 41 members who are elected to two year terms.  The paintings in both the house and senate represent historic events that helped shape Delaware.  Both houses are in session once a year from January to June.  

Exhibit and chair honoring POWs and MIAs.

The Hall of Governors. There is even a portrait of a governor who only served 19 days when the old governor was elected to another position. He even moved into the governor's mansion and had a party there everyone of the 19 days he was in office.

While the Delaware capitol is not the grandest we have toured, it is a beautiful and functional building that is well worth a visit.

The capitol is part of the First State Heritage Park. At the welcome center in the archives there was an exhibit about WWI. There were several examples of Trench Art created by soldiers from old shell casings.

The poppies on the column are part of a display about Flanders Field and the Delawareans who gave the last full measure in that war. 

War time posters encouraging people at home to support the troops and war effort by buying bonds. 

The Old Statehouse was the first capitol in Dover. It was built in the Middle Georgian style between 1787 and 1792. It was the seat of the state government from 1792 to 1932. It also was the Kent County Court House from 1792 to 1873. 

Very neat sculpture at the Biggs Museum of American Art. The birds leaving the tree on the outside and then fly into the foyer of the building.

While Delaware was the first state, it was the last state to get a National Park Service site. The First State National Monument was established in 2013 and the First State National Historical Park in 2014. It includes seven site throughout the state including The Green in Dover. All the buildings around The Green are built in the colonial style.

The site of the Golden Fleece Tavern is on The Green. It served as the meeting place for the Delaware Assembly Upper House when the government first moved to Dover from New Castle. It was here where Delaware was the first to ratify the U.S. Constitution. When the government moved into the Old Statehouse the first law they passed was that the legislative branch could not meet in any building that served alcohol. The tavern was torn down in 1830.

Every state was given a copy of the Liberty Bell from the French in 1950. We don't always find them when we visit the capitals but here is Delaware's on the Legislative Mall with the Hall on the other side.

On Saturday we saw something we have never seen, a truck parade. It is a fund raiser for Special Olympics with over 200 participants. There was every kind of truck you can image; tow trucks, garbage trucks, flatbed trucks, trailer trucks.......

......tanker trucks, concrete trucks, pickup trucks.....

......firetrucks, box trucks and more. The parade is a 29 mile ride through Kent County. In 2017 they raised $63,000 for Special Olympics. You just never know what you will see while traveling this great country.

We'll Cross that Bridge....................

We left DC with the goal of adding Delaware to our state map on our way to the Outer Banks. This route required us to cross two very big toll bridges but since we would be spending a free night at Wally World we decided to go for it.

The first bridge was the William Preston Lane Jr. Bay Bridge which crosses Chesapeake Bay just east of Annapolis to the Eastern Shore and the Delmarva Peninsula. This 4.35 mile bridge rises 186 feet above the water. It was originally just a single span with two way traffic, but a second bridge was added to separate east and west bound traffic. Nanc tells me there is quite a view from the top but I was real focused on the road.

To add Delaware we stayed at the Seabrook Wally World that was just 100 miles from DC. Since we arrived so early we disconnected the car and drove to Rehobeth Beach. We had a nice stroll on the boardwalk and enjoyed the warm ocean air.

The next morning we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. This 23 mile engineering marvel crosses the water where the Atlantic Ocean meets Chesapeake Bay and connects the Delmarva Peninsula with Southeastern Virginia. We crossed it many years ago when there was only one bridge with two way traffic and we were glad to see the newer southbound bridge was wider than the original. It was wide enough that I actually got to enjoy the view as we literally drove across the ocean.

There are four man made islands where the road goes into the two tunnels that were required so there would be no limit on the height of the Navy ships sailing from the base in Norfolk. The tunnels have two way traffic and going through them was just a little intense.

We weren't yet done with the bridges as we had to cross the three mile Wright Memorial Bridge to get to the Outer Banks from the North Carolina mainland. This is another bridge that was once a single two way traffic span but now consists of two bridges. It was a real piece of cake after the previous two.

And finally one last bridge to get us on to Hatteras Island. The Hebert C. Bonner bridge is a 2.5 mile span that crosses Oregon Inlet between the Atlantic Ocean and Pimlico Sound. It has been through several hurricanes and in 1990 a dredge hit it and knocked a section down, isolating everyone on the island until ferry service could be brought in. This bridge is due for replacement because erosion is constantly changing the shoreline. It has two way traffic.

The last part of the trip is down highway 12 on Hatteras Island. Here the road is so close to the Atlantic that it is often covered in water and sand. There are some spots where the island is so narrow that you could hit a nine iron into the ocean on one side and into the sound on the other. That is why we love this place, it is so isolated that you won't find a Wally World or, for that matter, many other chains. We arrived at the Sands of Time Campground to find they were having a fish fry that evening so we joined in and got to meet a few other residents.

To our Pacific coast readers it may be surprising that you can actually go into the Atlantic even in October and not freeze your ### off. The water was fine, the fishing was great, but the catching left a lot to be desired. We are looking forward to a month of just kicking back at the beach and hoping the catching gets better.