Delaware: our 46th State (July 25-27, 2025)

August 03, 2025

Delaware: our 46th State (July 25-27, 2025)

Our Basecamp: Killens Pond State Park, Harrington, DE

When we travel, we generally head to a state park or other campground in the general area we’d like to explore. Delaware was no different. We like state parks because they’re reasonably priced and honestly, the sites are usually thoughtfully situated so that your sight lines out of your camper are scenic as opposed to other campers within ten feet of you. Once we set up camp, Dan partakes of some liquid refreshment and I get the inside of the trailer the way we like it. This trip has been so hot and so humid (mid-to-high 90s and 75-80% humidity) that it’s not that comfortable to sit out! The mosquitoes are ALWAYS my limiting factor (they love me), but I just enjoyed the view from inside this trip (mostly)!

We make day trips from our basecamp; in this case, to Dover and south to the beaches of Lewes (pronounced “lewis” with two syllables) and Rehoboth.

Dover

The Old Statehouse in Dover.

Lots of history here—we learned how Delaware became “the first state” after seceding from both Pennsylvania and Britain, and lots more early American history.

Our historian/guide, dressed in period garb, was both knowledgeable and gracious.

One of the chambers in the Old Statehouse

Lebanon, Ohio has The Golden Lamb and we now see where they got their hanging lamb logo. This historic building is now a packed gallery with souvenirs and art of all kinds. I managed to find the only Delaware enameled pin we saw in the entire state in this shop! (Our collection continues to expand!)

The Parke-Ridgeley House, home of Mabel Lloyd Ridgely, who was instrumental in working toward the passage of the 19th Amendment in Delaware. She held meetings in her home, shown, and in the Old Statehouse, a short walk kitty-cornered across the Green.

GW portrait, hanging in the Old Statehouse

A view of the current Delaware capitol building, as seen from the Old Statehouse.

Shima fed us our lunch in Dover, at The Cobble Stone. This was very much a “Mom Place”, with a few small tables crowded in the front of an historic home around the corner from The Old Statehouse. I had some yummy falafel and Turkish coffee. She could not have been sweeter!

Seen in the Cobble Stone.

After lunch, we walked over a half dozen (very hot and sticky) blocks to The Victrola Museum. Our guide was expert in all things related to the history of the Victrola and beyond. We were lucky to have had him!

“His Master’s Voice”

The story behind this famous painting (this is one of six -?- done all around the same time after the popularity of the first one done) is that this little dog, Nipper, outlived his master, but his owner had recorded his voice. At some point, the dog got to hear ‘his master’s voice’ on the cylinder recording and posed as seen in this painting. A touching story. When the Victrola company was formed and changed from cylinder recordings to flat “records”, they acquired the rights to this painting and then contacted the artist to paint over the cylinder to change it to a round, flat record as seen here. There is only one original where you can see the faint outline of the cylinder under the updated paint.

A beautiful old Victrola with matching stand and pristine morning glory bell.

We like it big: I’m sorry I didn’t stand by this five-foot-tall Nipper for a photo!

What lives in the inside of the box of a Victrola

The Victrola company actually received this Grammy Award for contributions to the recording industry. Note that the award itself is modeled after an old-style Victrola grammaphone!

An early record album. Each sleeve held one record with one song on each side. When full, it was called a “record album” and shelved like a book. When technology evolved to the point where a number of songs could be recorded on one platter, the verbiage transferred and that became known as “a record album” even though it was just ONE record. I thought that was interesting.