Delaware 2026 (ongoing)

[xzmattzx]

Since there are a few other ongoing threads in here, I thought one place to put my random pictures from around Delaware would be appropriate. I only want to do this for a year, so this will only be pictures taken in 2026.

We will actually start at my house, where I will show off the Christmas lights that I have wrapped around my palm tree, before I took them down last week. Yes, I have a palm tree at my house. I also have a banana plant. The palm tree is a windmill palm, and I planted it in 2019. I bought it at a gardening store here in Delaware, so I knew it was meant to grow here. I leave it untouched during the winter. The banana plant dies after the first frost, usually in November, but the bulb stays alive. I don't trim the dead stuff on the banana plant until mid-spring, because the plant grows from the inside out, and I get an extra couple of feet of live growth by waiting. I bought the banana plant on the same day I got the palm tree.

[xzmattzx]

On New Year's Day, I went for a short hike in White Clay Creek State Park. The parkland was originally rural farmland, complete with old farm roads paved with the original concrete from the 1920s, and some roads which were never paved after being platted in the 1870s. Much of the land was owned by the duPont family. A reservoir was planned for the land, but the land was eventually donated to the state as a park, preserving the rural landscape. This is actually not a rare example of rural land preserved in the middle of the Wilmington metro area; other duPont land has been preserved either by staying in private hands, or donated to the state for other state parks (such as Brandywine Creek State Park).

In the park is the Post Mark'd West post. This post was used by Mason & Dixon in their surveying of the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland. This post is exactly 15 miles due south of the Stargazer Stone, which itself is due west of the starting point for the surveying: the southernmost point of the city of Philadelphia at the time. From this Post Mark'd West, surveying continued due west to mark the north-south border between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Then the border was completed with the east-west border of the two states, called the Trans-Peninsular Line. (Delaware was a semi-autonomous portion of Pennsylvania until 1776.)

[xzmattzx]

Here's a few pictures from the town of Bridgeville, in Sussex County downstate.









On the north side of Bridgeville is this grain elevator for chicken feed. It sticks out across the open fields and can be seen from nearby US Route 13. I think this scene of the grain elevator standing over open fields is the closest you'll get Delaware looking like Indiana or somewhere out Midwest.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Since there are a few other ongoing threads in here, I thought one place to put my random pictures from around Delaware would be appropriate. I only want to do this for a year, so this will only be pictures taken in 2026.

We will actually start at my house, where I will show off the Christmas lights that I have wrapped around my palm tree, before I took them down last week. Yes, I have a palm tree at my house. I also have a banana plant. The palm tree is a windmill palm, and I planted it in 2019. I bought it at a gardening store here in Delaware, so I knew it was meant to grow here. I leave it untouched during the winter. The banana plant dies after the first frost, usually in November, but the bulb stays alive. I don't trim the dead stuff on the banana plant until mid-spring, because the plant grows from the inside out, and I get an extra couple of feet of live growth by waiting. I bought the banana plant on the same day I got the palm tree.

I am impressed with the palm tree. There are a couple of palm trees in DC, including one outside of the Air & Space museum along Independence Ave.

[Murphy de la Sucre]

Delaware is always rare anywhere, even on friends is forgetaable

[xzmattzx]

One of the oldest brick houses in Sussex County is the Maston House. The house, northwest of Seaford, was built in 1727, with a 1733 addition. The vernacular is similar to that of Maryland's Eastern Shore from the same time period.

[xzmattzx]

North of Seaford, although now within Seaford city limits, is the Ross Mansion complex.


The Ross Mansion is an Italianate villa built by William Henry Harrison Ross in 1860. Ross served as Governor of Delaware from 1851 to 1855. The mansion is considered to be the pinnacle of antebellum farms and plantations in Delaware.



On the grounds of the mansion is a slave dwelling. It is one of up to two freestanding slave dwellings that are extant in Delaware (the other in Milford originally disputed as a dwelling). It was built in 1855 and housed 14 people in its 16' x 24' space.



Also on the grounds is the Honeymoon Cottage. The cottage was built in 1860 by Ross for his son, James Jefferson Ross, at the time of his marriage.



Across the street from the Ross Mansion is The Elms, the house that James Ross built for himself in 1882.

[xzmattzx]

Let's look around Seaford for a little bit.

[xzmattzx]

Located in Seaford and Laurel, this southwestern Delaware mini-chain (with just the two locations) called Smash N' Dash is popular with locals. They have interesting burgers and some pretty good ice cream.

This Seaford location has been open for a couple years, after the original location several miles down the highway in Laurel opened about 8 years ago.

[xzmattzx]

After the Epiphany, I took down my Christmas lights and put up my all-green lights that I bought for the Philadelphia Eagles playoff runs. I assembled them in an "E" this year. Unfortunately, I did not have them up that long, since the Eagles lost their first playoff game.

[xzmattzx]

Northern Delaware got that big snowstorm on Sunday, January 25. I shoveled out my place, and shoveled out some neighbors, and I still couldn't sit inside too much. So, living close to Kirkwood Highway (Delaware Route 2), I ventured out to see what a major road in the Wilmington metro area looked like when the state was shut down due to snow.

[xzmattzx]

The day after the storm, I took a quick visit to the old colonial creekside port town of Christiana. The "Christiana" name is more known for the Christiana Mall north of the little village.

[ColDayMan]

I didn't even know that it had a historic town. I thought it was just the tax-free mall LOL!

[xzmattzx]

Here's a sample of some duPont mansions and buildings. These are all within about a mile of each other.


Eleutherian Mills, now part of the Hagley Museum



Hagley House



Second DuPont Office



Applecross

[xzmattzx]

Delaware got another snowstorm this past Sunday the 22nd, into Monday. The storm was mainly off the coast, spinning around like a nor'easter, so the biggest bands of snow were as far east in the state as possible. Eastern Sussex County got up to 2 feet of snow, while I got maybe 6 inches of snow at my house.

I shoveled most of it Sunday night, and in the morning, there was barely any snow to shovel. By late morning, people were out on the roads (at least in suburban Wilmington). It was a big storm downstate, but was a dud up here. So, with no work but the ability to move around like any other day, I explored in southern New Castle County a little bit.


First, here's a little tour of the little colonial village of Odessa. It was a small shipping center on the Appoquinimink River.

[xzmattzx]

After walking around Odessa for a bit, I wanted to drive down Delaware Route 9 for a while, at least to Woodland Beach. Delaware Route 9 from New Castle to Kitts Hummock is probably the most scenic drive in our little state, with farmland, tidal creeks and rivers, stately old farmsteads and mansions, and Delaware Bay culture.


Fairview, built 1733



The Huguenot House, built 1735



Blackbird Creek



Reedy Island Rear Range Lighthouse, built 1910



At the lighthouse at the Taylors Bridge area, I had to stop and turn around, because some slow plow driver went off into a ditch. So much for more scenes from our main bayshore road.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

After walking around Odessa for a bit, I wanted to drive down Delaware Route 9 for a while, at least to Woodland Beach. Delaware Route 9 from New Castle to Kitts Hummock is probably the most scenic drive in our little state, with farmland, tidal creeks and rivers, stately old farmsteads and mansions, and Delaware Bay culture.


Fairview, built 1733



The Huguenot House, built 1735



Blackbird Creek



Reedy Island Rear Range Lighthouse, built 1910



At the lighthouse at the Taylors Bridge area, I had to stop and turn around, because some slow plow driver went off into a ditch. So much for more scenes from our main bayshore road.

Next time, tell the driver plowing means he needs to put on snow tires...

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

Next time, tell the driver plowing means he needs to put on snow tires...

The snow didn't really stick on the ground that much, and by that afternoon the temperatures were above freezing, so anything on roadways was just slush. You could tell this guy had almost gone in a gutter around where I took the picture, so I think he was checking his phone and just went off the road. As you can tell from the road, they didn't even need to plow anyway!

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

The snow didn't really stick on the ground that much, and by that afternoon the temperatures were above freezing, so anything on roadways was just slush. You could tell this guy had almost gone in a gutter around where I took the picture, so I think he was checking his phone and just went off the road. As you can tell from the road, they didn't even need to plow anyway!

Yep, kidding.

I've had two people ram into me where I could see them head down on their cellphones just before they hit...

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

Yep, kidding.

I've had two people ram into me where I could see them head down on their cellphones just before they hit...

Got it. Sarcasm doesn't translate well online, and snow tires actually are not common at all down here. I didn't even know snow tires existed until I was in college and an uncle of mine in Buffalo asked me around when we put our snow tires on our cars, and I thought he was trying to prank me.