Delaware - Day 7 - Wilmington

Lums Pond State Campground
Monday, 7 January 2018

Pretty gorgeous sunrise this morning - and this wasn't even the best of it.  When I tried to take a photo about 15 minutes before, I found the camera battery was out and had to take time to recharge it.  Fortunately, some of the glory stuck around for me to photograph.

today's route

I had lots of plans for today but ended up with a mixed bag.

Ebright Azimuth
As you can see by the map, I went almost as far north as you can get and still be in Delaware.  That's where Delaware's highest point is.  All 448' of it.

I saw at the website that the geological people have learned that there are actually a few areas nearby that are a bit over 450'.  (Wow.)  And when you consider that the lowest point in Delaware is sea level, at the coastline, you can see that there aren't exactly any hills here.   You have to go nearly into another state (PA) to get even the minimal height at this spot.

Getting here was a bit of a challenge because I got stuck in a massive traffic jam.  It took me a half hour to go about 2 miles.  And when I got to the source, I found nothing more than a broken down service van being loaded onto a tow truck.  I have no idea why these folks thought that sight was worth stopping for - certainly no drama.  (Thank goodness.)

I drove past the campus of Widener University, which I'm not familiar with so I looked them up.  It started as a Delaware school and still has a Wilmington campus, but they've moved the majority of the school to Pennsylvania.  Given that move, it seems odd that this is the location for the Delaware Law School.  In general it looks as if the university emphasizes STEM areas.

I heard on the radio that one of Widener's PA campuses is fighting with the local city government, which has decided to put up parking meters all over town, including the college campus.  The meters charge $2/hour, which is pretty outrageous on a college campus.  Apparently the U isn't exaggerating the situation: the city is putting in 1500 meters, with 1200 of them on the campus.  (I'm sure they weren't targeting the students, though.)  The school is considering a lawsuit alleging the city trespassed by installing the meters on the campus.  I'm sorry I won't be around long enough to hear how this comes out.

I passed an OshKosh b'gosh® store - I haven't heard of this brand for many years and have never seen a whole store for them.  The nostalgic part of me is glad they're still in business.

Howard High School
I wanted to come by this school because of its history: it's been designated a National Historic Site because it was part of the Brown v. Board of Education lawsuit.  The US Supreme Court consolidated similar cases from around the country when they considered Brown, including this one.  The Howard High School case involved black students who lived in Claymont, north of Wilmington, but were forced to ride a school bus an hour each way to attend Howard instead of the Claymont high school.  Not surprisingly, the separate facilities were not equal.

Once the Supreme Court ruled, the Delaware Attorney General decided the ruling meant all schools in the state should be desegregated, not just those that were party to the lawsuit, and enforced that.  He was the only state AG who did that.

So I found the school, but it's in an old part of town and the streets are exceedingly narrow and adjacent tree branches haven't been trimmed and people park on both sides of these narrow streets, making maneuvering my RV perilous.  And even if it wasn't, the school, which is a technical school now, seems very popular and there were zero places even to stop, let alone park.  And I'd have had to park so I could scout for the historical marker which wasn't exactly in plain view.

Anyone who wants to visit this place would need to drive a small car and park several blocks away.  But the next sites were less than 10 blocks away, so the parking problem could be solved by combining the visits.

Old Swedes Church
The church was built in 1698 by the Swedish settlers in the area.  It's still in use and has a pipe organ with 913 pipes.  Unfortunately, it's closed in January and February so I could only see the outside.

Old Swedes Church

Hendrickson House

Hendrickson House, built in 1690, is immediately next door to the churchyard, and is now used as a museum.  Unfortunately (again) it keeps spotty hours in the winter.

Ft. Christina and Kalmar Nyckel

These two places almost back up to the church, but I again ran up against an access problem.  The fort was built in 1638 as the first Swedish settlement in North America, and I figured at least the grounds would be open because I've visited so many forts on this trip that were open all year.  I found the gate using the online address, but it was shut tight with a sign saying something about opening in the spring.  Anyway, this is some information I found about it online.  www.newnetherlandinstitute.org  

Kalmar Nyckel reproduction

The Swedes came here in 1638 on a Dutch-built ship called the Kalmar Nyckel.  kalmarnyckel.  Today's ship, which can be visited at warmer times of the year, is a reproduction but still looks distinguished.  I saw it from across the street, noticeable with its unusual sail configuration.   kalmarnyckel p=25 

There's a museum there that claims to be open in the winter, but only in the afternoon.  I'd expected to be there in the afternoon, figuring I'd have been able to spend time in the morning at the fort and other places.  Sadly, even though the dogs and I dawdled over lunch and a walk, I still faced another hour's wait before it opened.  I was too tired to do that - waiting and only then taking a tour - and still face the best part of an hour driving back to the campground, so I left, thinking I might be able to try again later in the month.