Salem County

Yesterday and today were a whirlwind overview of Delaware. Our more than gracious hosts for this overnight adventure were Nancy & Paul. They are long time friends or at least from January 13 (beginning of our ATW trip). Nancy & Paul gave us a great view of the greater Wilmington area and we enjoyed some great meals in the process (of course).

What a welcome we had as they hosted their Chavurah (a group of Jewish friends that get together to celebrate, learn or pray together) and Shabbat Services at their home on Friday night when we arrived. Their Chavurah has 300 members and a subset get together for Services a few times a month in different homes and have dinner and a beautiful evening together. We enjoyed every person there and learned so much about Delaware as well as the Jewish community. A great group of people from all over the country that have settled in the area. It was a spiritual night but also a warm welcome by many new friends that were open to share all they knew to help us understand the area.

The next day we met with a friend of Nancy & Pauls who is a real estate agent and we spent the morning with her (Pam) checking our various options as to types of housing and areas to consider. It was a great education.

We then went to lunch with Nancy & Paul and we walked the riverfront of Wilmington on the Christina River and saw the statues to Harriet Tubman & Thomas Garrett dedicated to their tireless efforts toward Freedom to all. We also looked at housing along the river. We then went to visit the Copeland Maritime Center Campus where the Kaalmar Nyckel (KN) calls home, where it docks when in town and where all the maintenance and training is done for the expert volunteers that keep it such a wonderful historic site. Nancy is on the Board and both of them volunteer to crew the ship many times per year and have been heavily involved for the past 12 years. Amazing exhibits for teaching children of all ages. We loved it (as I have been missing my sailing). I could explain more but it’s better to go to https://www.kalmarnyckel.org/ and learn the history and ongoing work to preserve history. That evening we went to a great dinner in Newark (pronounced New Ark), Delaware right down the street from the main campus of University of Delaware. Fun to be in this college town and to see the various areas we drove around to get there and back to their house, where we spent a late night chatting! The next day before we left we went to the JCC, where Nancy gave us a thorough tour of the entire facility (once again, as at the KN ship, Nancy got in to give us a tour because she is very connected at the JCC for many years).

Great couple of days in the area and gave us many things to consider as we look for a place to settle down. Delaware is a beautiful place to live so next time you are driving North or South on the East Coast ..... my suggestion is Don't Just Pass Thru!Read more