December in Delaware (Or Close By)

I love the holidays. Everything about them. Yes, they can be stressful. But, there is also a lot of joy, a lot of light, a lot of music, a lot of laughter, and a lot of warmth.

This year, I set myself the goal of going to all of the major Christmas events in Delaware and the ones I loved outside of the state. It turned out to be quite a project. Every email I opened, everyone I talked to, every link I clicked turned me on to another celebration that I felt warranted inclusion.

Restaurant Review: Riverfront Market

Similar to DE.CO in the middle of town, the Riverfront Market is an old building that has been repurposed, just down on the riverfront. It, too, has vendors selling various types of food catering to the office crowd who work in that part of town. A woman I know who works on the riverfront has lunch there every day. When I asked why, she told me that the choices are plentiful, the prices reasonable, and it is convenient. What else could you want from a lunch spot?

The market is unprepossessing when you walk in. The lighting is on the dark side, and the vendors are simply lined along two sides of the building. Yet, the space is filled with tables and chairs in which you can hang out for as long as you like. Additional seating is upstairs, so I have never had to hunt too long for a table.

Restaurant Review: Dew Point Brewing Co.

You know that old adage about buying property that says the three most important aspects to consider before purchasing are location, location, location. The Hoffman Family, who own and run Dew Point Brewery, got that one exactly right.

It is difficult to imagine a better place to have a brewery than the old Garrett Snuff Mill. A gorgeous old brick building that still has the smoke stack in the middle of the yard and ivy growing up the sides. While the brewery itself is easy to find with your GPS, the tasting room is a bit of a hunt. It is around the back of the building and up a flight of stairs.

Delaware's Covered Bridges

I have written before about my love of covered bridges. I admit that I was not aware that northern Delaware had some covered bridges until I stumbled across one of the three one day while I was driving somewhere else.

A bit of research showed that only three "authentic" covered bridges exist in Delaware, all in New Castle county. While some covered bridges exist in Kent and Sussex counties, they are not deemed authentic. To be so, the bridge must be constructed with tresses, not other methods. Who knew?

Restaurant Review: Pizzadili Winery

Tucked away outside of Felton is a small vineyard with a great story. The first grapes were planted by two brothers who learned the wine making business from their father in Sardinia. How they got to this country and ended up outside of Dover and what they did once they were here is a fabulous story that you need to hear for yourself.

I was very lucky. I wandered in to the tasting room early one afternoon and joined some other people who left soon after I arrived. As a result, I was able to sit and try the wines while chatting with Angela who now owns the vineyard. She told me story after story about her father and her uncle. Each is better than the last.

The Millville Boardwalk

You would think that the Delaware beaches have enough entertainment complexes to keep all the locals and visitors... well, entertained. When I heard that yet another was being built inland from the beaches, I must admit to a great deal of skepticism. There seemed to be two problems to me: the first, who needs another mini golf course and the second, who is going to bother to drive three and half miles west of Bethany to find it?

Turns out, lots of people will and have. I was hanging out with my niece and nephew this past weekend and we decided to go check it out. Both kids are teenagers and both have seen great mini golf courses and great arcades. I expected them to be a bit bored by it all.

Again, I was wrong.

Restaurant Review: Mariachi Restaurant

Feeding a growing young man who is also a vegetarian can be a challenge. I spent the better part of an hour recently researching the cuisines that cater to this diet. There are several, but the one that resonated the most with the two teenagers I was feeding was Mexican.

I then shifted my research to Mexican restaurants at the beach. The one that kept coming up as the best was Mariachi. They take reservations and had one available for the three of us at the time we wanted. Done.

Restaurant Review: Bethany Blues

I need to start this review with full disclosure. I worked at Blues for five years and so I am, perhaps, a bit biased about how good the food and the service is. But, in my defense, I had some back up validation the other day.

I am spending the weekend at the beach with my niece and nephew, both of whom are teenagers and both of whom have eaten at Blues many times in the past. On the first night we were together, I told them I would take them anywhere they wanted to go for dinner. The instant and unanimous decision that I got was "Blues --for the mac and cheese."

Restaurant Review: Autumn Arch Beer Project

To begin at the beginning, this brewery is a pain in the neck to find. I had two different GPS systems send me on a wild goose chase until I figured out that the best way to find it was old school. Even that was a challenge.

Trust your GPS to get you to Pencader Drive. Once you are there, follow the numbers until you get to 810. You will know you are there because there is a big sign that says Delaware Auto Glass and a tiny little sign down by the road that says Autumn Arch. The brewery is in Suite C, right next door to the glass place. I am not going to tell you how many times I drove past it before I got there. Suffice it to say I was more than ready for a drink when I walked in the door.

I had come to the right place.

A Dozen of Delaware's Best Bakeries/Coffee Shops

"When life gives you lemons, trade them for coffee."

--Anonymous

I love coffee. I love the smell. I love the taste. The first thing I do in the morning is brew a cup so that my apartment fills up with that magic aroma.

Delaware's Other Memorials

Yesterday, I posted a piece about the War Memorials that are throughout Delaware. As I was doing my research, I discovered that there are other monuments that showcase just what an effect the state of Delaware has had on American History.

Here is a sample of what you can find as you begin to discover Delaware's place in the larger history of the United States.

Delaware's War Memorials

Delaware Memorial Bridge

Happy Memorial Day. In honor of this day, I scoured the length and breadth of Delaware looking for all the war memorials I could find. Here they are in order of the wars they memorialize. I am sure that I missed some, so please comment below and tell me where they are so I can make this list complete.

Restaurant Review: DE.CO

DE.CO is a fantastic idea. Take space in the old DuPont building and turn it into a food hall. When I first heard about it, I thought it was going to be a bit like the food court in the mall. It is not.

For one thing, the space is really well imagined. The vendors are arranged around a central space with tables both large and small. There is plenty of distance between the tables and the sound level is kept to a minimum due to the lower ceilings. For a place that has people coming in and out all the time, it is scrupulously clean. There are also some tables outside.

Restaurant Review: Le Cavalier

The Green Room at the Hotel DuPont was a special place. It was old school; it was beautiful; it had an air of ceremony and pomp. It was the perfect place to celebrate truly important events like graduations, divorces, and birthdays. Their Sunday brunch was the best around.

A few years ago, I heard that the Hotel had decided to close the Green Room and revamp the space. Oh no! Change is hard enough; I was afraid this was going to be a step too far.

The Empire State Building

The model in the lobby.

When I was a little girl, the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world. Never too young for a bucket list, I always wanted to travel to New York and stand on the top of it. Alas, it never happened and I still have not stood at the top of the tallest building in the world.

I lived in New York for over a decade and, believe it or not, never made it to the top. I needed to check that item off my bucket list and I can now say that I have been to the top of the Empire State Building. It was everything that little girl inside of me wanted it to be.

Restaurant Review: Klondike Kate's

Klondike Kate's has been a part of Newark's Main Street since the late 1970s. It has been a part of my life just as long.

Newark historians have determined that an inn called Three Hearts Tavern stood on this same spot in 1738. As it was approximately halfway between Philadelphia and Baltimore, it was in an excellent location. Some form of inn stood here until 1880 when the original building was demolished and the three floor structure that still stands today was built.

The building was used for a variety of uses, including a garage for those new fangled horseless carriages, until 1977 when it was sold and turned into Klondike Kate's.

Restaurant Review: Ciro Food and Wine

"As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans."

-- Quote by Ernest Hemingway that is painted on the wall as you walk into Ciro Food and Wine

Mother's Day was coming and I was looking for ideas. Both my mom's love good food and good wine, so I settled on taking them to a new restaurant to celebrate the event. Our friends Larry and Steve had told us about a new restaurant down on the Wilmington Riverfront that they had loved. We decided to give it a try and see what happened.

The three of unanimously agreed that it is the best restaurant in Wilmington right now.

Port Penn State Park/Town of Port Penn

For such a tiny town in such a tiny state, Port Penn has an enormous amount of history. As I explored the area, I was surprised by how rich this town's past is. Even better, the town is doing everything it can to preserve it.

The Dutch had a settlement here as far back as 1640. They managed to hold onto it even after the English took over the Dutch colonies. In 1682, William Penn stopped here for some water and the settlers were so honored that they named their settlement Port Penn.

By the 1760s, the town had been taken over by David Stewart who decided he was going to build a port city to rival Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the railway bypassed the town as did the subsequent canal. By the 1830s, this town had become a farm community as well as a fishing village.

Over the years, the inhabitants survived by living off the land, hunting, fishing, and trapping. It wasn't until the 1960s that the people who live here started looking outside the town for jobs. Now, it is a community that prides itself on its past and will proudly show you why.

Restaurant Review: Columbus Inn

"First we eat, then we do everything else."

--M.F.K. Fisher 

The Columbus Inn is a storied part of my history. Way back in the day, when my grandmother was just a lass, she and her sister (my indomitable Aunt Martha) would be sent there by their mother to drag their father off his barstool and home to his family.

Fast forward nearly a century. My husband and I were in the process of breaking up and he was trying to convince me that it was a bad idea. He brought me here for my birthday dinner. It would end up being the last meal we ever ate together.

Restaurant Review: Thompson Island Brewing Company

"[S]imple food can translate to beautiful simple beers."

-- Matt Patton, SoDel Concepts Director of Operations

The New York International Beer Competition is a big deal. Brewers from fourteen countries submit over 800 different beers in over thirty categories. Many of these brewers have been around for a long time and know what they're doing.

Imagine the cheek of a brewery that is a year old entering such a competition. Now, imagine that brewery not only winning three silver medals, but being named Delaware Brewery of the Year. That is exactly what happened in 2021 with Thompson Island Brewing Company. I had to go check this out.

Delaware Botanic Gardens

"All gardening is landscape painting."

-- William Kent

With quite a few public gardens located in and around northern Delaware, you might think that another Botanic Garden in the southern part of the state is unnecessary. I did. I was wrong.

Restaurant Review: Bardea Food and Drink

He profits most who serves best.

-- Arthur Sheldon

Normally, I would have been extremely impressed when I walked into Bardea. But, I was so nonplussed, that it took me several minutes to recover before I could enjoy where I was. More on that below.

Delaware Discoveries Trail

A detail from the Children's Museum.

"To my mind a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them."

-- Pierre-Auguste Renoir

The Delaware Tourism Office is always trying to find different ways to encourage people both local and not to explore the state. Some of their ideas are excellent. Case in point is the Delaware Discoveries Trail.

Developed in the fall of 2020 when the country and the state needed some color and some fresh air, the DTO commissioned artists to paint something that would be displayed outside from the top of the state to the bottom. I spent a day visiting them all and I am here to tell you that it is a success.

Restaurant Review: Irish Eyes Restaurant and Pub

It's hard to beat the location of this restaurant. Sitting right on the water, it is accessible by foot, by bike, by car, or by boat. It could be many things; it has chosen to be a bar with food that allows its customers to relax and enjoy sitting outside at the beach.

While it is not necessarily the choice I would make, it is hard to argue with the success this restaurant has enjoyed for over thirty years. It is down to earth and it is a fun place to hang out.

Restaurant Review: Beach Time Distilling

"The martini: the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet."

-- H.L. Mencken

I admire people with passion. It doesn't matter if whomever I am speaking with cares about the same things I do, but if they discuss it with passion I am always intrigued and willing to listen.

I was reminded of this when I visited Beach Time Distilling. While making or producing alcohol is not something that I foresee spending any amount of time on, the owner of BTD, Greg Christmas, is so passionate about what he does that I found myself entranced for the ninety minutes I spent with him.

Fort DuPont

"From 1942 through 1945, more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the United States and detained in camps in rural areas across the country."

-- Smithsonian Magazine

Who has not built a fort from sofa cushions and blankets? There is something so evocative about being "safe inside" that even the word fort conjures up images of warmth and security. While the reality is not always quite the same, there are fewer things I like better than exploring an old fort. Imagine my delight when I discovered that an old fort with a history sits about half an hour away from my house.

Restaurant Review: Iron Hill Brewery

"He was a wise man who invented beer."

--Plato
 

I went to Iron Hill Brewery on one of the first nice days of the year. I had been walking for most of the day and I wanted to sit in the sunshine and the warmth while I tried some of their famous beers. Things did not start out well.

Maryland's Covered Bridges

"We build too many walls and not enough bridges."

-- Isaac Newton

I have a recurring nightmare. I am standing at the top of a very tall bridge and I have to get down to the other side. As I have a crippling fear of heights and as we all know what bridges represent in dreams, it does not take Freud to understand what I am going through when I have this dream. I always wake up crying and sweating.

Why is it, then, that I simply love bridges? I love to drive across them; I love to walk across them. I love to listen to the water flow beneath them. I especially love covered bridges because they always seem to be the perfect combination of function and beauty.

Restaurant Review: Liquid Alchemy Beverages

"The heat of autumn is different from the heat of summer. One ripens apples, the other turns them to cider."

-- Jane Hirshfield

Cider. Just the name evokes hot summer days with a cold drink. Or, cold winter nights with a hot mug topped off with a cinnamon stick. Since I moved home from England, I have missed hard cider as it is not as easy to find on this side of the pond. Luckily, it turns out that just down the road from where I live, cider is being produced with delicious results.

Jeff and Terri, the owners of Liquid Alchemy Beverages (LAB) started this enterprise as a hobby. They began by making mead then expanded into cider. The menu changes frequently as they are constantly experimenting with flavors and seasonal fruits. From what I tasted, the experiments are more often than not successful.

Delaware's Independent Bookshops

“What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not foolin’ a soul.”
― Neil Gaiman

As I was surfing for something else the other day, I stumbled across a list of independent bookstores in my tiny state of Delaware. I was surprised at the sheer number of them, so I set myself the task of visiting the ones that appealed to me and seeing for myself what they had to offer. The individuality of each of them was fun to explore.