Delaware, while it sure has many flaws, it has its treasures too. After all it is nicknamed “The Small Wonder”. Nestled within nuclear chem plants, an absurd amount of shopping centers, overpopulated highways, and a violent stricken city exists an array of ancient trees, lush -almost tropical landscapes, an assortment of preserved native plants and what’s left of the country. Rolling green hillsides, tulip polars and great white beech trees, the pungent fragrance of a fertile land, and the evening symphony of crickets and cicadas (or perhaps the roar of the Atlantic) all make up a small fraction of the small wonder. Delaware is small but diverse. Someone from Wilmington (DE) and someone from Milford (DE) are usually of different breeds and may even have conflicting perspectives of the state itself. There’s city, country, ocean, suburbs, marsh and farmland all packed into 2,044 square miles. And while most of it isn’t necessarily a popular or pleasing aesthetic I did my best to capture the beauty of the place that was home for nearly 18 years. While I originally intended to do a Home Series on a planned visit in September, life took the reigns shifting our plans, leading me home earlier and unexpectedly due to the loss of a loved one. Hence, the reason I’ve been MIA. Below is a collection of photographs taken within preserved estates donated by DuPont family members.
Mt. Cuba Center
Did you know?
- The state of Delaware is smaller than the county (Gunnison) in Colorado where I now reside
- Delaware is home to tax free shopping (aka consumerism central)
- People are most often familiar with Delaware because of the film, Wayne’s World. Delawhere?!
- Not only was Delaware the first state to ratify the U.S. constitution but also the first state to sell peaches commercially (aka first to colonize and commercialize)
- Delaware folx have an accent and their own slang. For instance water is pronounced wooter and crayons are crowns (get it right)
- A hello is hard to come by and often met with what? (like what’d you say to me?)
The original people of Delaware are the Lenni Lenape and Nanticoke tribes. Why is this important? Because Christopher Columbus did not discover this country nor are Abe Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson the founding fathers. That kind of misinformation erases real history (aka the truth) and diminishes the people who were already established here. Natives are not extinct and neither should their history be. It is the responsibility of each one of us to know whose land we’re on and to familiarize ourselves with the history of the landscapes we find ourselves within. Native tribes were forcibly removed from their own land, corralled onto reservations, not recognized as U.S. citizens until 1924 and up until 1978 unable to practice their religious beliefs until given the right through the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. Not only was their land stolen from them but also their fluent language, their ceremonies, families and more. It is unjust to continue believing and spreading false narratives which only perpetuate further ignorance, violence, and erasure. Who were the first people where you live or adventure?
|Kiona at How Not To Travel Like A Basic Bitch, her authors on the series Traveling While Native, And Cali Wolf with Native Women Wilderness have me thinking a lot about this. Click their names to link to their media sites.|
The grounds at Winterthur Museum and Gardens
Below are follies found scattered within Winterthurs gardens;
“In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs. In the original use of the word, these buildings served no other purpose. 18th century English gardens and French landscape gardening often featured Roman temples, which symbolized classical virtues or ideals. Other 18th century garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, or ruined abbeys, to represent different continents or historical eras.”
So what do you think of lil ole’ Delaware? Have you (at least) heard of it or perhaps visited the first state by some chance? What’s a common response you receive when you tell someone where your from?
As always, thank you all for joining me here! And until next time…
Happy trails♥
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victoria lise 
Haha I love this! I grew up in Reading, PA and lived in Philly for a while so I’m very familiar with Delaware. My sister even went to school at UD! I used to occasionally drive down to Delaware to hike or to hang out at Rehoboth and I’ve definitely been guilty of going down there for tax free shopping as well.
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I’m so glad! You can relate then haha!! When I see a PA license plate in CO I get goofily excited and want to say hi. It’s so rare I see Delaware so I go for PA- it’s close enough. I lived in Kennett Square when I was real young and then moved to DE. I grew up going to Rehobeth as well and shopping tax free- gotta take advantage of the perks lol! Sounds like you’ve had the real DE experience. From PA to Kilimanjaro and all the places in between you’re making quite the map for yourself! So awesome!!
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Wow so well written my girl and the photos are capivating 💐🌲
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Awh thank you so much! By the way you’re the best part of DE!! Xoxo
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Stunning images. It looks like the perfect place to live!
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Thanks so much Jess! It’s not a bad place to live, beauty and goodness can be found everywhere, however I do love where I live now even more so! Hope you’re having a great start to the week!!
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WOW ARE YOU ENTERING THIS PIECE IN A MAGAZINE?!!! SO PROFESH!!! I JUST LOVED ALL THE LITTLE FACTOIDS AND I LOVE HOW IT EVOKES CURIOSITY TO WANT TO EXPLORE MORE ABOUT WHERE I GREW UP. THIS SHOULD BE IN THOSE BOOKS YOU PICK UP IN BARNES AND NOBLE IN THE TRAVEL SECTION!! I LOVE DELAWARE BECAUSE OF A BRUJA I KNOW THAT USED TO LIVE THERE 🙂 EVRYONE SHOULD HAVE SUCH A BRUJA IN EVERY STATE!!
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Wow you spoil me in acclaims and flatter my heart of hearts! I’m sooo glad you liked it Bruja! Thanks for helping me manifest all the good things coming!! I love that it piqued your interest to explore the places you called home! You’re amazing! Thank you thank you thank you!!! Xoxo big love, big magic xoxo
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My condolences on your loss Victoria. I hope happy memories will comfort you.
On another note … I didn’t know you were from Back East too! I have been to Winterthur a few times … it and Longwood Gardens were not too far from my previous home in South Jersey. I always had a year pass to Longwood.
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Thank you so very much, Denise. I appreciate your kind words and condolences.
Wow, so neat you are familiar with the exact areas! I was hoping to make it to Longwood this time around but it didn’t happen. What a beautiful place! Do you still visit the east on occasion?
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We moved to Ridgway in July 2015 and I have not been back. Just one of my sisters lives there (in the NJ Pine Barrens) but she has a bunch of cats (like several friends) and I am allergic to them. Thinking I’ll go back within a year, when my sister-in-law rents a shore house.
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Ohh ok, well a shore house sure sounds nice with no allergens too of course! I was allergic to cats through my childhood and it was on of the worst experiences, just miserable when around felines.
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Beautiful pictures! I grew up in NJ near DE and miss all that lush green!
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Thanks so much! Oh Yes that green is like nothing else!! One of my good friends lives in NJ, it is so similar to DE and all the parks/reserves are just abundant with beautiful vegetation though I still prefer living in CO. 🌲💛
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It’s very different for sure, and to be honest I’m still torn about which part of the country I like best, west or east! My husband and I move around a lot for his job and I think so far our favorite place might have been Bucks County, PA…so beautiful and historic!
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Oh wow so you’ve seen your fair share of the country! Bucks County is beautiful! Do you think you’ll make your way back there at some point? I actually prefer PA to DE there is more land, more diversity. Ideally I’d like to have a home back east and a home in CO -I love living in CO but I sure miss my close relatives and friends.
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Still have family in NJ and PA so going back is a real possibility. Yes, having a place there and here out west would be the best of both worlds for sure! Maybe if we win the lottery…LOL. Right now we’re thinking about where we want to end up after retirement, which is hard!
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I was born and raised in Delaware for 25 years. I still tell people it’s ‘the best state’ when I mention it. It really was a great place to grow up in (Hockessin as a kid, Newark & Wilmington as an adult & Rehoboth every summer all 25 years). When I encounter people from my homestate now, they always seem familiar and I don’t think it’s only the way we talk. thanks for the reminder – hope you get back there again and capture more images of historic Christiana, slower Delaware, and the new riverfront.
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Oh my goodness – a fellow Delawarean! It’s not everyday out west you run into someone else from or even remotely familiar with the first state. Many of times I’ve been asked “which state is that in” haha. My dad also grew up in Hockessin and he loved everything about it then but it has certainly grown a bit since. My mom grew up around Mt. Cuba primarily and we spent every weekend at Rehobeth as well at my great grandmothers house! I went to grade school in Wilmington and HS in Newark. And spent almost every afternoon of HS at the Wilmington riverfront as I was a rower. I actually photographed it last year when I was back but I do look forward to showcasing more of state on my next visit! Thanks so much for sharing your DE roots and history with me! So glad to cross paths with you here on the virtual world!!
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So green and beautiful 🙂
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It was so lush and alive. Thank you!
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