This Family Has Vacationed in Lewes for a Century

The Davisson family—40 strong including friends—spent their annual summer vacation in Lewes in early August. But it wasn’t a typical getaway. It marked the 100th year that the Davissons have vacationed in the quaint bayside town. “I’ve spent every one—except one—of my 75 summers vacationing in Lewes,” says Pete Davisson of Wilmington, the family patriarch. (He skipped one year as a teen to go to the Jersey Shore with friends.) “It’s an important part of my life.” The tradition began when Davisson’s grandmother took one of his uncles to Lewes for a month in 1916. The uncle had returned from war and needed rest and relaxation. The family headed back the following summer, then bought a home on Lewes Beach in 1918. The rest is history. Says Davisson, “There’s not a better place to take a vacation than Lewes.” 

Pete Davisson’s grandmother, Mrs. A.H. Davisson (far right), purchased the house (center) on Vermont Avenue in 1918; some of the Davisson clan pose on Lewes Beach (far left.)