7 Things Delawareans Often Take for Granted

Sometimes we overlook what makes our state so great.

The First State is small, but packed with places, activities and quirks we often forget to fully appreciate.

 

1. Being home to the best (in our opinion) craft beer

Craft breweries abound in Delaware—and, to our delight, seem to continue popping up everywhere we turn. The Daily Meal named Dogfish Head Brewery the nation’s best craft brewery last spring, which Sam Calagione started in Milton in 1995. (After seven consecutive nominations, Calagione finally took home a James Beard award in 2017.)

 

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2. Close proximity to so many beautiful beaches

What a luxury that the ocean is right at our fingertips! New Castle County residents are less than a two-hour drive from the beach. Kent County residents can get there in less than an hour.

 

3. Fun activities and festivals aplenty 

No matter what your interests are, there’s always something exciting happening here. Have you experienced Point-to-Point at Winterthur, or the Delaware Shakespeare Festival in Wilmington? How about the May Strawberry Festival in Camden Wyoming, the October Apple Scrapple festival in Bridgeville, or the fall Delaware Wine and Beer Festival in Kent County? The Delaware State Fair in Harrington each summer is a can’t-miss event, where this year (July 20–29) you can see famous bands and musicians like Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker perform.

 

4. The unique history of our license plates

Many Delawareans don’t realize that the state’s unusual vehicle registration rules make vintage black-and-white tags outlandishly valuable. Often transferred from generation to generation, low-digit tags can sell to collectors for hundreds of thousands. Plate 14 went for $325,000 last year. The state changed the colors to gold on blue in 1958, but vehicle owners are still allowed to display original or authorized replicas of the black-and-white porcelain enamel plates.

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5. Our own Monster Mash

Not only are we lucky enough to have NASCAR—the world’s top stock car racing circuit—visit our state, but Dover International Speedway is one of a handful of tracks that hosts two race weekends each year. This weekend (June 2–4) the “Monster Mile” will host a triple-header: a truck race on Friday, an Xfinity Series race on Saturday, and the AAA 400 Drive for Autism Monster Energy Cup series race on Sunday. However, the Monster Energy race on Oct. 1 will mark the fourth straight year that the track will host the first elimination race in the circuit’s equivalent of the playoffs. At the end of this one, four of the 16 drivers will say goodbye to their championship hopes. For them, it will be over at Dover.

 

6. The abundance of super-fresh seafood

Because of our proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the bays, we’re spoiled rotten with some of the best crabs, oysters and sea bass in the country.

 

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7. Living among rich history

Many of us fail to fully appreciate all the history our First State holds. George Read lived in New Castle when he signed the Declaration of Independence; Caesar Rodney signed it while living in Kent County. William Penn arrived to New Castle by boat in 1682, where he later went on to become governor.

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