Saturday, August 7, 2010

Colonial on The Green

Jill's Journal: Dover is just like every other town we’ve found in Delaware: non-descript and bland at first glance, but containing a special hidden treasure if you’re willing to look hard enough.

Rob had an errand in the “big city” yesterday and the girls and I decided to tag along for the ride. Dover sounds like it should be a big city since it’s the capital of Delaware and has a massive Air Force base, plus a monstrously huge Nascar track. But it’s far from it. With a population hovering around 35,000, it’s actually the smallest U.S. capital in the 50 states.

There is, however, one thing to really like about the heart of Dover. It was founded in 1683 by William Penn, who laid out a gorgeous town square (technically three of them) called “The Green.” All the major legislative buildings remain right around one, with historic homes and museums around the others. I’m no architectural expert, but even I can tell a lot of thought went into the area and it all blends together seamlessly. It’s really beautiful. A number of Revolutionary War rallies and other patriotic events happened right there.

We leave Delaware today. Unlike in Virginia where there’s so much more we want to see, in Delaware we can honestly say we’re ready to go. We’ve seen what we wanted to see and are content with our time here. That’s a nice thing!

No comments: