Delaware (the First State)

The great thing about this trip is that we really don't have a time schedule. We truly don't have to be anywhere at any particular time. With that said, the last minute decision to fly to Arizona for a week set us back a bit. Not a big issue but it is cold still being this far north. Before we leave this part of the county we definitely wanted to see Gettysburg and Hershey, PA home of Hershey's Chocolate. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. While in the Philadelphia area we were going to take a "road trip" to Atlantic City but based on time, we decided to blow that one off. Plus I've been there and quit frankly, "it sucks!" I paid it a visit maybe 10 years ago as part of a business trip during my Hewlett Packard days. I just remembered the casinos being average at best, and very smokey. The only redemming quality to Atlantic City is the fact that it is on the beach. I'm more of a Vegas man I guess.

As we see this great country of ours over roughly a years time span we've decided to touch all 48 states. Well, on our way to Gettysburg we took a minor southerly detour with the sole purpose of touching the rather smaller state of Delaware. We literally drove into Delaware, caught a glimpse of Willmington, Delaware's largest city, then headed back northwest. Before we leave Delaware though, and never mention it again in our blog, let me give it a little credit and say that in 1787 Delaware became the first of the original 13 states to ratify the United States Constitution. As we were departing Delaware I commented to Cindi that the state's northern border is the peculiar shape of an arc. Upon further investigation I discovered that the definition of the northern boundary of the state is in fact, "highly unusual." Most of the boundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania is defined by an arc extending 12 miles from the cupola of the courthouse in New Castle. It is referred to as the Twelve-Mile Circle. This is the only true-arc political boundary in the United States. How about that? You all are getting such interesting facts by reading the Hulsebus Family Dream blog.

After entering and exiting Delaware to keep our "48 goal" a possibility we journeyed westward through the southern part of Pennsylvania past the town of... well... "Intercourse" ...OOOKaayyy?! Just another interesting fact.