September 3-10, 2019

Martinak State Park

Denton, MD

 After entering into Maryland we made our way to Martinak State Park.  It wasn’t an issue that we did not have reservations because when we arrived there was only one other camper in the loop. 

The park has a self-reservation system where there is a list of available sites on a list at the kiosk at the entrance to the loop.

One of the places we explored during our stay at Martinak State Park was to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park and nearby Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.

The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad NHP is a 480-acre National Park Service unit. 

It commemorates the life of former slave Harriet Tubman, who became an activist in the Underground Railroad prior to the Civil War.

While at the Visitor Center we watched a short film about Tubman before entering the museum space that includes exhibits.

Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and then bravely made 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.

 

 

When the Civil War began, Tubman worked for the Union Army as a spy. 

 

 She guided the raid at Combahee Ferry, which liberated more than 700 slaves and she was active in the women’s suffrage movement.

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1933, consists of over 28,000 acres of freshwater, tidal wetlands, open fields and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests.

The name comes from the tea-colored waters of the local rivers which are darkened by the tannin that is picked up as the water drains through peat soil in the marshes.

The Visitor Center has exhibits specific to the refuge and a bookstore and gift shop.

During the winter migration, the refuge is home to upwards of 35,000 geese and 15,000 ducks in addition to falcon and bald eagles but the only wildlife we observed along the wildlife drive was birds and squirrels. 

 

 

One day we drove over to Tuckahoe State Park, the sister park to Martinak where we visited the aviary, home to the beautiful birds for their Scales and Tales program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scales and Tales is a program that gives people the opportunity to see life wildlife, mostly native to Maryland, up close and person.

Our final excursion of the week was to First State Heritage Park in Dover, Delaware.

The urban “park without boundaries” links historic and cultural sites in Dover, the city that has been the seat of state government since 1777.

 

Delaware is known by the nickname “the First State”, due to the fact that on December 7, 1787, it became the first of the 13 original states to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

One of the sites we visited was The Governor’s House, the official residence of the Governor of Delaware. 

 

 

At the nearby Johnson Victrola Museum there are exhibits that highlight the life and achievements of Eldridge Reeves Johnson, founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company and a pioneer in the development of the sound-recording industry.

 

 

 

 

At the Old State House we sat in on a lecture by an archaeologist discussing his research on the Lenape culture.  The Lenape are an indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands.

Our favorite part of the visit to Dover began at the John Bell House when we were treated to a private walking tour of the square by a delightful young woman dressed in period costume who entertained us with tales of local lore including a murder mystery.