I actually was born in DC - moved here permanently after college (UD 94).
Eh…more or less what the other Delawareans have said.
The corporate thing mainly has to do with a complete lack of regulations for interest rates charged (which attracts the credit card companies) and the very friendly and very experienced court (of chancery I think) which has to do with lawsuits against corporations. The judges in that court have an in depth knowledge of corporate law and culpability, so businesses can get favorable or fair or whatever rulings when litigated against.
Hmmmm…let’s see:
Other famous DE people:
Ryan Phillippe
Judge Reinhold
Teri Polo
Sean Patrick Thomas grew up there
George Thorughgood if you like cheesy guitar blues
Elizabeth Shue
Dead Poets Society was filmed at a private school in DE…so was Fight club more or less.
It’s nice…you can be in Baltimore, Washington, Philly, NYC, Boston within a reasonable drive.
Also - someone should look up Punkin Chunkin. I’m just sayin.
Caeser Rodney on a horse. He was dying of cancer at home in Delaware but rode overnight on a horse through rain, sleet, snow, a heat wave, locusts and tidal waves to get to Philadelphia to cast the deciding vote for independance.
You learn something new every day. Now I can tell my friend at Wilmington Trust that I know where Rodney Square got its name.
But I also thought of something else you can do in Delaware. You can cash in lottery tickets anonymously. So I head down there to buy my tickets for the Powerball. If I do win $100 million I would like to keep it a secret.
See the musical 1776 (the DVD has restored the parts that were cut out before the film was even released). Caesar Rodney is a major character, and his ride for the vote is an event in the play.
No it’s not. The Delaware accent is actually pretty standard, except for the “o.” People tend to elongate them.
Delaware has 3 counties. All the time. Only New Castle county is worth visiting. Unless you like swamps, farmland, and lots of chickens.
Having lived in DE for the vast majority of my life, I’d say I’m pretty qualified.
There ARE a lot of chemical companies. DuPont (as mentioned), Astra Zeneca, etc. Delaware has the highest percentage of chemists per capita. I think it also has the most chickens per capita. At least it used to, I don’t have a cite. Both Purdue and Tyson have big farms in the southern part.
My favorite parts about living there were:
No sales tax. The price on the item is actually the price you pay!
Close to everywhere interesting. New York City is about 2.5-3 hours away, and the Baltimore/DC area is about the same. Philly is only about 30 minutes. (All times from Wilmington with a slightly heavy foot)
Least favorite things?
Having to explain that, yes, Delaware is a state.
Not being able to get away from ANYONE you know. You’re forever running into people there. No escape.
Interestingly, Delaware was the last state to execute a person by hanging . In the 90’s. By the prisoner’s request. Apparently, he thought he had a strong enough neck to withstand it for enough time that they’d have to let him go. Execution worked like a charm, though.
I’ve always looked at it as having two purposes: If I’m on my way to D.C., or Virginia, or someplace else south, then hitting Delaware means “I haven’t been driving that long”. If I’m heading back from one of those places, then it means “Woot! Almost home!”
One Delaware regret I’ll always have: Although I must’ve seen Kix at least fifty times at various NJ/NY/Philly clubs, I never saw them at Hammerjacks. Damn.
Anyone who has a Roth IRA can thank the former Senator from Delaware, William Roth, for championing these. If you were working in the early 80’s, you can also thank Roth for helping to lower your taxes through the Kemp-Roth tax cuts.
I like Delaware. It has some beautiful fruit trees. Can’t remember where exactly it was, but we drove through a beautiful orchard in DE - most likely on the peninsula. The MD part of the Delmarva peninsula is referred to as Eastern Shore, I don’t know what to call the Delaware part.
I love that movie but it did take liberties with history. Rodney was in a bad way (cancer) and he did ride eighty miles through a storm to beak the deadlock of the Delaware delegation but he wasn’t at death’s door, as the movie implied. He survived to 1784 and, being the brigadier general in charge of Delaware’s militia, led them in the field for a time until he was sent with McKean back to the Continental Congress in October 1777.
Thank you for the link, jayjay. Interesting how a tiny piece across the river is a part of Delaware. I wonder if anyone actually lives on that small patch.
nO, BUT AS pETER sTONE WROTE IN HIS EDITION OF THE PLAY, HE DID EFFECTIVELY CUT HIMSELF OFF FROM THE AID OF bRITISH DOCTORS, WHO WERE THE BEST AVAILABLE FOR THE COLONIES.
Ouch! Native Delawarean here, though have not lived there in over 30 years. My mother’s family is all from/lives in Delaware; I went to UD. Delaware’s eastern border actually extends to the NJ shoreline, surprisingly enough. Is Pea Patch Island that “piece” of Delaware in the middle of the river?! (It’s the site of a prison for Confederates.) My mother’s family mostly lives in New Castle county; my family lived in Milford for 4 years - that’s where I went to HS.
I have very fond memories of Delaware, esp. from childhood visits to my grandparents. I liked UD as a school and had some great and interesting profs there, even though I wasn’t in chem. engineering (LOL). There’s nothing wrong with the state; it’s quite beautiful both above and below the C&D canal. In fact, I’d love to retire to “slower” DE, but it’s gotten too expensive for me. Ah well. Just had to chime in to say that Delaware is fine by me.
I went to Ursuline for high school, and have two degrees from the UD (history/music for my BA and a post-doctorate certification in Museum Studies). I teach at the UD now.
I was away from Delaware for a long time, but I like being back.
tarragon918 – I remember being in Delaware one summer when I was little and playing on Pea Patch Island in and around the old prison; I worked for a little while for DNREC when I was getting my museum studies degree (before I went to work for the British Museum), and the island was part of our jurisdiction.
Ah well. Just had to chime in to say that Delaware is fine by me. 