Issue 2
Trout in White Clay Creek and the cupola that rounded off Delaware
Celtic Weekend at the Ren Faire, fresh trout and a Friday hawk count at White Clay, Kirkwood Highway Satan, and why the top of Delaware is round.
Hot picks
This weekend's best bets around here.
Saturday's the big one. I'd do the Ren Faire's Celtic weekend in Townsend, or browse the antiques show on the Riverfront where the cheapest thing on the floor is the parking. Up in Rising Sun there's a free wine-and-shopping day with two bands.
Townsend · Sat Nov 7 and Sun Nov 8 · 10am-5pm · $25 adults, $10 ages 5-15, under 5 free
Celtic Weekend at the Delaware Renaissance Faire
Delafaire's second weekend is the Celtic one, out at Firebase Lloyd off Route 9 (park at 375 Saw Mill Branch Rd). There are five stages and an artisan market, plus archery and axe-throwing if you need to work something out. Parking's free but it's a hay field, so if it rains Friday, wear boots. Tickets are date-specific, and veterans, active duty and 65+ get in for $20. Bring cash too, since some vendors don't take cards. Delaware Renaissance Faire
Wilmington Riverfront · Fri Nov 6 and Sat Nov 7, 11am-6pm · Sun Nov 8, 11am-5pm · $29, $15 students, under 12 free
The Delaware Antiques Show at the Chase Center
More than 60 dealers set up at the Chase Center on the Riverfront (815 Justison St) for Winterthur's yearly antiques show. One ticket is good all three days and covers the lectures, and it gets you into Winterthur itself while the show's on. Saturday at 1pm a photographer and an interior designer talk about how photos shaped the way we remember old rooms. Parking is free and there's plenty of it, which on the Riverfront feels like the real antique. Winterthur
Rising Sun, MD · Sat Nov 7 · 11am-5pm · free admission, rain or shine
Rockin'-n-Shoppin' at Dove Valley Winery
Dove Valley Winery at 645 Harrington Rd is doing a free shopping day with local artisan vendors and food trucks. Besides the wine, there's beer from Elk River Brewing and Bayheads. Acoustics with an Edge plays 11 to 2 and Smokin' Guns takes 2 to 5. They'll have fire pits going, which is my whole personality in November. Leave the cooler and outside food at home, they don't allow it. Dove Valley Winery
Field guide
One useful guide to living around here.
White Clay Creek State Park, Newark. Park office 750 Thompson Station Rd; Carpenter Recreation Area off Route 896 (880 New London Rd)
White Clay Creek State Park in November - fresh trout and a Friday hawk count
Newark kids grow up in White Clay Creek and the rest of us find it by accident. It's over 3,600 acres along the creek north of Newark with more than 37 miles of trail. The whole watershed even has a federal Wild and Scenic designation.
November's a good month for it. DNREC stocked about 1,000 pounds of rainbow trout in late October, and Friday afternoon the park runs a Hawk Count that costs nothing beyond the $5 car fee (Delaware plates, through Nov 30).
The full guide has where to park and which trail to skip on weekdays. One heads up for Saturday: the Wilmington Trail Club's calendar lists a hunt closure Sat Nov 7, so check before you head out.
The scrap
The best stuff you missed in the area's social media world.
Kirkwood Highway has a philosopher now, and he's got a sign. Somebody also dug up the road's 1934 debut, and a Newark wrap shop owner's dad called in backup.
Kirkwood Highway · Reddit
"Saw Kirkwood Highway Satan the other day"
Kirkwood Highway Satan's sign is the most accurate traffic report New Castle County has ever gotten.
Reddit via u/Tonsilith_Salsa
Kirkwood Highway · X
"A stretch of road that would later be known as Kirkwood Highway. 1934."
A history account dug up Kirkwood Highway from 1934, back before anybody was in a rush.
X via @LtGenScott
Newark · TikTok
"Would it be my Dad if he didn't invite his friend over to also taste test my wrap 😭"
Every family has the dad who can't try anything new without calling his buddy over first.
TikTok via @mayacent
What's building
What's going up, getting paused, or getting fought over.
County Council voted to move $2.6 million out of the farmland preservation fund to cover an IRS payment and a couple of other bills. Down in Elkton, the Southfields sports complex shows up on two agendas this week.
New Castle County · ordinance passed 9-3 on Oct 27
Council moves $2.6 million out of the farmland preservation fund
New Castle County Council voted 9-3 on Oct 27 to take $2.6 million from the money set aside to preserve farmland. About $1.6 million pays an IRS rebate tied to bonds the county sold in 2021, and the other $1 million gets split between tree work and employee health care. The ordinance is posted with the Oct 27 council meeting files if you want to read it yourself. Oct 27 council files
Elkton, MD · Wed Nov 4, 6pm · Mon Nov 9, 6pm
Southfields comes up twice at Elkton town hall
The town commissioners take up a resolution Wednesday on the facilities fee for the Sideline Properties sports park, the regional sports complex planned at Southfields. Monday, the planning commission hears a request to put a hotel on Tract 9 of Southfields, along Route 213 (Augustine Herman Hwy), plus a concept site plan for the same tract. The plans call for ball fields and indoor pickleball courts, and the developer has said it's on track for fall 2027. Both meetings are open to the public, in person or on Zoom, and the call-in info is on the agendas.
Elkton agenda
Makers
Local makers nights and market tables worth hitting.
Two craft shows, one on each side of the state line. Goldey-Beacom fills up Saturday in Pike Creek, and the Singerly firehouse in Elkton takes Sunday, fudge included.
Pike Creek (Goldey-Beacom College) · Sat Nov 7 · 9am-3pm
Goldey-Beacom College Fall Craft Fair
The Goldey-Beacom alumni association runs a craft fair on campus at 4701 Limestone Rd, and the money goes to student scholarships. Vendor spots sold out back in July, so it should be packed. I'd go early and do my holiday shopping before the Limestone Road traffic wakes up. Check the listing before you go. Goldey-Beacom
Elkton, MD · Sun Nov 8 · opens 9am · free, donations welcome
Holiday Craft Show at Singerly Fire Company
The Singerly firehouse at 300 Newark Ave fills up with local crafters Sunday: woodwork, jewelry, crochet, tumblers, fudge, jams and honey. The Ladies Auxiliary is running the food. Doors open at 9am, it's free to get in, and they're collecting for the Fill the Boot drive at the door, so bring a few bucks for the boot.
Event listing
Deep cut
One local history leftover worth knowing.
New Castle Court House Museum, 211 Delaware St, New Castle
The cupola that rounded off Delaware - the New Castle Court House and the Twelve-Mile Circle
Look at a map and the top of Delaware is a near-perfect arc. The line with Maryland runs ruler straight, and then the top edge bends like somebody traced a dinner plate.
Somebody basically did. The arc is a circle with a 12-mile radius, and since around 1750 its center point has been the cupola on top of the New Castle Court House. That same circle is why Delaware owns the river almost all the way to the New Jersey shore, and why New Jersey lost a Supreme Court fight over a gas pier in 2008.
The full piece follows the center point from a waterfront dike up to the cupola, and it tells you how to get inside the building for free this week.
Season
What's in the air right now. Farm stands, orchards, peak harvest.
Mt. Cuba's open through Nov 22, then it shuts for winter, so go see the woods before they go bare. Woodside Farm Creamery is weekends-only now, and yes, ice cream in a jacket counts.
Hockessin · Wed-Sun, 10am-4pm, through Nov 22 · $20 adults, $10 ages 6-17, 5 and under free
Last weeks at Mt. Cuba Center
Mt. Cuba at 3120 Barley Mill Rd is open Wednesday to Sunday through Nov 22, then it closes for the season and won't reopen until April. There are almost 3 miles of trails, and November's when you can actually see the shape of the woods. If you want someone to point things out, the $5 Welcome Walks go at 11 and 2. Mt. Cuba Center
Hockessin area (Newark address) · Saturdays and Sundays · ice cream noon-7pm
Weekend ice cream at Woodside Farm Creamery
Woodside Farm at 378 North Star Rd has been a family farm since 1796, and the creamery's been scooping since 1998 with milk from their own Jersey cows. Now that Halloween's done, it's weekends only, right up until Dec 23. It's cold out, I know, but the line is way shorter. Woodside Farm Creamery
That's the week
See you on the Riverfront.
Drop your email. I'll show up Tuesday morning.