Tue 9/5 to Sun 9/10/17 - Bluegrass, Rallies and more Rallies, Our Trip South

It was an easy trip to get to Delaware from New Jersey, but we took it easy on Tuesday and did a bit of shopping. We had to go back into Camden to find a grocery store and Tractor Supply. We did see some wildlife on our travels today ... at Tractor Supply … but who does not love little chicks!

We also took a tour of the Delaware State Fairgrounds to try and figure out where the rally will be. It is a good sized fairgrounds with a full service Ice Skating Rink and a Casino. The Harrington Raceway and Casino. This venue sports a racetrack, table games, live music, slot machines, restaurants, dancing, and more! 

We enjoyed a late afternoon campfire. We started it with our homemade fire starters and wood we found around other campsites, as we are the only ones in this loop and A loop right next to us! Wednesday was a rainy inside day, we never even got out of our pajamas … sometimes you really need a relaxing day like that!

Thursday, found out that the Delaware Good Sam Rally had been cancelled in mid-August. No wonder we never saw any RVs at the fairgrounds! The only way we found out it was cancelled, was we asked a worker on the grounds! Since we had nowhere to go on Friday night, we extended our stay at Killens Pond until Sunday.

It became, Tourist Thursday and we made a trip to Dover Downs for the $7 Tour. Our tour started with a bus ride with the track historian, George Keller. We learned a bit about George and his obsession with this track! Ever since Richard Petty won Dover’s first race, the “Mason-Dixon 300” on July 6, 1969, George has been a mainstay at the track. He’s never missed a race at the Monster Mile. He also can recreate all of the Speedway’s most memorable moments through the almost 50 years of racing action. The stories he told us as we took our tour, gave us a glimpse into what the early days at the track were like and how they have changed through the years!

I am not a NASCAR fan, but thought the tour would be interesting and at seven bucks a head, it was cheaper than a movie and much more entertaining! The one-mile, high banked oval hosts two NASCAR tripleheader weekends each year, featuring all three national touring series – the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – as well as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, one of the sport’s top developmental series.

Our tour began with a stop at the Monster Bridge, also known as the most exciting seats in sports. This mostly glass bridge is over the track, just before turn one. These seats are “purchased” for an allotted time period during the race or given to awesome sponsors like AAA.

The view is spectacular! Charlie even got to unlock this area for us!

He took us to the high end RV camping area, $1,900 for the weekend, but you get a picnic table fire ring and a mail box! We saw the grassy RV parking area, $700 for the weekend! They are on the way to the Smithfield Monster Monument in Victory Plaza. We learned that the Monster was erected in one day. Yes, the Smithfield car is real, it is just missing the engine.

To say we had an up-close view of the track is an understatement … we raced around the track in a mini-bus! George even pulled us into a pit stop and stayed, just as long as the race cars do … we barely stopped, before he took off again! Naturally, we were not going as fast as a NASCAR … but it was pretty intense!

We stopped at Victory Lane, where you can see George at every race! For a die-hard NASCAR fan, that must be an awesome place to be every year!

The garages are the original garages, but still very serviceable … just not real fancy! It was surprising to see considering how much renovation and how modern many of the other parts of the track are.

We ended the tour at the Infield Media Center where hundreds of media partners are, from all over the world, during the race.

On Friday, we had to move over two sites, because our site was taken for the weekend when we extended our reservation. We toured more of the park today, including the water park which is closed for the season. It is amazing that a state park has such an awesome feature for its residents to enjoy!

Killens Pond State Park is located just north of the quaint town of Harrington!  Harrington is a small town that boasts an assortment of different things to do and places to eat! It is known as the "hub" of Delaware because it was! In 1780, Benjamin Clark built a home and tavern on a corner. The tavern became a stop for stagecoaches; farmers came to exchange news and barter their goods. It was a logical place for a railroad stop when the Delaware Railroad put a junction there in 1856, allowing easy access to Philadelphia and Wilmington. The following year, a post office was established and in 1862. In 1869, the City of Harrington was incorporated. Fourteen years later, the Harrington Library was chartered and the first town newspaper “The Harrington Enterprise” was formed. By 1900 there were 4 canning factories in town to process farm products and clothing manufacturers had discovered Harrington. By the mid 1930’s there were a dozen small manufacturers turning out shirts, pants, dresses and underwear for major clothing suppliers around the country. Textile mills in the south and New England shipped pre-cut cloth to Harrington where it was assembled into shirts and pants and then sent by rail to major brand name companies. 

Killens Pond was created in the late 1700s when the Murderkill River was dammed to form a mill pond. The mill pond provided power for a grist mill used by local farmers. Speaking of farmers, on the road to the State Park there was a farmer's field. It had a very interesting plant. It looked like short corn with a funny head on top. Turns out it is Sorghum. Sorghum has been around for thousands of years and over this time period it has evolved from a crop with a single purpose to a multi-faceted grain famous for its gluten-free attributes and future in the ethanol world. Sorghum was introduced to America in 1757. Sorghum ranks fifth among the most important cereal crops of the world, after wheat, rice, corn, and barley in both total area planted and production. Sorghum grain is higher in protein and lower in fat content than corn, but does not contain carotene as corn does. In the U.S. there are three main types of sorghum—grain, forage and sweet. Grain sorghum grows to about 5 feet and is used for livestock feed, bio-fuels, pet food and human consumption. Forage sorghum grows 6 to 12 feet tall and produces more dry matter tonnage than grain sorghum. Because of its coarse stem, it’s primarily used for silage. Sweet sorghum is harvested for its juice before the mature plant forms clusters of grain. The stalks are pressed, and the juice is fermented and distilled for the production of biofuels. I would say that we saw grain sorghum. Grain sorghum is grown in over 66 countries, and the US is the largest producer in the world. 

Nearly all ponds in Delaware were formed this way as almost all ponds in Delaware are man-made. There is a trail that follows the outline of the pond. Our campsite loop was near stop 9 on the trail. This overlook shows some of what thrives in this pond. This pond has a good mix of game fish such as large-mouth bass, crappie and white perch. It is also rich in vegetation. Spatterdock, a large plant common to lakes and ponds, is present along most of the shore line of this pond. When blue-green algae blooms occur they may periodically give the pond a green appearance.

At stop 10 on the trail, offers more history. Prior to the 1700s, when the Murderkill River was dammed to create Killens Pond, the river and surrounding hardwood forest was the site of several Native American homes and hunting camps. In the 1960s, the State of Delaware purchased the land and in 1965, Killens Pond became the first state park in Kent County. The park’s 1,400-plus acres offer diverse recreational and educational opportunities.

Between these two stops on the trail is the Nature Center. It houses interactive displays and even a few exhibits of live reptiles and amphibians. I am really glad they were behind glass!

Stop 1 has the history of the pond. Stop 2 is at an overlook for Beaver chews. Beavers chew trees for food, to keep their teeth sharp and to build lodges and dams. Although beavers may be a nuisance to some, their dams help create wetlands. The many beaver chews in this spot show how industrious these mammals are. A beaver can chew through a small tree in as few as fifteen minutes.

Stop 3 is at a stand of Tulip Poplars. Although, it is not actually a poplar tree, but a member of the magnolia family. Its name comes from the tulip shaped flower it produces. Native Americans favored the tulip poplar because its straight trunk was perfect for fashioning canoes. The tulip poplar is one of the largest trees native to the eastern US.

Stop 4 offers a bridge over the Murderkill River. One local story attributes the river’s name to the Dutch word for “mother” (moeder) and “creek” (kil). Legend tells us that the river got its name when an expedition of Dutchmen were murdered by a group of Native  Americans. The Murderkill flows through Killens Pond on to Courseys Pond and eventually into the Delaware Bay. Stop 5 is the location of the first foot bridge. The ground seeps are driven by ground water and generally stay wet year-round giving them the ability to maintain temperatures. Because of this, ground seep often support unique plant communities and provide habitat for insects and amphibians. Stop 6 is the fourth foot bridge over a tributary. Small streams called tributaries, fed from surface water run-off and ground water, often converge to form larger streams and rivers. Here you can see one of several seeps that converge together to create a small stream which flows into Killens Pond and the Murderkill River. Ultimately, this water flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Stop 7 is dedicated to the Native Americans that once roamed this land. Archaeological evidence shows that this area was often occupied by Native Americans for extended periods of time. The upper part of the slope provides a clear view of the Murderkill River and the land surrounding it, making it a good vantage point for a hunting camp. This area was also rich in food, water and other raw materials to support settlements.

Stop 8 is full of American Beech Trees. This particular tree is identified by its smooth, silvery bark. Unfortunately, the smoothness of the bark entices people to leave carvings in it, not realizing that by doing so they are letting bacteria and insects inside the bark. Tree carvings can lead to infection and can ultimately kill the tree. That brings us back around to where out campsite is, camping loop B.

We watched the squirrels eat their dinner on our picnic table at our dinner time.

Over the weekend we continued to watch the path of hurricane Irma, as so many residents and snowbirds from Florida did.