New Sweden in Wilmington, Delaware

Thursday, November 12, 2009 47F - It was 67F two days ago!

Now we are leaving Lancaster to discover the New Sweden Colony in Wilmington, Delaware. On March 26, 1638, the first Swedes landed in North America to establish a colony near the Christina River - a tributary of the Delaware River. Southern New Jersey was also part of the New Sweden Colony. This is when the log cabin idea was brought here from Sweden. The Dutch had previously claimed the area and had a fort nearby. In 1655 the Swedes surrendered to a Dutch army. Nothing remains of the original fort but there is a State Park on the original site commemorating the colony called Fort Christina State Park near Christina River. We found the park with walls of brick and iron gates but is was locked. There was supposed to be a Carl Milles monument and I could see a hint of it at the back of it. It was dedicated in the presence of President Franklin Roosevelt, Crown Prince Gustav Adolf, Crown Princess Louise, and Prince Bertil.

Nearby was Kalmar Nyckel Shipyard where a replica of the ship Kalmar Nyckel was built in 1997. The original ship brought the colonists from Sweden. We found the shipyard. It was raining and the ground was full off puddles. It was painted blue and gold and it had decorative wood carvings.

Our next stop was the Holy Trinity (Old Swedes)Church built in 1698. It is the oldest original church in the US that is still used. It was still raining and Jalil chose to wait in the car. I walked around and was able to enter the cemetery which is 60 years older than the church. It was a burial ground for the early settlers of Fort Christina. Most identifiable grave stones had English names but many could not be read. I did not see a soul in any of these places and the surrounding area was quite run down.

We did not stop anywhere else in Wilmington but headed south towards Washington, DC. It was still raining. A big storm - Ida - was expected on the East Coast and there were storm warnings and risk for flooding so we decided to hide in Washington until things calmed down.

On the way we stopped at a Waffle House - a chain that is common in the South but this was the first time we saw it. They actually had lots of different types of food, not only waffles. I had the Manager's Special - Texas bacon, eggs, cheese and hashbrowns with mushrooms. It arrived as a sandwich on white bread. And tea with real lemon. Jalil had cheese steak with processed cheese. Not the healthiest meal!
The waitress was young - very vivatious and cheerful. She found out that we were from San Francisco and she started singing a song about SF - forgot which one - but it was so sweet. She had a goal to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC. All the while she was working, washing dishes and serving customers. She was delightful.

We stayed at the Courtyard by Mariott in Arlington across the Potomac River so that we could take the subway to DC - a very efficient system.