Outrageously Scenic Byways in Delaware: Route 9 Coastal Heritage Scenic Byway

Even if it wasn’t one of the most historic drives in Delaware; and even if it wasn’t one of the most scenic byways on the east coast; Delaware’s Route 9 Coastal Heritage Scenic Byway would still be one of the most important 52-mile tracts in America! That’s because every square foot of it is located in the legendary Atlantic Flyway that hosts millions of migrating birds and tens of thousands of birdwatchers every year.

For all intents and purposes, Route 9 begins in historic New Castle about 10 minutes south of Wilmington. “Old New Castle” is so historic for so many reasons that John D. Rockefeller seriously considered it as an alternative to what we now know as Colonial Williamsburg when he began buying up properties to create an “authentic” early American experience. The problem was, New Castle was and is a thriving community of real people who wanted to keep it that way!. The New Castle National Historical District -- one of five national historic districts that Route 9 traverses -- houses more than twenty structures on the national register including the National Landmark New Castle Court House and the majestic Read House & Gardens on “The Strand” overlooking the Delaware River.

The Delaware City National Historic District is just a few minutes south of New Castle at the confluence of the original terminus of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal and the Delaware River. It’s a wonderful little waterfront town and you should definitely stop in at Crabby Dick’s restaurant across from Battery Park. And if time permits, be sure to treat the kids to a ferry ride from the dock at Battery Park out to historic Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island in the middle of Delaware River.

The National Historic District of Port Penn is a few minutes further south at the current eastern entrance to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, the third busiest canal in the world. Port Penn is also the jumping off point to the largest coastal marshland on the east coast that includes the Augustine, Cedar Swamp, Woodland Beach, and Little Creek Wildlife Areas as well as the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. They we’re all made possible or sustained by the revolutionary Coastal Zone Act enacted by the Delaware Legislature under the enlightened leadership of Governor Russell Peterson in 1971, that the New York Times described as “miraculous” and “something the rest of the 49 states should emulate.”

Route 9 passes just east of one of Delaware’s most historic and well-preserved National Historic Districts as it winds southward between the Augustine and Cedar Swamp Wildlife Areas, Odessa, Delaware on the banks of Appoquinimink River. There, the “Historic Houses of Odessa Foundation” manages an enclave of 18th and early 19th century buildings that includes the Corbit-Sharp House (c.1774); Wilson-Warner House (c. 1769); Collins-Sharp House (c. 1700); Brick Hotel (c. 1822); and Odessa Bank (c.1853).

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge is the next major wildlife area. And let me just say that if the entire rest of the drive was a complete wasteland, the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge would be worth the trip.  It's nothing short of breathtaking!  The Refuge is15,978 acres, approximately four-fifths of which is tidal salt marsh. This refuge, alone, has one of the largest expanses of nearly unaltered tidal salt marsh in the mid-Atlantic region. It also includes 1,100 acres of impounded fresh water pools, brushy and timbered swamps, 1,100 acres of agricultural lands, and timbered and grassy upland. Bombay Hook was established in 1937 as a link in the chain of refuges that extends from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. It is primarily a refuge and breeding ground for migrating birds and other wildlife.  If you are overwhelmed like we are every time we visit the Refuge, you'll want to join the Friends of Bombay Hook on the spot!

While it’s not technically “historic” and it’s certainly not “scenic” (although it does have a very scenic waterfront view), I can’t send anyone down Route 9 without a recommendation to chow down at Delaware's finest crab shack - Sambo's Tavern in Leipsic - just south of the Bombay Hook refuge. An unabashedly unassuming eatery, Sambo's has been a fixture in Leipsic for decades. The reason - CRABS! - sold by the dozen and consumed by hand on newspaper-draped tables using a mallet, a knife and all the arm stregth you can muscle up. Sambo's is only open from April to November, so plan ahead!

Near the end of Route 9, you’ll pass John Dickinson Plantation. The John Dickinson House, generally known as "Poplar Hall," is located on the John Dickinson Plantation. It was the boyhood home and sometime residence of the American revolutionary leader John Dickinson, where he wrote “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania” analyzing economic difficulties in colonial America (some things never seem to change to do they!), before the American Revolutionary War. The main house is an Early Georgian mansion and was built on a 13,000-acre plantation in 1739/40 by Judge Samuel Dickinson, the father of John Dickinson.

Route 9 terminates a few miles further south at the intersection with Route 113, where the route back to Wilmington is quick and easy…but not nearly as inspiring!