Delaware City, Delaware

Saturday morning around 8:00 AM we left Havre de Grace and cruised back out into the Chesapeake Bay heading toward the C & D Canal.  On the tip of Elk Neck is the Turkey Point Lighthouse.

Turkey Point Lighthouse

This area is where relatives of mine used to live.  They had a home on the water on the eastern shore of Elk Neck almost directly across from the Bohemia River.  Ginny and Bob Pike were like grandparents to me, and it was bitter sweat to go past their former property.  It does not look the same as when they were there, but it certainly brought back many fond memories of visiting them on the "Bay"

Childhood memories

After passing the Bohemia River we soon entered the C & D Canal.  This is a 14 mile long ship canal connecting the Chesapeake Bay to the Delaware River.  The canal is about 450 feet across and 35 feet deep.  Approximately 40% of the ship traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore comes through the C & D Canal.

C & D Canal

Horseback riders along the canal

We arrived into Delaware City about 2:30 PM.  It was VERY HOT, but Captain Keith and I rode our bikes around the downtown area for a bit.  

Delaware City Marina

The downtown park  in Delaware City is called the Battery and it has Eastern Lock #1 from the original C & D Canal preserved in the park.  This is listed in the National Historic Register.  The first canal was completed about 1829 and it took over 2,600 men to build it.  It was only about 10 feet deep and 66 feet wide.  Horses and mules were used to pull the barges and sloops along the 14 mile canal route.  The original canal was replaced in 1927 with the modern canal which can accomodate large ocean going ships.

Original Eastern Lock #1

From the east end of the park we looked out over the Delaware River.  In the river is Pea Patch Island and Fort Delaware.  Built in 1859, the fort was used primarily as a prisoner of war barracks during the Civil War.  Confederate soldiers were housed here after the war broke out between the states.  By the end of the war there were approximately 33,000 men there.  Today the fort is owned by the state of Delaware and is a state park.  It is open to the public for visiting and they have historical as well as other events there.  In addition to the history the fort hosts things such as the "Escape from Fort Delaware Triathlon" each summer and several summer baseball games of vintage leages.

Fort Delaware

I took another picture of Fort Delaware when we started down the Delaware River on Sunday morning but it was very hazy out and the boat was also moving a bit but it is a closer picture.

Fort Delaware in the haze