Beautiful morning finally, and we have to leave...don't suppose it will be so beautiful in a few days. Not a lot of traffic leaving the island. Our tour director said probably most of the folks who live here won't leave - unless the hurricane changes path.
We decide to stop at the Harriet Tubman Museum on the way back - it is on the Chesapeake side of the peninsula, in Maryland and not far from her birthplace. A small but well organized museum, it is one of 30 sites on the Underground Railroad Trail. It is only a few years old and several of the displays haven't been completed yet.
Harriet was born a slave on the Maryland eastern shore where most slaveowners had fewer than 8 slaves and often hired them out. She was separated from her family at age 6 and worked at many local farms and plantations.
Harriet successfully fled in 1849 but made over a dozen trips back to the area to help others escape, establishing stops and safe havens that were part of the Underground Railroad. She faced many hardships which included those who hunted runaways. There is a plaque with 66 names on it - the names of those whom she led to freedom. She was never caught.
Harriet also served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a scout, spy, nurse and leader.
She was only 5' tall but was a strong, fierce woman. She worked for women's suffrage in the 1880's and 90's and was a founding member of the National Association of Colored Women. She died in 1913 and is buried in Auburn, NY where she lived for the later part of her life.
She will be featured on a new $20 bill to be released in 2020 - on the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. An amazing American!
Following the museum, we drove through the nearby Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Not a lot going on today, though we did see a few bald eagles, great blue herons, egrets and turtles. And huge horse flies which discouraged any thoughts of getting out of the car!
We considered heading west, across the bridge to Washington DC to see the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, but decided against it in the end and continued north into PA. The rest of the drive was uneventful through small towns and the flat expanse of farms, pastures and small towns of the center of the Delmarva Peninsula.
We arrived at Gwynne's house in West Chester for dinner and a good night's sleep.
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