A slight price dip from 2022 heartens homebuyers, but other robust indicators cheer sellers

By Andrew Sharp
Photograph by Scott Nathan
From the October 2023 issue

october-2023-issue

Forty-five minutes after Mark and Cynthia Lotz toured the home on Dirickson Creek, they made their decision: They would put in an offer. The Harford County, Md., couple had been hunting for a second home and previously had their hearts set on one, only to lose out. 

They didn’t want to see that happen again. 

The Dirickson Creek location, not far from Assawoman Wildlife Area, didn’t match all of the goals they set when starting their search, which included being within walking distance to the beach and having a boat slip. “We had a checklist of, like, 10 things we were looking for and realized, we’re not going to get all that,” Mark explains. “We started to compromise [and] whittle away at our checklist.” 

More parents are taking education into their own hands


By Andrew Sharp
Photograph by Carolyn Watson
From the September 2023 issue

september-2023-issue

For one cohort of students in southern Delaware, their school experience is missing a notable piece: the school building. 

The youth services librarian at the Rehoboth Beach Public Library, Elizabeth Miller, knows this phenomenon well. She coordinates a regular program that brings area home-schooled students to the library for fun (Sharpie tie-dye shirts, for example) and education (squid dissection). It’s a partnership with the Lewes, Georgetown and Milton libraries, which also host sessions

Lewes’s bay-and-river pilots continue a 400-year tradition

By Bill Newcott
Photograph by Scott Nathan
From the September 2023 issue

september-2023-issue

The Ineos Independence is a mile or so ahead of us, headed toward open sea just off Cape Henlopen. Here on the river pilot vessel Brandywine, skipper Jesse Billings is playing catch-up, chasing the blue-and-white merchant ship which, while it has slowed down considerably for the meet-up to come, is nevertheless plowing ahead on its way to the Atlantic.

At less than 600 feet long, the Independence is far from the largest ship to ply these waters. Still, the two enormous white tanks on its deck create an imposing presence. Yesterday it was docked in Marcus Hook, south of Philadelphia, filling those tanks with liquefied natural gas. Like a gridiron waterboy, the Independence spends much of its time these days shuttling between Marcus Hook and Rafnes, Norway, a nine-day trip, alternately filling up with and emptying itself of LNG.