Our Delaware Trip

According to Google Maps, we traveled 156 miles, and drove for 4 hours and 43 minutes during our week in Delaware while avoiding highways.

Each state we visit, we will choose at least one point of interest from each of the following categories: Famous Person, Famous Food, Roadside Attraction, State Capitol & State Museum, National Park, Historic Location, Can't Miss Attraction, and Made in the USA Tour. Some of the categories may have more than one selection, and sometimes a category will be vacant due to the lack of a candidate. Please click on the links below for the corresponding blog related our experiences in Delaware over the past week.

Famous Person: Eldridge Johnson

Famous Food: Thrasher's Fries

Roadside Attraction: World's Biggest Doctor Bag & Stethoscope

State Capitol/Museum: Dover

National Park: Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge

Historic Location: First State’s Old Statehouse

Can't miss attraction: Lightship Overfalls

Made in the USA Tour: Hagley Museum and Library

Please view our previous blog posts for further explanations of our experiences in Maryland over the past week.

A breakdown of our expenses of the past week are as follows:

Gas $111.00

$ 2.82 gal. in Wilmingtom,DE was the lowest price paid.

$ 2.85 gal. in Georgetown ,DE was highest price paid.

Comments:

We did great in this category!

Groceries: $112.00

Walmart $74.00

Costco $38.00

Comments:

We did great in this category

Dining out $28.00

Starbucks $4.00 (Tea x 2 for free WiFi)

Moe's $14.00 (2 veggie burrito’s on sale)

Thrasher's Fries $10.00 (1 Large bucket of greasy fries)

Comments:

We did great in this category!

Entertainment: $56.00

Redbox $6.00 (Movies x3)

Johnson Museum $20.00 (Admission x2)

Hagley Museum $30.00 (Budgeted expense)

Comments:

We did great in this category!

Lodging: $0.00

Walmart $0.00 (Slept in parking lot x 7 nights)

Comments:

We did great in this category

Miscellaneous: $6.00

Laundry $6.00

Comments:

We did great in this category

Delaware Expenses Grand Total: $ 313.00

(Our expense list does not include re-occurring expenses such as insurance and cellphone etc.)

Is Delaware our new Home State?

Here are the rules:

Below are the 5 categories that are important to us in choosing our new home state. Each category is rated from 1 to 10 based on our personal experience in no particular order. 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest for each category. Each category will receive 2 scores; 1 from Lori and 1 from Nate. The average of these two scores will determine the final score for each category. To determine a state’s final score, we will average the total score of each category. If a state’s final score is less than 8, then that state is eliminated from consideration. At the end of our year long cross country trip, the states that scored 8 or higher will be subject to further consideration. In addition, Lori and I each have 1 wild card option, which allows a state that otherwise would have been eliminated, to be considered as our new home state.

Economy:

Nate: 10

“The Delaware’s constitution mandates a balanced budget, and the

government has maintained an AAA credit rating for over a decade. During the

great recession, the state cut expenses from the budget instead of counting on their

rainy day fund. I love a fiscally responsible state!”

Lori: 9

“Delaware's median household income of $61,255 ranks 14th in the nation, and the state's 4.3% unemployment rate is higher 7% higher than the national average. Government, military, education, banking, chemical, pharmaceutical, technology, farming, retail and healthcare all contribute to the state's well diversified economy. There was a lot of healthcare all throughout Delaware, which is a plus for us!!!”

Economy score: 9.5

Cost of Living:

Nate: 10

“With an income tax rate of 6.6%, sales tax of 0%, and the 4th lowest property taxes in the nation, Delaware is a very tax friendly state. Furthermore, Delaware is the largest corporate tax shelter in the continental US, and the number of businesses incorporated in Delaware outnumber the residents of the state! As a result, Delaware generates 1/5 of the state's operating budget from corporate franchise taxes. What a savvy way to generate tax revenue!”

Lori: 6

“Compared to the national average, in Delaware; housing 16% higher, food is 12% higher, and Gas is 2% higher. EEEK!”

Cost of living score: 8

Quality of life:

Nate: 9

“Inland flooding is the natural disaster for which Delawarians are most at risk. Occasionally, the state may have a nor'easter or hurricane, and risk for tornadoes is far below the national average. The state's climate is moderate year round with average temperatures of 74 degrees in the Summer and 32 degrees in the Winter. Sounds wonderful to me!”

Lori: 5

“Compared to the national average, Delaware's violent crime rate of 5.09 is 23% higher than the national average. However, the vast majority of violent crime occurs in Wilmington where we certainly will not be living! While the state has a history of water pollution during their industrial days, today the the clean-up of the Delaware River is hailed as one of the world's top water quality success stories”

Quality of life score: 7

Culture:

Nate: 10

“Wildlife refuges, gardening, beach, zip lining, wine tasting, outdoor festivals, disc golf, NASCAR, college football, live music, kayaking, bird watching and cycling, are among the many activities Delawarians enjoy. Delaware has a small-town vibe across the entire state. People are genuinely nice and care about each other, which is really refreshing.”

Lori: 6

“Delaware has 4 vegan restaurants, which is average for a state of its size. Regarding renewable energy, Delaware ranks 50th in the nation. The state's solar energy production is 37th in the nation, and they just starting to develop wind farms. On a more progressive note, the states LGBT population has increased 46% over the past decade.

Culture Score: 8

Environment:

Nate: 8

“With 17 state parks, 15 public beaches, and 4 national parks, there is always something to do outdoors in Delaware. With the exception of the Northern part of the state, Delaware has no highways. Instead, the state has secondary roads consisting of annoying divided highways with limited turning options. If you miss your turn, your going for a 10-mile drive in the opposite direction! Since the state has less than 1 million residents, I encountered no traffic, and courteous drivers”

Lori: 10

“Delaware is the 2nd smallest state by land area, meaning everything is nearby. Access to goods and services are readily available, and business were flourishing throughout. Washington D.C, Baltimore, and Philadelphia are all under 2 hours away if you want to visit a city. Delaware had ample quaint towns overflowing with colonial cuteness. I miss Delaware! Sniffle Sniffle!”

Environment Score: 9

The verdict is in:

The final score for Delaware was 8.3 and it MAY be our new home state!

Celebrate good times come on!!! It’s a celebration!!! There’s a party going on right here! A celebration to last throughout the year! So bring your good times and your laughter too! We're gonna celebrate and party with you!!! Come on now, Celebration! Let’s all celebrate and have a good time! WOO HOO!!! WOO HOO!!!

After exploring 40 states, and spending 10 months on the road, we finally have our 5th state which has scored higher than 8! Even more surprising, Delaware was not on our short list of states we were considering, but it greatly impressed us during our visit! Delaware advances to the next round of consideration, and joins Michigan, Oregon, Colorado and Texas as our potential new home state! Nate already used his wild card, and obviously Lori opted not to use Wild Card Option on this state.

Below are the current standings:

Colorado 9.2

Michigan 8.3

Delaware 8.3

Oregon 8.2

Tennessee 7.8

Ohio 7.6

Indiana 7.4

North Carolina 7.4

Texas 7.3 (NATE’S WILD CARD)

South Dakota 7.1

North Dakota 6.9

Washington 6.9

Georgia 6.8

Virginia 6.6

Wyoming 6.5

Arizona 6.5

Pennsylvania 6.5

Maryland 6.4

Florida 6.2

Idaho 6.1

West Virginia 6.0

California 5.9

Alabama 5.9

Kansas 5.9

Nevada 5.8

Nebraska 5.7

South Carolina 5.4

Utah 5.0

Kentucky 4.9

Mississippi 4.7

Wisconsin 4.5

New Mexico 4.5

Louisiana 4.3

Minnesota 4.2

Montana 4.1

Missouri 3.5

Oklahoma 3.3

Iowa 3.3

Illinois 1.9