Page 6 - September 2021 Issue.indd

A Walk in the Weeds:

Chad Dean Hikes Across
Caroline County

by Chad Dean
Readers may be familiar with the creative non-fi ction book
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson that chronicles the aging
travel writer’s abortive attempt to complete all 2,200 or so
miles of the Appalachian Trail. Robert Redford and Nick

Nolte subsequently starred in the film version, though they
were depicted as much older than Bryson and his companion
Stephen Katz were at the time. With these works of art fresh on
my mind and with total disregard for my deteriorating forty-
something body, an idea for a romanticized quest dawned on

Th e first Caroline County Courthouse to be built on this
me: I should walk across Caroline County. So I did. This is my

site was completed in 1797
story, gonzo journalism style.
To my knowledge, no county native has ever completed or even
attempted the journey and for that matter probably never even
contemplated such a quixotic endeavor. None of the fanfare,
laurels, and global publicity -- not to mention free dinners for
life at local restaurants -- that undoubtedly would accompany
the feat could be counted as motivation, however. To be sure,
the role of walking personality is a job that pays zero dollars.
Little Enos Burdette in Smokey and the Bandit put it more
bluntly: “A legend and an out-of-work bum look a lot alike.”
Ouch. Nevertheless, I persisted across Caroline County.
A modest tribute to civic all-star Max Chambers adorns
So why did I embark on a seventeen-mile easterly jaunt the courthouse green in Denton.
from Tuckahoe State Park [or Bradleysburg, as the vicinity
was originally known] to Hickman? For starters, if you have entities who erect road signs in Delaware have even affi xed
read my other Caroline Review think pieces, you know I am turn-by-turn arrows with the American Discovery Trail logo
drawn to travel checklists like a moth to a fl ame. Google “moth to help along the way. I could continue but I want my usual
memes” for further information; you will be greatly entertained. naysayers to experience this for themselves, as I am not pulling
Anyhow, I have previously submitted articles about topics such any of these assertions out of thin air.
as visiting national parks, purposefully driving tiered highway
On the Maryland side of the state border, however, ADT users
systems, and completing treks through all the counties in each

fall off a metaphorical cliff. Once in Caroline County by way
state among other largely impractical yet satisfying pursuits.
of Hickman, there is nothing. No assistance whatsoever. No
One column in particular was dedicated to the existence and

trail markers, not even improvised ones. There’s a primitive
promotion of the American Discovery Trail, by which users
shelter at the border with Queen Anne’s County privately built
can hike from one coast to the other -- that is to say, from the

as an Eagle Scout project. That’s it. So my journey was partly to

Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean or vice versa. Delaware
pinpoint where and how the American Discovery Trail could,
to California. California to Delaware. Through Maryland.
with the endorsement of community stakeholders, increase
Including Caroline County. Apparently Delaware and Caroline

public awareness in our area. This advocacy is apparently a
are nationally signifi cant after all -- though neither has yet to

one-man crusade: even though the trail goes directly past
produce a legitimate president. Maybe one day.
the building that houses the county tourism offi ce, multiple

The American Discovery Trail undeniably needs to become museums, town halls, visitor kiosks, shopping districts, and
locally significant, marketed as a marquee attraction of more, the only sustained voice to acknowledge an otherwise
Caroline County. Cape Henlopen State Park and the town nationally-esteemed thoroughfare bisects Caroline County
of Lewes, Delaware, benefit economically from the number is yours truly. We have a valuable resource here and it should

of ADT hikers who begin or end their walks there. Multiple be promoted for the benefit of all; thanks for coming to my
hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, and other shops are well TED Talk.
known in that area for being welcoming to and patronized by
I don’t want the publicity -- as an issue advocate who has also
hikers and their families. Park rangers distribute brochures to
watched Stroker Ace, I am merely the messenger. Upon further
direct them to points of interest on the route. Th e government
reflection, however, maybe there is some self-serving motivation

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