Why Delaware should be your next East Coast adventure

One of the country’s smallest states, Delaware is, for many travellers, an off-the-radar destination – but it won’t be for long.

Wilmington, the capital city, is increasingly becoming a dining destination to rival Philadelphia and Washington DC, and the beaches of the state’s southern tip, just a few hours’ drive from New York City, offer a relaxing break from the hustle-and-bustle of big city streets.

A mix of everything the mid-Atlantic has to offer, Delaware is the perfect blend of old and new: red brick buildings from the 1700s house restaurants with upscale tasting menus, and museums filled with one-of-a-kind early American treasures are on the cutting edge of conservation technology.

Read on for five not-to-be-missed stops in Delaware.

There’s no better crash course in American design history than a trip to the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, about 20 minutes from downtown Wilmington. Once the home of Henry Francis du Pont, today the museum is home to nearly 100,000 pieces of art, furniture and decor, with rooms (there are 175 in total) devoted to each of the original thirteen colonies. The monthly behind-the-scenes tour is a firsthand look at conservation in action, where visitors can chat with the scientists, art historians and designers who keep the museum’s collections in tip-top shape. It’s all set within a sprawling landscape where walking paths wind past picturesque ponds and trees explode into vibrant colours each season.

Perched on the edge of the Delaware River is New Castle, where the cobblestone streets and quaint taverns offer a glimpse of the First State as it was in the early 19th century. Much of the city is part of First State National Historical Park, where visitors can learn the state’s colonial history and Delaware’s pivotal role in the American Revolution. A stroll through the riverfront New Castle Battery Park is best followed by a hearty pot pie in the cosy dining room at Jessop’s Tavern, originally built in the 1600s.

Wilmington, sometimes overshadowed by the larger cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore, has been having something of a Renaissance over the last decade, with trendy restaurants opening alongside a historic opera house, quirky shops and boutique hotels.

The Delaware History Museum and Mitchell Center for African American Heritage, on North Market Street, has a fascinating core of exhibits that explore Delaware’s stops on the Underground Railroad and the state’s Civil Rights history. Across the street, the Quoin, a hotel housed in a building once used to store gold and silver coins, has both a speakeasy-style basement lounge and a rooftop bar with sweeping views of the city.

The Delaware Beaches are one of the East Coast’s hidden gems. Less crowded than the Jersey Shore and less fussy than the Hamptons, cities like Rehoboth Beach and Lewes offer wide expanses of Atlantic Ocean-fronting sand and old-timey boardwalks.

Rehoboth Beach and nearby Dewey Beach are both ranked (by the National Resources Defense Council) as having some of the USA’s best water quality, but the area has plenty to do after the summer season is over. The Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival, which happens each fall, sees jazz musicians from all over the world play shows in intimate clubs.

The classic red-sauce joints lining New York City’s Mulberry Street have some serious competition in Delaware, where restaurants like Luigi Vitrone’s Pastabilities have been serving up hand-crafted spaghetti and tortellini for more than 30 years. Luigi Vitrone himself still makes pasta in the small kitchen, and he also leads small-group cooking classes, where he’ll spill the secret to making a perfect tortellini. Also not to be missed are the meatballs at Mrs. Robino’s, housed in a historic townhouse. Each June, a street festival sees the neighbourhood blocks lined with stands selling everything from freshly fried arancini to creamy cannoli.