Trip Report



Due to the death of my mother's brother, Nelson Ellis, I went to Delaware to attend the burial. While I was there, I visited friends and relatives and took numerous pictures. I wanted to share the pictures with those involved so decided to put all of the photos on a web page - where everyone could visit and view the pictures they were interested in. I'll write a narrative to sort of keep things in order in my own mind and so I can remember what I did when I try to remember in the future. Since Notepad does not have a spell check, please forgive spelling errors (or, better yet, alert me to them so I can correct them).



On Wednesday, April 16th, I flew from Tampa, Florida to Baltimore, Maryland. My uncle, Jack Mears, and his friend Ruth McKelvey met my plane. I had almost decided against making the trip when I contemplated having to rent a car and drive in that very busy and unfamiliar traffic. When Jack heard of my hesitation, he very generously offered to pick me up at the airport. Not only that, he also invited me to use his home as a 'home base' and offered me the use of his car for getting around. It was hard to refuse an offer like that.


On Thursday, Jack helped me find where I should go to take care of some cemetery business I had been procrastinating about. That didn't take very long.

After a couple of cups of coffee, I left to go visit an old friend (from before first grade, no less), Leona Prillhart and her husband Bobby. We had coffee and yacked about old times, our kids, our parents, our cats, the state of the world, and other important and unimportant things. What a nice visit - too bad it can happen only occasionally.

After leaving Leona's, I headed for Reliance so I could photograph my Ellis grandparents' home. I had forgotten that the old Reliance church had burned down and I was looking for it as a landmark to turn down the Woodland Road. Since it wasn't there, I went right by the correct road and when I realized I had passed it, turned around and proceed to turn onto the first road I came to. That was a mistake. Drove for what seemed forever before I finally came to my senses and realized it was the wrong road (turned out to be Line Road, folks told me). Never thought anybody could get lost in Reliance but it appears that is what I did. Finally found the Woodland Road and my grandparents old home.

My great-grandparents, George Robert and Sara Emily Collins Ellis lived in Woodland in a house that is now owned by John Dege family.

Further on, past the Woodland Church, is the property where my great-great-grandparents lived (William and Mary Ralph Ellis). They were buried on the property and their old home is still there also, overlooking the Nanticoke River. The property is now owned by John and Blanche Gundry and Mr. Gundry was very nice to take me to where the graves were and allowing me to photograph them. I'm afraid the photos are not very clear. (William is on the left and Mary on the right) It was bitter cold the day I was there and I was not inclined to try and scrub or otherwise clean up the headstones but I would like to do that sometime when I am there in warmer weather. There was writing on the stones that I would be most interested in deciphering.

I spent some time driving around town photographing all of the houses I used to live in. I guess the first place was on the old Woodland road, but that house isn't there any more. Then we moved in town to the house next to the Catholic Church on Stein Highway. From there we moved to a house on Front Street Extended and from there to the house in Woodland. We then moved in town to a house on Concord Road (where Leona and Bobby now live) and from there to a house on Hall Street. I thought my kids might be interested in seeing the houses where I grew up.






The Odd Fellows Cemetery in Seaford is the final resting place of many of my ancestors.These are photographs of headstones and footstones of the ones I could find:




Went out to visit Joanne Lauder and her mom for awhile. I was greeted by a driveway full of cats and kittens who all scattered as I approached. On the other hand, Joanne's dog, Molly, was not a scaredy cat (or dog) at all. Had a real nice visit with Joanne. We e-mail back and forth and are able to keep up with each other but nothing beats a sit-down visit. Joanne informed me that the above field of "flowers" I had taken a picture of was really wild turnip greens. Still pretty, no matter what you call them. Joanne showed me her extensive collection of Dale Earnhardt memorabilia, which fills an entire room. Should have taken a picture of it - darn!





About 4:30, I headed for my cousin,Carol Ann and her husband Walter Dill's house in Felton. She had invited me for dinner and I was looking forward to it but, even moreso to seeing her and Walter. I always feel so warmly welcomed in their home. A nice surprise was that her sister Linda and husband Wayne Short came to dinner also. They informed me when and where we would meet for the burial tomorrow and, as usually happens when family members get together, we spent a long time sitting around the dining room table talking about our memories of childhood. It was great visiting with them.


By the way, that clock on the wall behind Linda and Wayne is a most unusual clock. Firstly, it is very beautiful. And then it does this strange magical thing - on the hour, the face with the numbers separates into two and revolves/rotates (not sure what to call it) until it is one again, all the while playing a lovely melody. Most unique thing I have seen in awhile.

The next day was Friday. Jack cooked me a delicious breakfast of scrapple (yum-yum) and pancakes. Didn't know he was such a good cook.

We then took a tour around Seaford, looking at various things that were new to me (such as the Mears Women's Health Center) We stopped by to visit with Bill and Robin Mears for awhile. They had bought and remodeled my Aunt Frances and Uncle Ray's home after their death.



It was beautiful and Robin's artistic talents were evident. They are owned by a cat named Tabatha who allowed me to photograph her.






At 11:00 am, I met Carol Ann & Walter and Linda & Wayne and several other friends and family at the burial site in Oddfellow's Cemetery. It was cold and windy but probably appropriate for a sad event like a burial. A very nice service was performed for my uncle, Nelson Ellis. He was buried at the Ellis plot, where his parents, Ernest and Clara Ellis, were buried.



At the completion of the service, many of those present gathered at the English Restaurant, near Seaford, for lunch and conversation. It was nice talking with everyone. Wish it didn't have to be at funerals and such that families get together but that often seems to be the way it is.


With my Aunt Grace, my mother, and now my Uncle Nelson having passed on, I guess that makes us cousins the 'elder generation' of this branch of the family. Not sure I like that distinction.




Later in the afternoon, Jack and I went to Dover to contribute to Delaware's economy at the Dover Slots. I contributed more than Jack did, unfortunately. Even though we didn't win anything, we had a good time and had a great buffet dinner.

On the way home, we stopped and visited with Rex and Sharon Mears. They have a lovely home that I had not seen before and Rex showed me around. There is a very pretty pond in the back of the house and on the side of the pond, Rex had someone he knew top a white oak tree and carve a bear out of the remaining tall stump. Wish I had taken a picture of it.






On Saturday, Joanne had arranged a get-together with Leona, Dottie (Morgan) Dew, herself and her Mom. I went out to pick up Leona and got the bonus of getting to meet her son, Doug. At first, I thought he was some "strange man" backing into Leona's yard and he thought I was some "strange woman" taking pictures of his folks' house. We were both wrong.


We all met at the Golden Corall buffet, near Seaford. Had a mighty-fine lunch and a great time talking over old times and where such and such was now and who was living where and so forth. The time went too quickly and we all said good-by. Wish I had taken more pictures but here are a couple of the ones I did take.



That orange awning sure gave us all a funny coloring, didn't it?




After lunch, I headed south to visit Rita and Rick Shepphard in their new home in Mt. Vernon. Didn't take as long as I thought to get to the cut-off at Princess Anne but thought I'd NEVER reach their home on the Mt. Vernon Road. I did, however, finally, and what a home it is! Rita gave me the 'grand tour'. It was absolutely lovely and had every convenience you could think of. They make a good pair - Rick with the construction and Rita with the decorating. I've never known anybody who could top Rita at decorating. It was real nice seeing both of them again.







On Sunday morning, I stayed home and packed and puttered while Jack and Ruth went to church.


I couldn't resist picking some lilacs from a bush Jack had in his back yard. It was right next to his asparagus patch. The picture may look like a patch of sticks but it had some mighty good new little asparagus stalks - sprouts? I always thought I didn't like asparagus until Jack picked a stalk, washed it and dipped it raw into some Italian salad dressing for me to try - delicious!



In the early afternoon, Jack, Ruth and I rode around the outskirts of Seaford, looking at homes and neighborhoods that had grown up in recent years. It sure isn't the Seaford I left when I moved to Florida almost fifty years ago.

We went to Wink and Betty's and visited for awhile and then we all went to Salisbury for dinner. Was good to see them again, too, after all these years.






Jack's daughter, Jinny, had invited us all back to her house for dessert - and what scrumptious desserts they were . Got to meet her husband, Frank - don't believe I had ever met him before - and her two kids, Jessica and Brian. While we were there, Jack's other daughter, Laura and her husband Dale and daughter Angela came so got to see them, too. It had been years since I had seen either Jinny or Laura. What a nice way to finish up my visit to Delaware.








The next day was Monday, time to head back to Florida. I had one more thing to do before leaving - put some new flowers at the gravestones of my mother and brother.







Jack and Ruth took me back to Baltimore to catch my plane to Tampa. Although the reason for the trip was not a happy one, I did enjoy seeing many of the people that I care about. No matter where you end up living, I guess where you grew up is always 'home.'


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