03.21.2025 The DelMarVa Penninsula

It’s that time again. Time to get the Roadtrek on the road again and head south to find spring. It’s been a cold winter and spring is late in our neck of the woods. Normally we have Hellibores blooming in February but the dry fall and the cold winter delayed their blooms. They only poked their heads out this week. The daffodils did make an appearance along our roadside in protected areas and the crocus are just about finished.

This year we are doing a slightly shorter trip both in time and distance. I had a health scare just before Christmas so we are making it easy on ourselves. Our southern route this year takes us east of Washington, DC down the DELMARVA peninsula to Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina no farther than Beaufort. We will spend a couple of days visiting a dear friend in North Carolina on our way back.

I didn’t think I’d have much to write about today. We have done this route before and I have talked about the Delmarva in previous blogs. However, there is always something new to discover.

As we are driving down the DelmarVa, we are seeing fields full of purple flowers. They are beautiful in color but I find out it is an invasive species.

We stopped for lunch at Doyles’s Restaurant in Selbyville. We have eaten here before but only in the restaurant side. What we didn’t know, mainly because we weren’t paying attention, is that part of the restaurant building contains a diner right out of the 50s. It has a unique history not only for the building, but for the local chicken production (today, Tyson and Perdu).

Before asking, we ate in the diner this time and it was delicious. Excellent soup and chicken salad sandwich.

Doyle’s Restaurant, located in Selbyville, Delaware, is housed in a historic Silk City Diner car manufactured in 1950 by the Paterson Vehicle Company in Paterson, New Jersey. Originally known as Woody’s Diner, it was brought to Selbyville by Woody Sturgis and quickly became a popular spot for both locals and travelers along U.S. Route 113.

In 1983, the Doyle family purchased the diner, expanded the property with a larger dining room, and preserved much of the diner’s original 1950s décor. Today, Doyle’s Restaurant stands as the oldest operating and best-preserved Silk City diner car in Delaware, maintaining its historical integrity while serving a diverse menu to its patrons.

A label mounted inside the diner car lists its serial number as “5092” – “50” denotes the year in which it was fabricated and “92” signifies that it was the 92nd Silk City car built that year. The diner quickly became a welcome stop for those traveling along U.S. Route 113, as well as a gathering place for local residents and various community groups. Most notably, meetings held at the diner by members of the poultry industry in 1951 led to the establishment of the Eastern Shore Poultry Growers Exchange, a broiler chicken auction which operated from 1952-1969. Hosted in Selbyville and broadcast on three area radio stations, the Exchange played an integral role in the transformation of the Delmarva poultry industry. During this time, the diner featured a bank of telephones along its back wall where poultry auction bids could be placed. The Sturgis family owned the property until 1983, when it was purchased by the Doyle family. The historical integrity of the diner car’s interior remains largely intact, with only the vinyl on the booths having been changed. It stands as the oldest operating and best-preserved Silk City diner car in the state.

Silk City Diners were a line of prefabricated diners built by the Paterson Vehicle Company in Paterson, New Jersey, from the late 1920s through the 1960s. These diners were known for their stainless steel exteriors, streamlined designs, and efficient layouts, making them a popular choice for entrepreneurs looking to establish roadside eateries. Silk City Diners featured Art Deco and later mid-century modern influences, with counter seating, booths, and large windows.

Silk City Diners are still in operation, often restored and cherished for their nostalgic appeal. One of the most famous is the Silk City Bar & Lounge in Philadelphia, which retains much of the original aesthetic while functioning as a bar and music venue.

After lunch we stopped in at my very favorite quilt shop in Snow Hill, MD, the Vintage Pink and Green Quilt Studio. It is a converted potato depot. We stopped here 2 years ago and met the owner, who is from Pennsylvania. She had just finished converting this magnificent historic building. I have written about this in a previous blog as well.  If you are new to my blog, I’m a quilter. Our van is trained to stop at fabric stores. I have one drawer dedicated to the fabric that I purchase on our trips.

The weather is beautiful today. Temps managed to get into the very low 50s, no clouds but very windy. Traffic was light. This whole trip is designed to avoid I95 and I81 unless absolutely necessary.

We are camped at Kiptopeke State Park at the very bottom of the DelMarVa ( see previous blogs). We haven’t lost our mojo with setting up. The most tedious thing we had to do was download the updated software for the satellite dish and put new batteries in a couple of remotes. The rest was muscle memory. There are no modifications to the van or our living space AT ALL this year. We have this down to a fine art.

We went for a nice long walk and now sitting with a celebratory glass of wine, in the sun, before it gets too cold.

Tomorrow we cross the Chesapeake via the tunnel/bridge. I always love that drive!

Feels just right to be back in our van and thankful / grateful that we can still do it.