We took a weekend off from home remodeling and went to the exciting city (just a little bit of sarcasm) of Wilmington, Delaware. Located only two hours from DC, Wilmington just happens to be the birthplace of me. The reason why we decided to go to Wilmington was to pick up a painting I found on Facebook, lol. I have been watching this painting for about two months and it’s finally mine, only $20. Something I didn’t know about Delaware, no sales tax. That was a nice surprise.
In all seriousness, Wilmington is a cute a little city and we did have a wonderful time over the weekend. In fact, we will revisit in the warmer months to take advantage of what we missed out on this time.
Here’s my painting.
A little background on Wilmington, the du Pont family owns everything. They didn’t invent gun powder, they perfected it and expanded their empire into the chemical and automotive industry. They have opened several family estates to the public as museums, gardens or parks. We visited the original du Pont house, Eleutherian Mills and Longwood Gardens, over 1000 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows.
Originally, we wanted to visit the Nemour Estate, another du Pont family home but it was closed for the winter. That’s when we stumbled upon Eleutherian Mills. We spent about two hours touring the house and seeing the grounds. It was such a pleasant surprise.
Here is the house from a distance.
Adam standing in front of a 300 year old Osage Orange tree.
This is the side of the house. It was build in 1802. Not too shabby for your first home.
Here is the house up close.
We also toured their offices which were built in 1837. The stonework is absolutely beautiful.
This is no ordinary typewriter. It was made with gold paint and ivory inlay.
This is one of the original desks, so classic. Looks like something you could find at Restoration Hardware.
This might have been Adam’s favorite part, touring the machine shop. It was pretty cool.
We made a pit stop at the very first house I lived in. Mom and dad, what were you thinking when you bought this place?? Just my luck it’s for sale again. Here’s a link if you want to check out the interior. No, I don’t think that is a stripper pole in the living room…
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1213-Grinnell-Rd-Wilmington-DE-19803/72993298_zpid/
I would say the highlight of our trip was Longwood Gardens. You absolutely must visit this place if you are ever in the area!! It is located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. It is so unbelievably beautiful. I can’t imagine what it looks like in Spring or Summer.
First we toured the Peirce House (they owned the property before the du Pont’s bought it). It has a conservatory right in the middle of the main house and a restroom hidden in the library. I am no gardener but I wouldn’t mind having a conservatory in my house.
The main conservatory at Longwood Gardens is massive. They have over 4600 different plants and trees. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
I asked a lady if she would take our picture and she said, “no, my hands shake.” So she made her husband do it. I am sure he was so thrilled.
That was our quick trip to Wilmington, Delaware. Now, back to reality. We’ll be back at Spotswood House this weekend for more bathroom renovating.
Spotswood House 