Dover and Salisbury

We travel south to Dover Air Force Base for the Air Mobility Command Museum, then continue through chicken country to Salisbury, Maryland.

Dad and I set out in the morning determined to defy the old adage, “No good day begins on I-95.”

We soon turned south, away from the rush, and onto smaller highways, leaning toward Delaware Bay to enjoy the more rural Highway 9, full of corn fields and quiet spaces.

We made our first stop at Dover Air Force Base to see the Air Mobility Command Museum, dedicated to the history of aircraft used for air refueling and to transport troops and supplies. The museum uses a restored World War II hanger to display planes, exhibits, and memorabilia that convey the vital role the aircraft have played in the United States’ military success.

The museum also has about 30 planes on its tarmac outdoors, with several that allow visitors to step in and look around.

The collection includes a VC-9C that primarily operated as Air Force Two from 1975-2011, serving vice presidents from Walter Mondale to Dick Cheney and first ladies from Roslyn Carter to Laura Bush. When presidents needed to land in smaller airports, it served as Air Force One.

I walked up the steep stairs into the control tower, where a group was getting an overview of the airfield and its array of aircraft. Next door, we could see the Air Force base itself, whose primary mission is to provide strategic global airlift capability, carrying on the legacy of the people and machines the museum celebrates.

We stopped for lunch just outside of Dover’s town center at Restaurant 55. Yes, they had a pastrami Reuben; yes, it had far too much pastrami for a midday meal; and yes, I ate all of it.

Dad and I continued toward Salisbury on a route with a surprising number of chicken farms, passing 18-wheelers from Purdue Farms and other producers along the way. As we learned at the Delaware History Museum, the relatively small state raised nearly 600 million chickens in 2022.

Salisbury, Maryland

When you rent a car, you typically don’t have to consider stopping during your vacation for an oil change. But our Jeep had been given to us immediately after being returned by the previous renter. By the time we reached Salisbury, Maryland, with 10 days of big drives ahead of us, the Jeep's oil meter read 10 percent.

We had a few hours before we needed to leave for the ballgame, so I dropped Dad off at our hotel and went to an oil-change service nearby. Workers there were amazed both by seeing their first Jeep Wrangler 4xe hybrid and by the fact that a rental car needed an oil change. But it was all done quickly and cheerfully.

I wanted to see a little more of the city than hotels and fast-food places along the main highway. I drove over to Main Street near City Hall, an area of newer construction, but things were pretty quiet. I turned back toward our hotel and cruised the Salisbury’s greenway, stopping at Salisbury City Park and Schumaker Park to take in some calm before the night's (literal) storm.

> NEXT: Delmarva Shorebirds