Dela-Where?

Okay, I'm back from my trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Delaware, for those of you who don't know, is a state so small it actually exists only between high and low tides, thus sucking up prime beach property that rightfully should go to Maryland. Actually, I had a very nice time out there, but for some reason I conceptually object to Delaware. For starters, it's a runt. There are very few states I can pick on size-wise, coming from Maryland, but Delaware is one of them. The fact that Maryland is so small is all the more reason why it should absorb Delaware entirely for efficiency's sake (of course, I still want to go to war with Pennsylvania over the Mason-Dixon line. But that's just me). Second, despite being a solid blue state, it has a Republican Representative (Michael Castle) in its one (at-large) district, which is inexcusable. Third, despite occupying prime real estate in the Washington - Boston corridor, it doesn't have any major cities (no, Wilmington doesn't count). To be fair, I also ding Rhode Island for this (Connecticut gets a pass because the entire state is essentially a New York City suburb). But Rhode Island got rid of its Congressional Republicans. Fourth, it has no sales tax, thus forcing me to shop for clothes while on vacation instead of, you know, vacationing.

So, in sum: Rehoboth has an excellent beach, with a great boardwalk, decent restaurants (although, oddly enough, none of the places we ate at gave us silverware until we requested it. It was very strange), and is conveniently located a mere three hours from Washington, D.C.. But it's in Delaware.

I say that Maryland's eyes ought to look eastward, and reclaim the shores that are our birthright.