Delmarva Back Roads

 One of our favorite stops so far on the Delaware Bayshore Byway has been the little town of Woodland Beach, east of Smyrna.   In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Woodland Beach was an elaborate resort. A wayfinding sign in Woodland Beach Wildlife Area explains that guests reached the resort by train or the double-paddled steamship Thomas Clyde, which ran from Philadelphia—a three-hour trip. At its peak, the resort included a hotel, 50 cottages, a dance pavilion with orchestra, a bowling alley, and facilities for swimming, boating, fishing, and hunting. Woodland Beach resort, with the hotel on the left and the steamboat Thomas Clyde in front, from a wayfinding sign at Woodland Beach Wildlife Management Area There were amusement park rides, too, including a merry-go-round and something called a razzle dazzle. The razzle dazzle was a large ring suspended by wires from a central pole. Patrons sat on the ring, and staff pushed the ring to rotate it around the pole and also push...