Delaware

Tall ships -- The Annapolis Maritime Museum will present a Tall Ships Festival on June 24 at Annapolis City Dock. The Schooner Sultana and Delaware's tall ship Kalmar Nykel will be open for public boarding and inspection, along with maritime music and historic exhibits. The Kalmar Nykel, a reproduction of a 1625-era Dutch pinnace, was built in Wilmington, Del., in 1998, to commemorate those who crossed the Atlantic from 1637-1638 and settled in the Delaware Valley. The Kalmar Nykel will be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Sultana will be open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets to visit both ships are $10 per adult and $8 for children 3 to 11 years old. 410-268-7601, ext. 104.

This racetrack and gaming venue is one of three venues on the East Coast to offer parlay sports betting on professional football. This destination offers racing, slots, table games, sports betting, golf and dining. Casino hours: 24 hours a day. Closed Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. Games to play: Table games include blackjack, craps, roulette, poker and baccarat, among others. Delaware Park's slot machines range from denominations of half a cent to $50. Reels and video machines are available, as well as progressive slots and electronic table games.

On March 9, Gov. Martin O'Malleysaid he is likely to veto a medical marijuana law if the Maryland General Assembly passes one. His spokeswoman said he is concerned about a Feb. 9, 2012 letter from Charles Oberly, Delaware's U.S. attorney, to Gov. Jack Markell, threatening to prosecute Delaware officials as common drug traffickers if they carry out their state's medical marijuana law. Governor O'Malley should look carefully at this letter....

Certain beaches, restaurants and stores on the Delaware Shore seem to land on everybody's "must-do" list. But there are also plenty of places and activities that get less attention. Maybe they're a few miles from the shore, or take place midweek, or don't have splashy ad campaigns, but each of the treasures listed below has its own charms. Maybe they'll become part of your "must-do" list. 1. Freeman Stage This outdoor performing arts venue, four miles west of Fenwick Island, has been wowing audiences since it opened in 2008.

PENNSVILLE, N.J. -- In November 1987, Pennsville police found the body of a 45-year-old hunter in a marshy, unpopulated stretch along the Delaware River south of here known as The Baja. The man had been shot in the head, but the New Jersey authorities couldn't touch the body.In the same area, for generations, local youths have used drugs and alcohol without fear of arrest. Cars have been abandoned, stripped or burned in The Baja after they were stolen from this Salem County town, police say.Hunters have bagged deer and ducks there, out of season.

Go here: The capital of the First State, Dover provides a wealth of historical and cultural attractions, including Amish markets, arts and antiques, the Dover International Speedway, slots and harness racing, and dozens of museums and historic sites, most of which offer free admission. Stay here: Little Creek Inn , 2623 N. Little Creek Road, 302-730-1300. The circa 1860 Italianate three-story inn has five rooms decorated with antiques, reproductions and custom imported linens, and welcomes children older than 12 and well-behaved dogs.

Every year, new restaurants, stores and other attractions pop up on the Delaware shore. This year is no exception. The list below is a sampling of some of the more interesting places that have recently opened their doors, as wel as some beach standbys. Rehoboth Beach What's new Little Egg Harbor Soap, 129 Rehoboth Ave., lehsoap.com. This is the third location and the first in Delaware for the New Jersey-based fancy-soap retailer, founded in 1997. The shop sells blocks of house-made soaps in attractive colors and scents, as well as sugar scrubs, lip balms and lotions, all made with all-natural, nonanimal ingredients.

For the first time in years, Maryland's beloved National Premium is being brewed again - in Delaware. Tim Miller, an Easton realtor, bought the naming rights to the brand last year with plans to bring it back to the market for the first time since it was discontinued in 1996. Last we'd heard from him he'd secured the original recipe and was looking to hire a contract-brewer. That still hasn't happened, but for the past several weeks, he's started brewing the beer's first test batches at Fordham Brewing Company in Dover.

By the time Friday arrives we're all tired of playing in the same sandbox. We need a little freedom and creativity. A little time away from the co-worker who frequently piles up all of his dirt on your turf. Maybe if the playing field was a little bigger, say the size of a beach, we wouldn't have to draw a line in the sand. The Sandcastle Contest at Rehoboth Beach is the perfect place to test that theory — and maybe even work a bit on those team building skills. The annual event on the Delaware shore, sponsored by the Rehoboth Beach- Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce, draws hundreds of contestants and spectators and awards prizes for both adults and children.

My wife and I are both over 65 and we have found it too expensive to continue living in Maryland. We have purchased a new home in a 55 and over community in Delaware where the property taxes will be one-third what we pay in Baltimore County. Other costs such as car tags and license fees are also lower, and there is no state sales tax at all. We have met other people from Maryland who have bought homes in Delaware, and we all basically left or are leaving for the same reasons.

Every year, new restaurants, stores and other attractions pop up on the Delaware shore. This year is no exception. The list below is a sampling of some of the more interesting places that have recently opened their doors, as wel as some beach standbys. Rehoboth Beach What's new Little Egg Harbor Soap, 129 Rehoboth Ave., lehsoap.com. This is the third location and the first in Delaware for the New Jersey-based fancy-soap retailer, founded in 1997. The shop sells blocks of house-made soaps in attractive colors and scents, as well as sugar scrubs, lip balms and lotions, all made with all-natural, nonanimal ingredients.

In response to Randall Miller's letter about the Baltimore Grand Prix, I feel I must defend The Sun ("Why is the Sun determined to kill the Grand Prix?" May 15). Baltimore is also my hometown of 56 years. For the past three years I have been a Delaware resident, but I still can't completely break ties, so I buy The Sun every day. Of course Mr. Miller may feel good about sitting back and watching the race on television for free. Who could possibly be against that? Except maybe the taxpayers of Baltimore, who are footing the bill.

Water samples from two treatment plants in Baltimore beat out samples from plants in Washington, D.C., and Delaware last week in an annual taste test, according to the city's Department of Public Works. The "Water Taste Challenge" is held each year at the joint spring meeting of the Chesapeake Water Environmental Association and the Chesapeake Section of the American Water Works Association. This year's meeting was held May 11 at Six Flags America in Bowie. Public works departments from Baltimore, Washington and Delaware competed in the taste competition.

There's a new exhibit waiting to greet summer visitors at Delaware's Cape Henlopen State Park. And it's big. It's a 16-inch gun barrel that once roared from the deck of the battleship Missouri during World War II, and it now rests — 120 tons, 68 feet long — at the Battery 519 Museum at Fort Miles, which is part of Cape Henlopen State Park. The gun — officially known as Barrel 371 — arrived at Fort Miles last month. It is similar to the two 16-inch Army guns that defended the coast and the Delaware Bay from German U-boats.

Gino Gradkowski grew up following his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, but after the rival Ravens took him early in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft, the Delaware interior lineman couldn't have sounded more pumped about joining the Ravens in a Saturday conference call with Baltimore media. An example: “I'm elated right now because Baltimore plays football the way it's meant to be played.” And another: “I was hoping that Baltimore would be one of the places that I would end up.” And one more for the road: “I'm really excited to meet [veteran center Matt Birk]

With the third pick of the fourth round Saturday, the Ravens selected Delaware guard Gino Gradkowski. He is the second offensive lineman the Ravens have taken in their first four picks (Kelechi Osemele was the other). Gradkowski is 6-foot-3, 300 pounds. The younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, he transferred to Delaware from West Virginia and became one of the top linemen in the Colonial Athletic Association. When the pick was announced, Gradkowski was listed as a guard, but he can also play center.

Perdue Inc. plans to move the headquarters of its agribusiness unit from Salisbury, where the poultry company is based, to Seaford, Del. The company said Tuesday it will build a new office building for the growing Perdue AgriBusiness at a still-undetermined site in the Delaware town, replacing a 40-year-old facility on Zion Church Road in Salisbury. The new Seaford location is expected to house about 150 executive and support personnel for the wholly-owned subsidiary that processes and exports agricultural products such as grain, feed and fertilizer.

I found your article and interview with Justin Sausville ("'Jeopardy!' champ Justin Sausville, the only question is how long he will have to keep his results a secret," Aug. 15) to be both entertaining as well as enlightening. My enlightenment comes from the fact that Justin and his wife will be moving to Delaware, yet he will be on staff at a Maryland hospital. I read that neither he nor his wife is from Delaware. Delaware certainly isn't more beautiful than Cecil County, especially the waterfront areas around Northeast.

Let's begin with the premise that no team ever comes out of the NFL draft and says: "Well, that didn't go very well. " No team ever says: "Boy, we really screwed that up. What were we thinking?" Instead, every team says it had a productive draft. And got exactly the players it wanted. And is (pick one) thrilled, ecstatic, euphoric to have them. So what are we to make of the Ravens' 2012 draft, now that the whole thing is finally over? (Tell me, can the league and the TV networks drag the draft out any further?

The Obama administration's move to open the mid- and South Atlantic coasts to offshore oil and gas exploration is scheduled to get a public airing in Annapolis on Wednesday. The Annapolis session is one of a series being held from Florida to New Jersey to take public comments on the Interior Department's proposal to permit seismic and other testing off the Atlantic coast from Delaware Bay to just south of Cape Canaveral, FL The administration had proposed lifting the long-standing ban on Atlantic offshore exploration in 2010, but then reinstated it in the wake of the massive Deepwater Horizon drilling rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.  Last month, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Atlantic testing was back on as part of President Obama's "all-of-the-above" energy strategy.