Delaware is America's second-smallest state, and it tends to get lost in the densely populated mid-Atlantic group of states that surround it.  The du Ponts put Delaware on the map in terms of industry and finance, but few outside its neighboring states appreciate Delaware as a vacation destination.  As with its neighbors, Maryland and New Jersey, it's the seashore that offers the most popular recreation opportunities. Besides, Rehoboth Beach is the closest beach resort to Washington, D.C., and has long been a refuge for the tribe of legislators and bureaucrats who flee the district's summer heat. In fact, the beach town is often called the nation's second capital because so many Washingtonians vacation there and, following in their wake have come chic shopping and gourmet dining.

Also like other states along this part of the coast, Delaware is noted for its seafood. As in Maryland, you can fill up on crab cakes, as well as other fruit of the sea.

Delaware is noted for its chickens, too, but in a different way.  Broilers (chickens from five to 12 weeks old) are the state's leading cash farm product, but poultry production does not make for a pretty countryside.  Pretty more aptly describes the historic centers in many of Delaware's oldest towns, starting with Lewes, the state's first settlement, which dates from 1631.  Those interested in the history of DuPont, officially E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company,  and/or the du Pont family will want to spend some time in Wilmington, in the far north of the state. (It's a curiosity that, although the family name is du Pont, the company uses the name as DuPont.)  Finally, and not to be forgotten, there is shopping. Delaware does not levy a sales tax.

Who goes there? As mentioned, residents of the District of Columbia frequent the beach resorts in summer, as do some New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians.  When do they go? For recreation and relaxation, this is a summertime destination.

Order muskrat at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Smyrna. Trapped locally in January and February, the creatures are parboiled and sauteed.

Go windsurfing or jet skiing on the bay at Dewey Beach, or try skim boarding along the ocean's edge. Night life hops there, too.

Buy your hot sauces at Peppers in Rehoboth Beach; more than 1,200 kinds are available, one so hot you have to sign a waiver before sampling it.

Kayak with a guide or on a self-guided float in Rehoboth Bay to see ducks, herons and shorebirds, or in Delaware Bay for a close-up look at nesting osprey, oystercatchers and terns — and local lighthouses.

Practice you sky diving in Laurel.

Test your GPS skills by participating in geocaching in Delaware's state parks. (If you wish to place a cache in a state park, you must complete an application and obtain a permit from the park. See www.destateparks.com)

Rent a catamaran or sailboard for your fun on the water at Fenwick Island State Park.

Go surf fishing at the beaches in these parks: Cape Henlopen Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware Seashore Delaware Seashore State Park and Fenwick Island State Park. For rules on fishing state lands, see www.destateparks.com/know/rules/rules.htm#7.1

Hike or bike the 3.6-mile Junction and Breakwater Trail on the southwestern side of Cape Henlopen State Park. Also, off the coast of the park, see the lighthouse commissioned by President John Quincy Adams and removed from service only in 1994.

In Wilmington, attend opera in the city's 1871 Victorian opera house.

Charter a boat for daytime or nighttime fishing; fish in Delaware Bay or on the ocean.

Sample seafood chowder and help choose the winner of the Great Seafood Chowder Challenge at the University of Delaware Coast Day in Lewes. The day's signature competition, however, is the Crab Cake Cook-Off, and if that is not enough, a third event is the Delaware Bay Oyster Appetizer Competition.  Then, buy samples on site, or go to dinner for servings of the seafoods Delaware is noted for.

Go horseback riding on the beach or along inland equestrian trails.

Help the blacksmith hammer out parts for a cannon or help the laundress at Fort Delaware, a state park on Pea Patch Island off Delaware City. A Union fortress and prison for Confederate prisoners of war, the fort is now the setting for an interactive Civil War living history program presented by authentically clad interpreters who take you to the summer of 1863.  Also, hike in the park and, in summer, look for nesting areas for any of nine species of egrets, herons and ibis.

Tone up your ice skating at a public rink used by some top figure skaters in training, the University of Delaware Public Ice Arena in Newark.

Tour the du Pont estates in the Brandywine Valley. Hagley Museum encompasses the gunpowder mills that were the origin of a corporate empire, along with the first du Pont family home.

Enjoy a tax-free shopping spree in a state without sales tax.  Make that outlet shopping in and around Rehoboth or antique hunting in southern Delaware. There are more than 500 antique dealers in more than 80 multiple-dealer cooperatives, antique shops, flea markets, country auctions and auction houses in Sussex County.

Take a walk in Dover, site of the new First State Heritage Park, a park with no boundaries. The self-guided walking tour, with audio wand, tells you much of Dover's early history and leads you to 29 historic sites in the state's capital.

See a house where this can honestly be said: George Washington slept here. The house and a rich collection of other colonial era buildings line the streets of Old New Castle.

Go dolphin and whale watching off the coast. Take a sightseeing cruise, too.

Buy period clothing (the 18th century) at Common Goodes & Embellishments in New Castle. You can buy off-the-rack items or custom pieces.

Take up disc golf, which involves tossing a disc into a chain basket anchored on a pole. If you succeed on the first toss, it's a hole in one, etc. Six state parks have 18-hole courses: Brandywine Creek, Bellevue, White Clay Creek, Killens Pond, Cape Henlopen and Lums Pond.
See NASCAR racing at Dover International Speedway. Or, see the horses run at Delaware Park Racetrack in Wilmington.

See musical theater or a murder mystery, and enjoy a buffet dinner, at the New Candlelight Theatre in Ardentown.

For more information, consult the Delaware Tourism Office at www.visitdelaware.com

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