Different Town, Different Zoo

I had to deal with the Navy all morning.  At least they loosened the purse strings and paid me my back pay.  They had me fill out two forms for my retirement and submit them in triplicate with original signatures (really?).  Everything from banking information to tax withholdings, you name it – they asked it.  Yet when I call they know nothing about me.  They sent my back pay by check to the house I gave my daughter – even though my new address is on the form.  I requested direct deposit but they sent a check because they had yet to enter my account number and banks RTN into the system.  Lastly they screwed up the tax status I asked for and now want me to fix it.  The only problem is I cannot get into the system because they only input new users on the 4^th of the month and it wasn’t done this month! 

To take my mind off the ineptitude of my favorite military service we headed to Salisbury.  Lori herd they have a nice zoo there so I do a quick Google search to get the street address since it was no listed in my GPS and we are off.  The Salisbury Zoological Park is a mall facility but it is laid out to maximize the exhibits.  It has everything from American waterfowl to wallabies to  ocelots and jaguars.  The exhibits and large and clean and allow close up, safe viewing of the animals.  Since it was a cool rainy day for our visit several of the animals were not visible because they were in their dens staying warm and dry (unlike the two humans who were visiting them).  The Salisbury Zoological Park is free and has a very nice playscape and picnic area by the west entrance.  As always, please remember to leave a donation to keep places like this operational.

Laying Down to Keep His Legs Warm

Wallabies

Our next stop was an Atlas Obscura find, The Transpeninisular Midpoint Marker. 

Mason-Dixon Marker

 

 This marker is at the western end of the border that separates Delaware to the north from Maryland to the south. Standing at the marker, the border of the states makes a 90 degree turn keeping Delaware to the east.  The large marker in the picture is the one established by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon.  Two other makers from surveys circa 1750 are also at this location.  While standing on the Mason – Dixon line taking pictures I recalled the commercial of the gecko standing at a marker in the middle of a street that separated two states and I began to wonder if there was anything like that close by.  A quick Google search turned up Delmar. Delmar is a unique town in that Delmar, DE and Delmar, MD functioned as separate entities for a number of years. Each town having state (or county) funding for its own school system and other government provided services. It wasn’t until 1924 when sewer was brought into the town that some cooperation began to appear.  In the case of the sewer system both towns maintained the outfall with Maryland paying the expenses and billing Delaware for half of the cost.   

Post Marked in Two States

Cooperation really developed when the Lions Club voted to sponsor a project for consolidation of the two school systems.  This was bitterly contested for years but, in 1949 the Junior and Senior high schools were consolidated using Delaware facilities and four years later grades 4 through 6 were consolidated in Maryland facilities.  Today you can walk down Line Rd with one foot in Delaware and one in Maryland – but you’ll probably get run over because this is busy Rt 54!