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Wilmington, Delaware...Wilmington, Delaware is a great getaway that the entire family can enjoy. Whether you want to bring history to life, get back in touch with nature, stimulate the imagination, enjoy good entertainment or are just looking for unique experiences, Greater Wilmington is the perfect choice. Located midway between New York City and Washington, less than 30 minutes south of Philadelphia on Interstate-95, Wilmington is readily accessible by car, train or plane...and there's lots to see and do.
History comes alive at Hagley Museum & Library. In 1802, E.I. du Pont settled in Wilmington along the banks of the Brandywine River and began harnessing its power to produce high-quality gunpowder, thus laying the foundation for the famous DuPont Company. Today, visitors can see the machinery in action, watch a gunpowder demonstration, visit the workers' village and experience first-hand how children lived and learned in the nineteenth century or tour Eleutherian Mills, the ancestral home of the DuPont family in Delaware.
USA Today describes Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library as one of the country's "...ten great places of historic proportions". Henry Francis du Pont's unparalleled collection of American decorative arts is on display inside the 175-room mansion. The Once Upon a Family Tour is specifically designed to introduce children to the lifestyle of the landed gentry during the early part of the twentieth century. Younger visitors are fascinated by the hands-on approach in the Touch It Room with its colonial-era kitchen, 1750's parlor, general store from the 1830's and collection of kitchenware, tea set and accessories, baskets of wooden toys and dress-up clothes. Be sure to spend some time in Enchanted Woods, a three-acre garden believed to have been fashioned by the fairies who once played with young Henry and his sister and now entertain children of all ages.
Across the street, a world of discovery awaits inside the Delaware Museum of Natural History. An interactive, traveling exhibit titled Ice Age Imperials, on display through January 5, recreates a period when fierce cats, enormous mastodons and wooly mammoths, six-feet tall beavers and other giant creatures roamed the earth. The museum's permanent collection features life-size dinosaurs, a giant squid, an African Watering Hole, a Barrier Reef and an expansive collection of birds, eggs and shells.
The Delaware Art Museum is known for its outstanding collections of American Illustration and Pre-Raphaelite Art, but it is also very child-oriented. On-going programs in the Kids' Corner, Sunday Studio Series on the last Sunday of the month, Glory of Stories every Friday, Stroller Tours and Summer Art Camp are extremely popular.
Climb aboard the Wilmington and Western Railroad and experience the golden age of railroading. Passengers travel through the scenic Red Clay Valley in antique coaches pulled by one of the country's oldest coal-burning steam locomotives or an early-generation diesel locomotive. Marshall Steam Museum at Auburn Heights in nearby Yorklyn boasts the world's largest collection of operating steam cars. During public Steamin' Days held the first Sunday of the month, June through November, these automotive beauties are out and about and visitors can actually go for a ride in them and the 1/8-size steam trains of the Auburn Valley Railroad.
The Delaware Children's Museum in the heart of Wilmington's Riverfront is the state's first and only kid-centric museum designed for tots to tweens. This giant indoor playground has 37,000 square feet of interactive fun designed to stimulate and stretch imaginations and right now DCM is hosting a special traveling Wizard of Oz exhibition created by Miami Children's Museum and licensed by Warner Bros. Consumer Products. Just south of DCM is the DuPont Environmental Education Center located on the edge of the 212-acre Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge which is operated by the Delaware Nature Society. This free attraction showcases many species of amphibians, birds, mammals, fish, reptiles and plants that make their home in the refuge. Visitors can explore interactive exhibits, go dip netting, take a guided walk led by a trained naturalist and participate in free or low-cost programs for students, youth groups, families and adults. The Brandywine Zoo in Downtown Wilmington is a Delaware jewel. Open all day, every day, throughout the year, this family-friendly zoo houses more than 100 species of animals including an Amur tiger and playful North American River Otters.
The Delaware Children's Theatre in Downtown Wilmington has been presenting family classics for over 25 years. The DuPont Theatre in the Hotel du Pont hosts a wonderful Children's Series every year. Wilmington's newest entertainment venue, World Cafe Live at the Queen on Market Street, holds Peanut Butter and Jam Sessions on Saturday mornings with an all-you-can-eat, kid-friendly, lunch buffet.
The area's newest attraction is Go Ape! Delaware's first zip line adventure course has just opened in Lums Pond State Park in Bear located just minutes south of Wilmington off Interstate-95. In addition to 5 zip lines that travel through the treetops over a 200-acre pond, the 2-3 hour course includes a challenging series of Tarzan swings, rope ladders, bridges and trapezes.
It's all here...and it's all tax-free! For more information, go to www.VisitWilmingtonDE.com or call (302) 295-2210.
The Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau is a non-profit organization founded in 1978, chartered by the Governor of Delaware, the New Castle County Executive and the Mayor of Wilmington. Its mission is to serve as the community's customer-focused destination marketing organization, generating economic growth through leisure travel and meetings development by aggressively marketing attractions, facilities, amenities and services for visitors.
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