Who’s the best person to fill us in on the state of Delaware?
The governor, of course.
Keep reading to learn what Delaware Governor Jack Markell had to say about his
home state that might surprise you, and find out his favorite way to get around
(hint: it’s not the train).
Peter Greenberg: I was here a couple of weeks ago and I love
this state. For most of my friends, Delaware is a flyover state, or an Amtrak
stop on their way from Washington, D.C., to New York. How, as a governor, do you
let people know where you are, and what you are?
Jack Markell: The best way is to get them here to check it out
for themselves. It is a small state— from top to bottom takes just a couple
hours, and even less to get across. I-95 runs through our state, and many people
just stay on 95, but there is a lot to do if you get off. We actually have a
brand-new travel center on I-95 in Delaware that is worth checking out.
PG: Most people who
I know in Washington, D.C., know Delaware because of the beach. But that’s about
all they know. They don’t know how far back it goes in history. At most, they
know it was one of the original colonies, and it was one of the original states
to ratify The Constitution.
JM: Not
just one of the original, we were the original. We were the first state as of
December 7, 1787.
PG: When you think
about it, there’s so much history here. You’ve got places like New Castle, where
they have buildings that are even older than Colonial Williamsburg.
JM: We’re very proud
of our role in starting the nation. So there is a lot to see historically,
culturally and in terms of natural beauty. I’m a big bike rider, and one of the
things I do every year is ride the entire length of the state.
PG: You picked the
one state where you can do it.
JM: That’s true.
It’s just a fantastic way to see our state.
PG: From a much
bigger perspective, we’re dealing in the year 2010 with at least two big wake-up
calls: A volcano erupts in Iceland and all of a sudden people realize, “Travel
is a pretty big story.” We have an oil spill in the Gulf and it’s, “Oh my God,
travel is a pretty big story.” It is such an economic power. As a governor of a
state, how do you convince your own citizens about the power of travel and
tourism? The example I would give you is the governor of Alabama told me
recently, “Look, this is not just a travel story about whether a fisherman is
out of work. Our entire tax base, at least in Alabama, is based on resort hotel
occupancy taxes of people coming to visit us in the summer. Now we have a budget
crisis where we can’t even open our schools, or pay our teachers, or provide
essential services, because we’re not getting that income.”
JM: Fortunately,
we’re not quite in that situation. Obviously like many states we face
challenging times, but in Delaware our citizens get it because it is a small
enough state that they get out and about. Like your friends, they certainly know
the beaches. But they also know the Brandywine Valley, the Winterthur Museum &
Country Estate, The Hagley Museum, and Delaware Art Museum.
PG: Here in
Wilmington, of course, you can’t get around anywhere without the DuPont family.
JM: No, they have an
amazing legacy. And they have preserved some of their most incredible
treasures.
PG: As a person who
was born here, what is the one thing that you like to do that is not in the
brochure?
JM: I’m more of an
outdoors person. I love seeing the state by bike and hiking the trails of our
state parks. I live very close to the Brandywine State Park, but there’s also
White Clay Creek, Bellevue, Cape Henlopen, and many others. Besides road biking,
we’ve got great mountain biking and hiking.
PG: See,
anyone who tells me they’ve got great mountain biking opportunities, I ask where
the nearest orthopedic surgery opportunities are. I just want to make sure that
people are ready to do that.
JM: We’ve got great
orthopedic surgeons as well.
PG: We were recently
here for CBS doing a piece on the lesser-known national and state parks in
America and, of course, Delaware does not have a national park.
JM: Not yet,
although we think that might change soon. Senator Carper is hard at work at that
with the Department of the Interior in Washington, and we think that might
change soon.
PG: Where is that
going to be?
JM: It is going to
be a collection of places, not all in one place.
PG: So it will be
the Delaware Amalgamated National Park … and brewery.
Learn more about Delaware’s Parks & Outdoor Adventures.
JM: We
do have some wonderful breweries. Just a couple of weeks ago I was in Milton
signing a bill allowing our breweries to expand. The Dogfish Head Brewery is
very popular beer, and we have one up in Green Lake called Twin Lakes, and
others in between.
PG: One of the
things that distinguishes Delaware—and people don’t give it enough credit—is
culture.
JM: Absolutely. If
you like the visual arts, we’ve got the Delaware Art Museum and the historic
Winterthur Estate is just an amazing place with antique American furniture and
gardens. We’ve got the performing arts at The DuPont Theatre, the Delaware
Theater Company and the symphony.
PG: And they’ve even got a theater inside the Hotel DuPont.
JM: For a state of
our size, only 885,000 people, we’re a great location. It’s easy to get to with
some really tremendous cultural opportunities.
PG: When you look
around the country, the airlines have reduced their capacity. Fewer planes means
fewer seats. Fewer seats means higher airfares. This is a great place to get to
if you’re taking a train or driving.
Learn more about Delaware’s breweries in this video: Delaware Art & Artisans.
JM: We’re
an hour from Baltimore, half an hour from Philadelphia, and a couple hours each
from New York and Washington, D.C. So we’re just a few hours drive for tens of
millions of Americans.
PG: Let’s talk about
airlift for a second because you have a problem there in terms of airlines
serving the state.
JM: Well actually,
we’re only half an hour from the Philadelphia airport and about hour and 15
minutes from BWI.
PG: Your biggest
airport, quite frankly, is Dover Air Force Base.
JM: We have a
tremendous air force base in Dover. We’ve also got a big presence of the
military in New Castle County through the National Guard. We’re very proud of
both of them, and they’re big economic generators for the state.
PG: What is the
biggest challenge you have in terms of travel and tourism?
Get a Vice Presidential view of the state with Travel Joe Biden’s Delaware.
JM: I
think it is probably is about awareness. With a limited budget it is about
breaking through. But once people come here, they see it. We just need to get
more and more people to check it out because once you come you’re going to want
to come back.
PG: Before you were
governor you were in the private sector. What lessons have you applied from the
private sector to try to get things organized?
JM: When you’re in the private sector, you say, “What do we do better than
others, and how do we take advantage of that?” It is the same thing here. It’s
really about marketing, when you combine our location, all the things to do, to
see, how easy it is to get here, how easy it is to be once you are here. We need
to get that message out.
PG: Now I’m going to
ask you not a question as a governor, but as a traveler. Every once and a while
you go outside the state. What angers you most as a traveler?
JM: These days I’d
have to say it is about the experience of the airlines. You know, less and less
space, fewer and fewer planes, as you mentioned. It can be quite the frustrating
experience.
PG: Just ask that
JetBlue flight attendant. But seriously, if you talk to your other fellow
governors, I’m sure they have the same problem. I mean, in terms of a growing
amount of anger from their own constituents about just being to go from A to B.
Now what about train service? When Joe Biden became vice president, all of a
sudden people discovered he’d been taking the train for years, right?
JM: The
Wilmington Amtrak station is one of the busiest in the country. It’s just right
in the middle of the Northeast quarter. It is actually being renovated right
now, and it will be finished within a few months. It’s going to be beautiful.
PG: Have you
actually thought about increasing the rail network?
JM: We would love
to, but obviously it is incredibly expensive. However, the Obama administration
last year did put out some additional money and Delaware got a small planning
grant.
PG: One of the
biggest arguments for alleviating plane delays is high-speed train service on
short-haul routes.
JM: There is no
question, and when it comes to the main Northeast Corridor, New York to D.C.,
Delaware is right there we need to be. But we would love to see more through
parts of Maryland and other parts of the region too.
To hear the entire interview, check out the Sept. 4 episode of Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio.
Photos (as indicated) via: DEStateParks.com, Iron Hill Brewery
Related articles on PeterGreenberg.com:
To learn more about Delaware’s Art & Artisans (and its craft breweries), check
out the video below:
