After about a week in Delaware’s portion of the DelMarVa peninsula, we headed towards Maryland and the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, which has eighty-one 5-star reviews online!
The route took us through Cambridge Maryland and a roadside reader board related to Harriet Tubman. My history isn’t as strong as it should be so while I know of Harriet Tubman, I don’t know a lot about Harriet Tubman, so we stopped. This was the site of the plantation that she escaped from. There was also a sign with a quick summary of her life along with a picture of Underground Railroad routes.
This made me want to learn more, so I began researching books about her life when Google pointed out that the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center was only 5 miles from our destination; the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. We decided to make time for both.
Our morning drive was sunny with blue sky but clouds started to form as we approached the Blackwater Refuge visitor center. Upon arrival, we heard one of the workers say they’d received a tornado warning and within just few minutes, the sun was extinguished by slate grey, ominous clouds and we found ourselves in one of the heaviest downpours of the trip! Then, as quickly as the deluge started, it stopped. The heaviest clouds dispersed but high clouds and light, intermittent rain continued for the rest of the afternoon.
The Refuge visitor center was small and vaguely uncomfortable. It was awkward in a refuge – a place of protection from danger – to view displays that were mostly taxidermy. It was also, however, informative, providing easy identification of the different duck species and birds of prey common to the area.
We’d been to several other wild-life refuges during our RV travels, and this one had all the right stuff – a large variety of trees, water, reeds, marsh, etc., so we’d expected to see birds of every variety, but we were shut out. Nada, Nein, Non, No, Nope.
Not sure if it was the day’s strange weather or the season (late May) but, sadly, the only birds we saw were a couple of egrets and a soaked, scraggly looking osprey off in the distance.
The refuge wasn’t to blame, but it was still disappointing, so I was glad we’d stumbled upon the information for the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center, which saved the day.
The Harriet Tubman Center made good use of films, murals, displays and exhibits to highlight not only her involvement in the Underground Railroad, but her work as a Civil War spy and nurse. I never knew that later she also worked alongside Susan B. Anthony on the suffrage movement. Her strength, courage, determination, faith, and humanitarian efforts were remarkable! She led a difficult, but fascinating, life and it was inspiring to learn more about her and the history of the Underground Railroad.
There were 2 things she said that have really given me pause since:
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and change the world.
Harriet Tubman
She sure had the strength, patience, and passion. I’m not sure I’ve ever dug that deep, but what an inspiration!
And second…
If you are tired, keep going. If you are hungry, keep going. If you are scared, keep going. If you want to taste freedom, keep going.
Harriet Tubman
We often reflect on our good fortune to be in the USA in the year 2022. Freedom. It’s all we’ve ever known and I hope we never know any differently. Her words also remind us of its fragility. It’s unnerving when freedoms that have been hard fought and earned because of people like her, war veterans, civil rights leaders, gay rights leaders, etc. are taken for granted or placed in jeopardy. We each have a responsibility to vote to keep our form of government and our freedoms intact. We all have the right to vote but more than that, we have a responsibility to do so.
These last few years have affected each of us in different ways, but Tubman was correct in saying “If you are tired, keep going…if you want to taste freedom, keep going.” We may all have to dig deeper to “change the world”.
