Sussex

Sussex County covers the southern third of Delaware, the broad agricultural-and-beach country running from Kent’s southern line down to the Maryland and Virginia borders. The terrain is flat coastal plain — pine and farmland in the interior, salt marsh and tidal bays along the inland edge of the beaches, and the Atlantic shore running north–south for about 30 miles. Anchor towns include Lewes (the original Dutch settlement at the mouth of Delaware Bay), Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach, and Fenwick Island, with smaller inland communities at Georgetown, Seaford, Milford, Millsboro, and Selbyville. Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware Seashore State Park, Fenwick Island State Park, and Trap Pond State Park (the northernmost natural stand of bald cypress in the country) handle the public lands. Most trips here are summer-beach driven. Rehoboth carries the largest crowds — boardwalk, restaurants, outlet shopping just outside town; Bethany and Dewey run quieter family-and-young-adult itineraries respectively; Lewes handles the historical and ferry-to-Cape-May side. Spring and fall offer easier driving; winter quiets most of the towns down to year-round residents.