re: I’m not 100% sold that Delaware exists

Deleware is an odd state. The very northern area (Wilmington and the surrounding towns) is just over the line from the Philly area. The majority of the rest of the state is a peninsula (connected to the Norfolk Va area via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel) and is very rural and agrarian. The southern part feels a lot like western MA or central VA if you take out Charlottesville. It is a bit like Rhode Island in that it is difficult to find some characteristic that defines it.