New Castle Historic District is a 5-minute drive south of the hotel — one of the most complete Colonial-era streetscapes on the eastern seaboard. Walk the Green (laid out by William Penn in 1682), the brick sidewalks and cobblestone lanes, and the concentration of 17th-, 18th- and 19th-century homes. New Castle Court House Museum on Delaware Street was Delaware's original state house and a National Historic Landmark — free admission, guided tours, the very room where the Delaware Assembly declared independence from Pennsylvania in June 1776 (three weeks before the Declaration).
Battery Park at the foot of Delaware Street runs along the Delaware River with lawn, a pier, playground, walking paths and open views of the shipping traffic. Amstel House (built 1738, home of Governor Nicholas Van Dyke) and Read House & Gardens (a 22-room Federal-era mansion) round out the historic-house museum tour. Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Green is one of the oldest continuously-operating parishes in the country.
Wilmington Riverfront — 15 minutes north via I-95 — offers Frawley Stadium for Wilmington Blue Rocks minor-league baseball (April-September), the Delaware Contemporary museum, Riverfront restaurants and the Kalmar Nyckel tall ship dock. Delaware Park casino and racetrack is 10 minutes north for slots, table games and thoroughbred racing (spring-fall meet).
Brandywine du Pont estates — Hagley, Winterthur, Nemours — are 20-25 minutes north for gardens, decorative-arts museums and the Louis XVI mansion. Christiana Mall is 15 minutes south for tax-free shopping and dinner options. Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square PA is 40 minutes north for the Pierre du Pont conservatory. Spring peaks with A Day in Old New Castle; summer runs historic-district walking tours; fall brings foliage on the brick streets; winter is quieter with historic-district lantern tours and Immanuel Church Christmas events.