Writers have to know everything

I'm ashamed to say I'm having trouble figuring out how I'm supposed to obtain information I need to write my book. I'm ashamed because I'm a librarian (well I have an MLS even if I don't work as a librarian) and should therefore know how to obtain any information I need. But I've found when writing that sometimes it feels like I need to know everything, because I never know what the newest type of information I'm going to want or need to throw into my book.

But here's the thing. I do know how to obtain lots of information. For instance, I had to pick out which branch of the military a character of mine was in and determine which base he had been assigned to. I was able to do that without a problem; just took a little bit of research. When I needed to figure out who would investigate a death on a cruise ship, and what the basic protocol would be, a little research again dug up the answer.

But some of the information I need is so specific, and at such a small level of detail, that so far no amount of research is helping. Like right now I'm working on a scene where Abi, my main character, has to get lost on the streets of Dover, Delaware while looking for a restaurant. She gets lost because her GPS doesn't recognize that the street it wants to send her on is a one-way street, but as I was writing I realized I don't know if there are any one-way streets in Dover. I also need to pick a restaurant in a somewhat low-income part of Dover, but when I tried to find out which "neighborhoods" in Dover are low-income I couldn't find anything. I couldn't even find any references to neighborhoods in Dover at all.

So do I go on a roadtrip to Dover? For what amounts to four pages of my book? That seems a bit extreme to me. Sure, if I were setting the entire novel in Dover, then a roadtrip would be in order. But for a single scene? I don't think its worth it. But how am I supposed to find the information I need? Are there Dover, Delaware experts out there? Anyone reading this know anything about Dover?

This is what I mean when I say writers seem to have to know everything, because the type of information we need is so specific, so detail driven that it's hard to find through research.

And don't get me started on the crimes. I lucked out in finding a resource who could help me figure out how to poison someone, but now I need info on a few other crimes. I've even considered walking into my local police station to ask for help. But 1.) I'm afraid to sound like a nut job and 2.) the crimes I need to committ in my books are not the kind that suburbian police officers deal with on even a rare occassion.

But even if I'm often frustrated. Even if I sometimes spend hours searching the Internet for a tiny piece of minutiae that I can't find... I am not quitting. I'll keep searching, keep asking others for help, and, goddamnit, if I have to I'll roadtrip it to Dover.