Beach Week in Rehoboth

Rehoboth beach

Despite the fact that I live about three hours from the Delaware beaches, I don't go there often. I like to go places that are much harder to get to and much less convenient, like Maine and Cape Cod. People tell me it's the same ocean, but I'm not so sure. 

But this summer I was awarded a week's stay in a condo in Rehoboth as part of a silent auction at a fundraiser for The Barker Adoption Foundation. 

Balcony time

The condo was a small studio with a queen-sized Murphy bed, so I invited my tiniest friend, Jane for the week of July 4 to July 11.  The location was primo—5th floor of the Edgewater House, a well-manicured and well-managed condominium building with a mix of knowledgeable full-time residents and a parade of baffled renters like us. Move-in day was challenging since everyone was dependent on one small elevator and we hadn't been tipped off to the location of the carts yet.  At one point during the arduous process Jane said “I can see why people stay in hotels.” 

We looked forward to watching the Rehoboth fireworks on July 5th from our balcony, as did hundreds of people on the beach facing south. But the wind had a different plan and all we could see was a huge plume of dark gray smoke rapidly headed in our direction. People were fleeing the beach as if there had been a shark sighting. Apologia from city officials.

The beach was crowded, and some people set up their territorial encampments at dawn, but I was always able to drag my chair to the “front row” and commune with my beloved ocean which offers certainty, infinity, spirituality, and comfort. 

Jane at the pool

Jane preferred the no-muss, no-fuss, no-sand pool. One day she had the brilliant idea of ordering lunch delivered poolside from Capriotti's Sandwich Shop. We split The Bobbie, a mix of turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing that put me right into a triptophan-induced slumber.

At the pool, before the Bobbie sandwich

When it rained we were obligated to go to the Tanger Outlets which started well with a good haul at the J. Crew Factory, but became frustrating as we learned that like a devil’s trident, there are three distant parts to Tanger,  Bayside, Surfside, and Seaside. After a while we realized that even the expensive shops like Vuori and Lululemon were using the outlets as dumping grounds for bad color lots, burnt orange, maroon, and forest green.

Jane was in the enviable position of trying to gain weight so I decided I would help her out. We sat at the bar for our first dinner at Ava’s at the Beach and were asked to move so a party of 6 could sit there. The bartender, Treasure, moved us to another section of the bar that she said was the best seat in the house. We glared at the party of six, judging their drink orders and trying to decide if they were from NJ or PA. We invited Treasure to share our fries and she did. 

Our friend Susan drove in from Wilmington one day and we had ice cream at the Ice Cream Store and then a disappointing dinner at the much touted DiFebo's. We had a very good sausage, mushroom, and onion pizza from Louie's Pizza,  great lobster rolls at Mason's, vinegary fries from Thrasher's, and we bought gift buckets of caramel corn from Fisher’s.  Our favorite coffee shop was Cafe A GoGo.

One night at The Blue Hen we had a crazy all-appetizer meal of biscuits, stracciatella dip, and crispy roman artichokes. Afterwards we stopped at Freddie's Beach Bar to hear some soulful but (mostly) bad karaoke performances. One performer sang Total Eclipse of the Heart, and the singer Bonnie Tyler died that night. I think it was a coincidence.

Salmon BLT

Jane took a barre class at Sea Barre Fitness and we continued on to Lewes, Delaware where we perused the shoppes, and had a great salmon BLT at Lewes Oyster House.

A week at the beach is inherently relaxing, but Jane and I took several days to fully unwind, create a nest, and establish routines in our 600-square-feet of shared space. I knew Jane had hit the sweet spot when she said,  “I don’t have to do anything!”

Sunrise

But a few days after that we had to do something. Pack and go home. As we drove back into muggy Washington, DC and unloaded the car, I immediately missed the gentle sea breezes and the soundtrack of crashing waves, and wanted to go back.

A rainbow on our last day