Plans for 8/1-8/3 Beach Weekend

Whew!  What a week it's been!  I came down with a nasty summer flu/cold and haven't had much time to miss the sun and surf.  I'm hoping to be back to almost normal by tonight so that I can head to my beach house and have a restful weekend by the sea.


It's sort of hard to believe that tomorrow is August 1.  Summer is flying by and I will soon be loving the cooler temps and smaller crowds at the DE/MD resort towns.  For now, there's still plenty of things left to do while the weather is warm.


FREE Circus

From July 28-August 16, you can take your family to a FREE circus at Jolly Roger Amusement Park at 30th St. in Ocean City.  Shows run at 5 PM and 9:30 PM nightly.

OC Tall Ship Event

From August 1 - September 1, the El Galeon Andalucía will be docked in Ocean City at 3rd St. and Chicago Ave. (bayside).  It will be open to the public from 10 AM to 6 PM daily.  Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.  This event is sponsored by the National Air, Sea, and Space Foundation.

Berlin Peach Festival



Berlin Peach Festival

On Saturday August 2, head to beautiful, historic Berlin, MD for the 6th Annual Peach Festival.  From 11 AM to 4 PM, you can enjoy food, craft vendors, entertainment, a Peach Pie baking contest AND a Peach Pie eating contest (all I can think about is that scene in "Stand By Me"... ugh).  Admission is free and the action is taking place on/around Main St.




If you're in the Rehoboth Beach area, there is so much going on this weekend.  Here are a few of my favorites :


36th Annual Sandcastle Contest
Saturday August 2 at Fishermans Beach (north end of Rehoboth boardwalk).  Registration is at 8:30 AM and judging is at 3 PM.  Visit www.beach-fun.com to get details.


Antiques Show
Saturday August 2.  Nearly 60 high quality dealers participate in the show that features 18th century to early 20th century antiques. Lewes Historic Complex, 110 Shipcarpenter Street, Lewes. Visit www.historiclewes.org or call 302-645-7670 for more information.

2nd Annual Taste of Rehoboth
Saturday August 2 from 5:00-8:00pm, Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach. Event will include live cooking and food samples from Rehoboth's best restaurants and notable chefs with Dogfish Head beer and wine parings. Live music, live & silent auction. Open to all ages. Advanced tickets $50, $60 at the door. Tickets may be purchased at:  aMuse, Eden, Espuma, Hobo's, Rehoboth Beach Main Street, Azura. Benefits Rehoboth Food Bank.


Let's hope for good weather and plenty of parking spaces!  Enjoy!

A Weekend Without the Beach is Like....Not a Weekend At All :(

It's Thursday and, usually, I'm telling you about all the wonderful goings-on at the beach this coming weekend.  Sadly, I will not be joining you this week.  I need to stay in Wilmington to attend two bridal showers - one Saturday and one on Sunday and have dinner with some friends on Saturday evening.  I guess I should also take care of some things I've been neglecting at my Wilmington house like...everything!


For those of you who will be there, you have a few good options this weekend:


Friday 7/25
Check out the 78th Army Band at the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand at 8 PM.  The band consists of over 30 musicians from the Mid-Atlantic region.  Read their story here and go early to get parking!




Saturday 7/26
Boats, Buttons, Beans, and Beer! Walking + Brewery Tour:  This sounds like fun.  It starts at 10 AM at Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton then heads in to historic Milton for a 45 minute walking tour.  It ends back at the brewery.  Visit www.historicmilton.org for details.


The White Party @ Indian River Life Saving Station and Museum:  This event benefits the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation.  Tickets are $225/person ($155 is tax deductible).  Click here for more information.


Indian River Marina Seafood + Arts Festival:  From 10 AM til 6 PM at the Indian River Marina, you can view art by local artists, listen to live music, eat some seafood, and let the kids participate in children's activities.  Free with park admission.  www.destateparks.com

Ocean City's Boardwalk Oddities

This past weekend, I took my niece and her boyfriend to the boardwalk in Ocean City.  It was a packed Saturday night and there was no lack of entertainment - sanctioned or otherwise!

We saw this guy (I'm calling him the Gold Squeaky Man): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQfskOu9gUE , which was really funny.  We also saw the Boardwalk Bagpiper (which was more entertaining when a couple of young girls starting Irish Step Dancing in front of him), lots of un-official Disney characters hanging around for photos for tips, Batman's Joker (also un-official), a violinist, a DJ, and countless people dressed in clothing that was waaaaayyy too small for their bodies!

I finally got to go in to the Haunted House and was not disappointed - nothing about it has changed since I was 12 years old! 

We played a couple of games and lost some money.  We stopped for fudge and ice cream.  We were able to get a good parking space at the inlet lot and didn't have any trouble leaving (this time).

Honestly - you don't need to take a lot of money with you to the boards to get an evening full of entertainment.  For the price of parking, you can sit and people-watch or just check out the ridiculous t-shirts hanging in any of the boardwalk shirt shops and have a blast. 

I've been having such a good time stopping by the boards this summer.  I now know the meaning of T.H.O.T. and was able to eat a Fractured Prune doughnut "after-hours".  Life is sooo good!

Loving the Beach - Hating the Traffic

Yesterday, my 2 hour drive home turned in to a 4 hour crawl.  I wouldn't have minded so much if this was the first and only time that this happened to me this summer.  Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm when I'm leaving the resort area on Sundays. 

What can I do?  I have found that, if I leave super early in the morning (before 8 AM), I have no trouble at all.  The down side to that is that I miss out on an entire day at the beach.  Plus, I'm exhausted when I get home because I had to get up so early to pack, clean the beach house, and go through my usual OCD routine that I do every time I leave the place.


Last week, I left for home around 7:30 PM and that seemed to be OK.  There were no backups approaching Dewey and, except for some congestion in Rehoboth and high volume on Route 1, traffic wasn't terrible.  The only problem with leaving that late is that I have no time on Sunday evening to do laundry or mentally prepare myself for work on Monday morning  (I mean, watch "Real Housewives of New Jersey").


Making matters worse is the I495 closure.  Just when you think that you're almost home and you hop on I95 for that last leg of the journey, you hit another traffic jam. 


Here are some things that I have found helpful in dealing with (or avoiding) beach jams:


1.  Tune to AM 1380 on your car radio:  This station, provided by DELDOT,  gives you updated traffic information for all counties in Delaware (and you will be driving through all three of them!) and lets you know what the approximate delay time is for each major roadway.  This came in handy yesterday when I tuned in and found out that I95 had up to 30 minute delays from Route 1 to Route 202.  I successfully avoided that by getting on Route 13 and taking Route 141 to North Wilmington. 


2.  Timing is Everything:  As I mentioned above, you need to be creative with your departure and arrival times.  If you have the luxury of having Friday off, leave on Thursday evening around 7 PM to avoid I95 traffic and Rehoboth outlet and dinner traffic.  Leaving really late or really early is the key to avoiding jams altogether.


3.  Take Your Patience With You:  If you do get stuck in a jam, don't be a jerk.  Trying to ride up the shoulder, zipping in and out of lanes, and riding peoples asses is not going to make the situation better.  Chances are, the people in the vehicles around you are just as frustrated.  Why make it worse?  Where do you have to be that's so much more important than where everyone else needs to be?


4.  Bring Along A Distraction:  I love to listen to NPR's "This American Life" podcasts.  They are about 45-50 minutes each and there are some very thought-provoking stories.  It's a great way to pass the time on a long trip.  Also helpful are audio or E-books, which you can load to your smartphone or IPod.


5.  Snacks:  It might be helpful to keep some granola bars or other healthy snack with you - just in case.  Be careful not to pack anything too filling or sugary - you don't want to be tired after eating.  Keep water with you, but be careful not to chug it or you'll need to stop at the Smyrna rest stop!




Just remember that all traffic jams will eventually clear.  Keep a positive attitude and try to enjoy the ride.  There are worse things in life than being stuck on coastal highway with the ocean on one side of you and the bay on the right.  Roll down your windows and take in the sea air!

Beach Weekend Plans: 7/18/14-7/20/14

It's already time to start planning my beach weekend.  The weather is looking good and, this week, my niece, Emily, and her boyfriend, Matt will be joining us at the beach house.  I'm hoping that my son and his fiancée can make it down as well.  Since my niece is not yet 21, I expect our activities to be "all ages".  Here's a couple of things I have planned:

Mini Golf:  We can walk to Old Pro Golf at 136th St. from my house.  It costs $8.50 (adult) to play and they have an indoor course as well. 

Lombardi's Pizza:  I tried this pizza for the first time a few weeks ago and I do believe that I have FINALLY found the best pizza in OC.  Thin crust, tasty sauce, and the right amount of toppings make these pies perfect.  Trattoria Lombardi's is located at 94th St. in OC and they have a decent sit-down restaurant as well.

Trimper's Haunted House:  I must admit that this is more for me than the "young ones".  I remember going on this ride as a kid and the wonderful moment when the car exits the building then goes along the outside balcony over the boardwalk.  You get an amazing view of the ocean and a cool blast of sea air.  Every time I visit the boards, I suggest that we go on the ride, but none of my guests are ever interested (my Mom almost did, but chickened out because she was that someone would grab her).  This weekend, I'm going in - even if I have to go alone!

Shore Silver (Rehoboth Beach):  I recently lost one of my favorite silver hoop earrings and I'm really missing it.  I saw an ad for this store in the Wilmington paper this week and it looks like they have decent prices.  I plan to head north to check the store out and find a new pair (and maybe a few other things).

I'm thinking about heading home late this Sunday again.  I really enjoyed my extra time on the beach last weekend and it was such a nice, relaxing ride home during sunset.  Let's hope that the weather is good and everyone has a fun weekend!

Beach-Goer Types - Which One Are You?

The more time I spend on the sand, the more time I have to spend people-watching.  I've noticed that I can categorize most of the people on the sand in to one of 6 categories.  Just for fun, I thought I'd share them:

 

1.  Sun Phobics:  These are the people who show up at the beach fully covered from head to toe in UV-Protective apparel.  They coat any exposed skin with sunscreen, then plop themselves under an umbrella.  I'm not judging.  Being a freckled Irish girl myself, I certainly know the dangers of sun exposure.  I just think it's sort of amusing to watch an entire family trying to enjoy themselves with the flaps of their UV-Protective hats flying in their faces as they huddle together in the small spot of shade that their umbrella provides.  I often wonder if they take Vitamin D supplements to offset the lack of sunlight in their lives.  I also wonder how uncomfortable those long-sleeved shirts are when they are wet with ocean water.  Yuck!

 

2.  Size 16 Squeezed In To a Size 10:  This really doesn't need a description.  You know who they are.  The only thing that makes this category more disturbing is when they are over the age of 55.  You can never "unsee" that.

 

3.  Bob the Beach Builder:  This is the guy who shows up with a canopy, cooler, chairs, blankets, towels, radio, sand toys, boogie boards or skim boards, three tote bags, and an American flag.  His "camp" is usually set up in under 5 minutes and his 12 family members will gradually join him at some point during the day.  At any given moment you will see, under his canopy, three women from three different generations wearing one-piece bathing suits from Costco, a sleeping toddler, a Pittsburgh Steelers beach towel, and at least one bag of Doritos.

 

4.  They're Sexy and They Know It:  Aaaah youth.  Tanned and taut.  Haven't had their first trip to the dermatologist to have "suspicious" moles removed, rocking their little tattoos,wearing their board shorts slung just below their "happy trail", bikini tops tied tight against their newly purchased breasts, and their bodies glistening with sweat and SPF 15.  They don't need chairs - just a beach towel so that they can sun both sides.  Seeing these perfect marvels of nature bring back memories of the 10 minutes I was like them oh so long ago!

 

5.  SCOPES Families:  Picture perfect Mom, Dad, and 2 kids show up with just the essentials for a fun day on the beach.  Upon arrival, they apply sunscreen to each other and the children, take a quick walk to the water to check the temperature with their toes, kids start building something in the sand while Dad reads the latest James Patterson, Mom checks her cell phone, kids want to go in the water, Dad accompanies kids in the water, they eat mandarin oranges (or some kind of beach-friendly healthy snack) while they dry off, then pack it all up and leave the beach in less than 2 hours.

 

6.  Beach Drinkers:  It's 5:00 somewhere!  This is usually a group of couples with a few coolers full of frozen "concoctions".  They show up to the beach later in the day (after noontime) and never go near the water unless they need to pee.  As the afternoon progresses, they get louder and more annoying.  These are the people who call for pizza delivery on the sand dune and all are wearing some sort of gold/silver jewelry.  Fun to listen to until after the third round.

 

I don't know which category I fit in.  I'm pretty sure that I've been in most of them at some point in my beach-going life (except for #4 - I still have a few years to go for that one).  Everybody has their own way to "beach".  And for that, I thank them all for providing me with hours of summer entertainment!