Caramel Apples and Salty Air

On Saturday night, I was heading down Wilmington Ave. in Rehoboth at around 7 PM.  The moon light was bright, but filtered by wispy clouds.  The temperature perfect sweater weather.  The streets were filled with trick or treaters who were lined up to get candy from the downtown Rehoboth Beach stores and I was happily exhausted from a full day of walking around OC and Rehoboth.  

It's times like this that I catch myself smiling.  

Beautiful Fall decor at Salt Air in Rehoboth Beach

The shoulder season is winding down at the DE/MD beaches.  Except for the holiday events (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentines Day), there are very few things happening between now and next Spring.

Thanks to the threat of Hurricane Joaquin earlier this month, the OC Winefest will be this coming weekend (10/30-10/31) at the inlet parking lot in Ocean City, MD.  The event features micro-brewed beers, wine from wineries along the east coast, Delmarva cuisine, arts and crafts, and live music.  Tickets are $35 at the gate (must have ID).

Drink wine on the beach in Ocean City this weekend

Another postponed event that's happening this Saturday (10/31) is the 2015 Lewes Fall Craft Fair.  Sponsored by the Lewes Historic Society, this event will take place from 9 AM to 4 PM at the Historic campus on Second & Shipcarpenter Streets in downtown Lewes.  Admission is $5 (children under 12 free) and proceeds benefit educational and preservation programs at the Lews Historical Society.

Lewes, Delaware in Fall

If you find yourself on Rehoboth Avenue this weekend, you have to grab a candy apple from Kilwins.  Seriously.  I tried the Milk Chocolate and Salted Caramel, but it doesn't really matter what flavor you get - they use the most delicious apples.  Every one is great.

I will be staying in Wilmington this weekend to enjoy the vibrant colors of the changing leaves and catch up on some chores and errands.  I'm looking forward to heading back to the beach next weekend for my "fix" and more smiles :)

Sea Bitch Festival

Headin' to da beach wit my bitches

gonna see some ghosts

and some witches

Halloween at the beach is hella nice

Kohr Brothers ice cream has pumpkin spice

We gonna chill at my beach crib

and wear fleece and shit

while our boyz be up North (yo)

Fall is legit

Gangsta Pumpkin

Soooo....that was a little rhyme that I made up about my upcoming Autumn beach weekend with my daughter and daughter-in-law (a.k.a two of my fave people in the world).  To get the full effect, you'd have to imagine me rapping it while wearing a 5X fresh, white tee.  

It's finally here.  The ultimate Fall/Halloween beach weekend is this weekend (October 23-25).

Rehoboth Beach Sea Witch Festival

Here's a quick rundown of some Halloween happenings:

Sea Witch Festival (Rehoboth Beach)

Wags, Witches, and Warlocks Halloween Festival (Bethany Beach)

Drive In Disguise Halloween Parade (Ocean City)

In addition to the many events that each town has planned for this weekend, there are several smaller events happening.

I plan to check out The Haunted Forest at Roxana Volunteer Fire Company  and, perhaps, check out the Bullbuckers show at Dogfish Head in Rehoboth Beach on Saturday night (10/24).

There is the Great Pumpkin Race and Halloween Maze on the boardwalk in Ocean City - both part of the two week long O.C.Toberfest celebration.

Great Pumpkin Race on the OC Boardwalk

16 Mile Brewery in in Georgetown, DE is hosting the LoDel Music and Arts Festival on Saturday 10/24 from 12PM - 11PM

The weather is looking promising (low 60s and sunny - perfect Fall weather) and 

Have a great Fall Beach Weekend.  Peace out y'all.

Vacation Highlights Volume II

How pathetic is your life when your goal for vacation is to finish watching the last season of Game of Thrones?  I did that and I'm not sorry.  And, now, I've moved on to Jane the Virgin (thank you Netflix).  That's the wonderful thing about taking a vacation at the beach in the fall - plenty of "downtime" to sit around, binge-watch, read actual books, and watch a couple of episodes of Judge Judy or Divorce Court (both hilarious).

We have managed to leave the house a few times.  Here are some highlights:

Day 5:  Tuesday, October 13:
The dog seems to be feeling fine - as long as he is eating leftover Filet Mignon from Ruth's Chris Steak House.  He's still turning his nose up at this own food, but I'm not real concerned anymore so we went to Rehoboth Beach to walk around Rehoboth Avenue for a while.  We grabbed lunch at Beachside Bar & Grill, which was pretty good.  I liked the wings and will go back to try some other menu items. 

Beachside Bar & Grill in Rehoboth Beach

Day 6:  Wednesday, October 14
Another beautiful weather day!  We have been so lucky this week. 
We started the day with breakfast at Denny's in Ocean City then headed to Millsboro, DE.  because my husband seemed to think that it had a cool, little downtown/main street.  He was wrong.  There were a couple of antique store that we hung out in for a while, but it's mostly just traffic and old Laundromats.

On the way home, we went to Bethany Beach (again) to take another stroll on the boardwalk and look at the dune damage in the daylight.  The town of Bethany had been busy decorating for Fall and Garfield Ave. looks very pretty.

Bethany's Fall decor

We spent a lazy afternoon and evening at home, then I took a ride to the grocery store so that I could actually cook dinner (for a change).  Once again, it was a beautiful night and a beautiful ride to the grocery store.  I don't think that I could ever not love this ride:



My ride to the grocery store

For the rest of the week, we plan to head to Berlin or Salisbury and we have some friends coming in to town on Friday night.  I'm looking forward to the cooler temps that are coming our way because I am running out of warm-weather clothes and I don't feel like doing laundry. 

I probably won't have a chance to check in later this week, so I'll be back early next week with information on all of the Halloween happenings at the DE/MD beaches!  I love fall at the beach!!

Vacation Highlights Volume I

Day 1:  Friday, October 9
A sea gull grabbed my DeVitos Deli hoagie out of my hand while I was sitting on the beach at 136th St. today.  Seriously - the whole damn thing.
 
The dune crossings are completely filled with sand and you need to slide down a big drop to access the sand.  Ocean City doesn't seem as bad as the Delaware beaches, but it's still a bit tricky.
 


Dune crossing at 136th St. completely filled with sand

 

Bethany Beach dune crossing (most are now closed to public)

We spend the afternoon painting the deck in front of our house, then had a great dinner at Papa Grandes in Fenwick Island just before the incoming cold front brought the rain.  The outdoor deck was open and a cool breeze was blowing in off of the bay.  After dinner, we headed to Harris Teeter in Selbyville for much needed vacation supplies - like $9 vanilla soda and strawberry licorice.

Day 2:  Saturday, October 10
Since our dog has been acting a bit strange for the past few days (he doesn't want to eat), we ended up braving the Endless Summer Cruisin' weekend traffic on routes 528 and 50 to find the closest pet store.  We stopped at Petco in the White Marlin Mall for some high calorie nutritional supplement and some "feel better toys" for Rude Boy.

"Feel better you will"
Rudy and his healing Yoda
 

Later that day, we stopped at Claddagh on the Shore in Fenwick Island for some sandwiches in the bar.  It was pretty crowded and the Prime Rib cheese steaks were delicious as always.  Service was great and we left feeling full and tired.  I'm really glad that we gave this place a second chance.

Day 3:  Sunday, October 11
If I could have ordered a perfect weather day, today would have been it.  I took advantage of the mild temps and sunshine and finished my deck painting.  Later in the morning, we visited an open house on Lighthouse Rd (Route 54) that was absolutely beautiful, but a little too "waterfront" for my taste!


Great house, but built in the marshy area next to Montego Bay (literally -  
check out the liquid back yard!)

 

For Sunday dinner, we finally headed to the top of the Fenwick Inn to dine at Peaky's Rooftop.  Although the food was so-so, we will be going back just because of the beautiful views, great prices,  and friendly service.  We witnessed yet another beautiful sunset over the bay and dined overlooking the ocean.  After dinner, we headed to Bethany Beach for a nice stroll down the quiet boardwalk.  What a beautiful night!

The view from Peaky's rooftop looking South

 


My neighborhood and a great sunset

Day 4:  Monday, October 12
I got sunburned today.  I sat on the beach for about 1.5 hours and my arms and legs are burnt.  It's another great weather day (73 degrees, sunny).  It is also our 30th wedding anniversary.

Beautiful day to be lounging lazily by the sea

My husband gave me a beautiful pearl pendant.  I gave him a book and some soap (he wins this year).  We are heading to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in West OC for dinner to celebrate in style (actually we're going to use up a gift card.

Todays exciting news:  I saw some Target items for sale at Roses today.  I hope that they get more of their cast-offs!  Also - TJMaxx in Gold Coast Mall is opening this weekend.  My life is a bit more complete now.

That's the latest from the beach.  I will try to update later this week - if I'm not too busy doing fun and exciting things like going to Roses and nursing sick pups!

Rock Me Like A Hurricane

Hurricane Joaquin was headed for the East coast last week and a Nor'Easter was threatening to bring high winds and rain to the DE/MD coastal region.  But I was completely relaxed.  I wasn't planning to travel to the beach last weekend anyway.  Then, my daughter sent me a text asking me if  the patio furniture at my beach house was put away. 

Fuck.

After a rainy two hour drive to OC last Thursday night and an even rainier ride home later that night, I was able to climb in to bed back in Wilmington knowing that my bistro table was not going to end up flying off of my deck and wedging itself in to my neighbors Mercedes Benz.  And, as it turns out, that probably wouldn't have been an issue anyway.  Better safe than sorry, right?

This was the first hurricane threat that I've had to deal with since purchasing my beach house and, I have to admit, it wasn't fun.  While I was fairly certain that my house would be safe, it was hard to watch the videos and see photos of the downtown area under water.  I saw streets that I had just walked on the weekend before completely closed off to the public and mountains of sand covering the boardwalk.

Fortunately, the town of Ocean City is working hard to clean up the mess.  

Sand Plowing on the boards 10/5/15

Hopefully all will be cleaned up and ready for Endless Summer Cruisin' this weekend. According to their FB page, all events are going forward as scheduled and, though I'm not sure why, you can meet Joyce DeWitt of "Three's Company" fame this weekend.  You can also attend a Ronnie Milsap concert at the convention center on 10/10, or participate in the Tire Change Challenge.  So, if you're in to that kind of stuff, check out their web site link above and plan a trip to OC this weekend.  The weather is supposed to be really nice and, hopefully, the town will be dried out by then.

There are soooo many things to do at the beach this coming weekend.  Some things that were canceled last weekend were re-scheduled for this weekend, plus there are the events that were already scheduled for this weekend.  It's gonna be crazy.  Here's a quick rundown:

Friday 10/9:  On your way in to town, stop by Epworth United Methodist Church at 19285 Holland Glade Rd, Rehoboth Beach for Food Truck Friday.  Ten food vendors will be parked to offer a wide variety of menu items including Mojo Loco, Mama Mia, and Hot Dogs on the Beach.  There will be live music by John Inkster.  Proceeds benefit Epworth's Food and Love Soup Kitchen and their Skate Park.  

Sea Hogg will be set up for Food Truck Friday in Rehoboth this week.  Fried Frog Legs...mmmm.

Saturday 10/10:  Silver Block Party at CAMP Rehoboth 12-4 PM.  The 2nd block of Baltimore Ave. in Rehoboth Beach will be closed to traffic and filled with street vendors, artists, local musicians, food, and a possible appearance by one or more Madonna or Cher impersonators.  Admission is $10 donation.

Friday 10/9 & Saturday 10/10:  Help make a difference in the lives of those with Down Syndrome by participating in the 10th Annual Boardwalk Buddy Walk.  Buddy Fest weekend starts with a party on Friday night at the Lions Club in Dewey
Beach and continues with a walk down the boards in Rehoboth Beach on Saturday at 9 AM.  All participants get a free T-shirt.  Registration for the walk is at 7:30 AM on 10/10.

Dewey Goes Pink re-scheduled for this Saturday

Saturday 10/10:  The Dewey Goes Pink 2015 race/walk was supposed to be last weekend, but was changed due to weather.  Participants can register at 9:30 AM or by clicking here.  This event has raised a whopping $136,000 for our local Breast Cancer Coalition in just 4 short years of existence. 

Sunday 10/11:  Help support the Route 1 Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Company by joining the Greene Turtle Rehoboth Ave 5K.  Get a great glimpse of the ocean as you run and get Greene Turtle food and beer when you're done!

I will be making my usual Thursday night trek to the beach and staying there on vacation until October 18th and to celebrate my wedding anniversary with my beach buddy husband.  I hope to make a few new discoveries to report on and enjoy beautiful fall beach weather.  

If I'm not too busy doing fun vacation things like sleeping or finishing the last season of Game of Thrones, I'll try to update again next week.