LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Caught in the Rehoboth Undertow |
Theres something pulling us city people out to sea, or shall I say, something pulling us toward the sea. Call it what you will: The winter blues; cabin fever; cold weather anxiety. I like to call it the Rehoboth undertow. Its that feeling you get mid-winter which makes you long for the beach. It makes you remember and reminisce. It makes you start counting the days to Spring.
For me, something usually triggers my desire to return to the beach. Sometimes all it takes is a sunny day or a quick glance at an old photo. This winter, however, my desire has been fueled by the extraordinary number of people who have stood up and recognized Rehoboth as a great summer getaway. Im not talking about the usual suspects. Theres a whole new school of people discovering Rehoboth, and in turn, they too will experience the "undertow." How do I know these people exist? Thats easyabout 400 of them rolled into the Lizard Lounge last month for the sixth annual Beach House Rush Party. Of course there were many familiar faces, but the number of new smiles was remarkable and often refreshing. Its possible that I met just as many new people during the course of this three-hour party as I do all summer long prancing on Poodle Beach. Their enthusiasm radiated through the air, exciting and inspiring me. Then there is the new website, BeachHouseNetwork.com. Picking up where the Beach Rush party left off, the website is absolutely loaded with names of people looking to join a Rehoboth beach house. On the opposite side of the coin, the site contains a substantial listing of beach houses that have open shares waiting to be purchased by anyone who is beach-bound. Whats more, some houses that are complete with members have already attempted to sign up for this summers issue of The Beach Book, a phone and address directory that is published in June by CAMP Rehoboth. Talk about planning ahead! There is so much interest in Rehoboth these days that even a reporter from The Washington Post attended the Beach House Rush Party to get the skinny on how and why people go about summering in Rehoboth Beach. The article ran in the February 24th Post Style section. Perhaps all this buzz about Rehoboth has been brought on by beach-related parties and websites. Perhaps it comes from the countless hours of hard work put forth by community service organizations such as CAMP Rehoboth. Perhaps its good word of mouth. Maybe its a combination of all three. Either way, the cat is out of the bag. Rehoboth is no longer Americas best kept secret, and things are about to change. But could we please expand the highway? |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 9, No. 2, March 12, 1999 |