LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Lewes Lips |
A collaborative journal on life in Lewes, the first town in the First State. |
Over the last few months, friends have sent us articles from newspapers up and down the East Coast, which showcase Lewes as the ideal retreat. The secret is out! In a recent weekend section of The News Journal, one of Delaware's daily newspapers, the City of Lewes is again featured as "a gem of a small town trying to retain its character." In the article, a resident was quoted as saying, that, while nearby towns are beach towns, "Lewes is a townwith a beach." Now, as the post-Labor Day blues approach Delmarva and the beaches become less important, we are comforted that we will be spending the autumn and winter months here in this "gem of a small town." Even as the months grow colder, most of our weekend neighbors continue to visit their Lewes homes. Most of our restaurants and stores remain open. And the townspeople become closer, because we know that these off-season folks are not just occasional visitors, but part of the Lewes family. We have, in fact, established some of our best local friendships during the off-season in Lewes. We were recently reminded of the warmth of winter-found neighbors. Before The Lewes Lips Happy Hour at Gilligan's, we slipped into the house-warming party at the Lewes Beach canal-front home of builders Ron and Donna Coffin. We met the Coffins last winter, through A Taste of Heaven's Bill Raney. "Raney" catered the party with well-known bartenders that included The Buttery's "Betty Boop" and The Purple Parrot's "Peppermint Patty," The party also celebrated Donna's birthday. On the roof top deck, we spoke with REALTORS Debbie and Bob Reed and The Wooden Indian's Carole Levitsky, who can always be trusted to keep us updated on what's happening in Rehoboth. (Meanwhile, Carole's partner Sally Tammany was seen enjoying a HEAPING plate of Raney's famous lamb chops.) We then ventured across the canal to Gilligan's for the second Lewes Lips Happy Hour. The second happy hour crowd more than doubled from the first one, to around 50 people... including a couple of women all the way from Manhattan and Northern New Jersey (by way of their second house in Lewes). Sorry gals! We lost your names! (Email them to us at LewesLips @hotmail.com.) They reminded us to tell some of you stay-at-home ladies of Lewes that the gals from near and far who've been coming to the Lewes Lips Happy Hour want to meet you. We know who you are and where you live (Do McFee and Dewey streets mean anything to you? Push-pins on the map...) and we think you'll enjoy them. The Happy Hour fully filled the upper deck of the S.S. Minnow at sunset. It was the perfect opportunity to introduce Lewes to its newest "push pins," Ben Boyd and Eric Fanning. (Both in the D.C. tech sector, some whispered that they were simply Two-Cute-Dot-Coms.) Ben and Eric expect to close on their Lewes home in just a few days. Among those they met were Ray Holden and Charlie Atwell, infamous for their weekly come-as-you-are Saturday morning coffee klatches. (We know Friday night was late and rough when Charlie greets us at the door on Saturday with mug already drained of coffee and a face topped with "bed head.") Ray and Charlie have been renovating their Lewes Beach house for a VERY long timesome say the renovation seems to have gone on since the day Ray fell from his mother's womb. They also met super-lawyer Michael Carr, who arrived at the happy hour, true-to-form, by boat (and what a boat!), with several Rehoboth friends in tow. Rumor has it that the notorious Michael offers to transport friends to Cape Maybut with a requisite skinny-dipping stop midway, giving new meaning to the term Cape May-LewesumFairy! Michael's always-charming partner Patrick Shehan, Gilligan's owner and blue-eyed hostess, welcomed everyone and made sure we found our way upstairs. Not yet having taken up residence, Ben and Eric were staying with friend Al Salas (sans partner Emory Bevillwho was busy medaling at Masters' Nationals rowing competitions in Oakland). We'd have more photos of all of this, but Lips photographer John Mini was apparently too busy, with his partner Robert Perri, hosting former "Up with People!" singer John Hall (small townsmall-town celebrities) and partner Bill Sanders to remember to recharge his digital camera. John: Next time think, "Up with Electrons!" OK? Gilligan's closes in early fall, so we'll meet there only one time more. Our next Lewes Lips Happy Hour will be Saturday, September 9, at the bar in Gilligan's at 7 p.m., so post-season residents can start to plan together for the cooler months. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 10, No. 12, Aug. 25, 2000. |