Rumors at the Delaware Beaches
Rumor has it that…
Between this column and my e-newsletter, The Local Buzz, I reach about 10,000 readers. And every week I get several emails from those delightful readers asking me if I’ve heard the rumor that…(fill in the blank here).
Here are some of the latest. “We’re getting a Panera” (that is 95% true); “Zorba’s closed” (true); “we’re getting a new dance club” (I wish I wish I wish! I can’t tell you how much I miss the Renegade, but I’ve never been able to confirm any new clubs. At least Sundance will be here before we know it!); “we’re getting a Kohl’s and an Olive Garden where Tomato Sunshine is” (this is about 50% along and still may or may not happen, but the zoning has been approved); the Back Porch Café is closing (absolutely NOT true, but about two years ago I heard from a good source that it WAS closing and I PRINTED IT! Not one of my finer moments, I must say. I’m much better at verifying rumors these days!). Anyway, you get the idea. It’s fun to have thousands of spies out there, but sifting through the data is as terrifying as it is exciting!
Betty’s Restaurant is offering a Men and Beer Dinner, August 17, featuring a five course menu and beer from the Troegs Brewing Company. The Dewey Bull is now open and features roast beef sandwiches, pit beef sandwiches, and homemade beef barbecue made fresh daily. In Milton, The Bay Leaf restaurant has opened, featuring an expansive menu including brick oven pizza.
A water taxi between Rehoboth and Lewes is being considered, and I must say, it’s one of those things you can’t believe doesn’t already exist. The Lewes-Rehoboth Canal Improvement Association received a grant to do a feasibility study and they are looking for more grant money to help fund the taxi.
The Milton Historical Society and Dogfish Head Brewery are offering a joint history walking and brewery tour August 20 and again on September 17.
Get your pails and shovels ready—The 33rd Annual Sandcastle Contest will be held August 6 near the north end of the Boardwalk.
Bragging rights…Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach received a five-star, or superstar, rating by the National Resources Defense Council, for their consistent excellence in ocean water quality. (Only four beaches in the nation received this rating!) In addition, the National Geographic magazine has named Rehoboth Beach’s Boardwalk as the 6th best in the country.
The first boardwalk was built in Atlantic City in 1870 when a hotel owner and a train conductor decided the best way to keep some of the sand out of their hotel and train was to come up with a way for people to walk on the sand without really being on the sand. Very clever! They actually took up all the boards and stored it at the end of the summer season. The Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk was built a few years later, in 1873, and hosted Rehoboth’s first Flash Mob on July 9, 2011. Check it out on You Tube!
Deb Griffin is a real estate agent living full time at the beach with her honey bunny, Greer, and a Jack Russell terror named Rosie. Email Deb Griffin