Another year and the "Fourth" is here already. The "Fourth" refers to the Fourth of July celebration. Living near the resort community of Rehoboth Beach, the "Fourth" only means one thing.....stay out of Rehoboth! On Wednesday, on our way to lunch at Zorba's Restaurant on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach, Bill and I noticed the deluge had begun. The "deluge" refers to the almost solid mass of vehicles descending on Rehoboth Beach and points south (Dewey Beach, Bethaney Beach and Ocean City, Maryland) on Route 1. We live six miles north on the east side of Route 1 in a Ryan Homes development called Covington Chase. I deliberately chose this location to avoid the summertime traffic headaches on Route 1. Wise choice. Each year I am reminded of my wisdom when I witness the wave after wave of cars, trucks and motorcycles heading south for fun in the sun. Located as I am on the east side of Route 1, I can witness but not participate in this annual ritual of the lemmings headlong rush to the resort towns on the Delmarva penisula. From now until well after Labor Day, downtown Rehoboth Beach is off limits to many of us year round residents. Parking, when you can find it, is expensive. Service at the restuarants, when you can find it, is sporadic at best. Since I'm not a beachgoer, there is no earthly reason for me to venture into the circus that is now downtown Rehoboth Beach. While I'm thankful for the revenue these summertime visitors leave in the area, thus supplying jobs for the locals, I'm still glad when summer is over and life can go back to normal. I am reminded of a Labor Day weekend many years ago when I vacationed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I overheard one of the waitstaff say in the restaurant, where friends and I were dining, say "Thank God this is the last weekend THEY are here and we can have our town back." At the time I thought "How rude." Now I understand. Oh I do understand.
