The Boardwalk After Labor Day

Me all alone on the boardwalk this morning

What a difference a holiday makes.  Almost immediately after the Labor Day Weekend, almost all of the summertime touristas have departed Rehoboth.  I never thought I would say this but I feel a sense of sadness.  I miss the tourists!


These days I arrive at the boardwalk before the sun rises.  


The only walkers on the boardwalk are an old Italian-American man who parks his power-wash truck at the north end of the boardwalk, near the Cape Henlopen Hotel, where I park my car.  He's in his white painter's pants and white T-shirt when he begins his very focused walk.  This man is obviously trying to stave off a heart attack my his morning walk.  More power to him.


Another walker is a young woman in her running shorts and bra top.  At first I was surprised that this rather attractive young woman would walk the boards so early in the morning, in the dark.  But then I thought that maybe she had to go to work and this was her daily exercise.  More power to her too.


Then there is the other retired older gentlemen.  I've seen him every day since I began my walk about two months ago.  He is rather chunky but he does a good walk.  I've seen him cover the boardwalk at least three time.  That's a total of six miles!  More power to him too.


I don't see many other people other than the occasional older couple who are hardly walking.  They're obviously not out for exercise but rather to enjoy the sea air.  More power to them too.  


What I do miss seeing is the Human Parade that I saw every morning during the height of the summer season.  It's amazing at how quickly the boardwalk became deserted after Labor Day.  


I guess the summertime traffic does depend on the kids being out of school.  I don't miss them.  

What Was I Thinking?

Cloudy skies in Rehoboth, hit the malls!

Good question.

Today the skies here at the beach are overcast.  Rain is threatening?  So what do I do this afternoon after stopping a Food Lion?  I decide to pay a quick visit to the outlet mall to pick up a couple new pair of Reebok Walkers.  Oh God, what was I thinking?

One of the cardinal rules in the summertime here at the beach, other than stay as far away from the beach as possible during the middle of a hot, sunny, summer day is never......NEVER go to the outlet malls when the sky is overcast.  Why?  That's when the Horde (aka the "summertime crowd") hits the outlet malls.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, there are NO PARKING SLOTS LEFT

I'm blaming my lapse of judgment on the fact that I just got up from a hour afternoon nap.  Otherwise I would never have put myself in that vortex that is the outlet malls at Rehoboth Beach on an overcast summer day.

More cars arrive at the outlet mall - good luck finding a parking slot

Rule Number One:  There is no available parking.

Rule Number Two: Whatever item you're looking for, they're going to be out of it.

Rule Number Three:  You'll never find a salesperson.

All three of the above rules applied today.

Shoppers at an orgy of spending at the outlet mall this afternoon

I did not find parking.  I had to park at the adjoining mall (Super Fresh mall)

There it is!  The Reebook store (to the far right of the picture) My trek is almost completed

I DID NOT find my Reebok Walkers, size 12, 2 EE wide.  Nope. No way.  They were out.

I DID NOT find or even see a sales person in the whole store.  I think they were all hiding out in the back until the Horde left.

With my Mission Unaccomplished (I briefly considered getting size 11 but they only had one and it was get one, get the second one for half price), my next goal was to GET OUT OF THERE.

Lots of shoppers, no sales people and merchandise pretty well picked over

So I tippy toe to my car in the NEXT MALL parking lot (about 15 minutes away - I can always use the exercise) and plan my escape.

How to get out of here?  Do I want to exit and continue south on Rt. 1 and then take my chances making a U-turn (which is legal in Delaware.)  I decide against this course of action.  No need to put my brand new 2010 red Subaru Forester in more danger than I have already put it in.

I decide to go out the Super Fresh mall the back way and make the exit on the far side.  At least I have the light with me.

Then I enter the slow lava flow that is called Summertime Traffic on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach.

I head north to my home, three miles up Rt. 1 and to the left.

As is usually the case, I get stuck behind a truck with God Knows What They Are Dragging.

My view on the way home - looks like my last move

Of course on the way home I have cars cutting me off and darting to the right and left of me.

This is normal traffic on Rt. 1 in the height of the summer season.  The Crazies are out.

I make it home unscathed.  I'm not a religious person but I'll say it anyway:

Thank you Jesus!

Foggy Morning on the Beach

What do people do on the beach on a foggy day?  They go to the beach.  Below is my photo essay of the day:

The north end of the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach this morning at 7 am

"This is our vacation and we're going to spend it on the beach, fog or no fog."

You don't need the sun for the Morning Stretch

"Hey!  That looks like a big one coming in!"

Lined up waiting for the sun to make an appearance

Love the umbrella!

"Let's ride out to the Big One."

Are those tire tracks?

Yours truly,  The Photographer on the beach - "Thank you!"

Feed the Meter

This evening I met my friend The Cajun in Rehoboth beach for a drink and a Wimpy burger at the Purple Parrot. We haven't been to any downtown Rehoboth Beach restaurant since before Memorial Day, the influx of the Horde (aka Summer Tourists.) We locals tend to stay away from downtown Rehoboth during the height of the summer season. We turn the town over to the tourists to deposit their cash at our many and sundry summertime attractions. One of the biggest money earners are the parking meters. $1.50 gets you an hour parking spot right in downtown Rehoboth Beach, where all the action is.




Traveling down Rt. 1 was a breeze early this evening as compared to the summertime traffic which is likely as not to be backed up. Taking the turn on Rt. 1A into Rehoboth was a pleasure this evening.


My friend The Cajun and I caught up on the past few months. We're both in the service industry (he a host at a local restaurant and me a front desk clerk at a local hotel.) We traded war stories about our summer's encounters with some of the more interesting personalities to visit the area this summer. Always fun to dish I say.



We both had a delicious Wimpy (char grilled hamburger) with the best French Fries this side of Provincetown, Mass. We had our desired window seat where we could people watch. The late Sunday afternoon daylight illuminated the thinned out herd of summertime visitors still strolling up and down Rehoboth Avenue. After a festive martini or two for my friend and a modest glass of Zinfandel white wine for me, we were ready to call it a day.



My friend took off for his home and I availed myself of the remaining daylight and took a several block walk to a former friend's house on Laurel Street to see if his neighbor has sold their house. I love downtown Rehoboth sans the crowds. I especially love walking through the neighborhoods on a quiet Sunday evening like this. I think if I ever win the Powerball Lottery (I'm WAY overdue to win) I just may buy myself one of these adorable beach cottages for my very own. I know the likelihood of me getting struck by lightening five times is greater than me winning the Powerball but I can dream can't I?



As the sun set I headed back to my car parked on Rehoboth Avenue. I still had 27 minutes left in my meter but I was ready to go. I don't like to travel at night anymore. I wanted to get home before dark. I guess I'm officially entering the age of Old Codger, afraid to drive in the dark.



I got home just before dark and here I sit now writing about it. I'm about to go to bed shortly because I have to get up way too early tomorrow (4:30 am) to get ready to catch the 6:00 am American Legion van to the Wilmington VA.



I enjoyed this evening but I don't think I'll do as many evenings out this year as I did in years past. I'm just not comfortable driving in the dark. For instance, tonight as I was driving up the four lane highway that is Route 1 there was a motorcyclist with his moll hanging on the back of him weaving in and out of traffic. I could hardly see them in the twilight and the floaters in my eyes. At my age I don't need to be out on the roads at night in the dark looking out for motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic.



Besides, I'm having a hard time devouring a whole Wimpy. I guess there is just no getting around it. I am getting old. Gone are the days of youthful indiscretions and staying up all night and going to work first thing in the morning. These days I'm looking forward to that bed and sweet dreams. Still, it was nice visiting with my friend The Cajun this evening. Maybe we can do it again, like in January.

A Touch of Fall

Yesterday morning Bill and I headed out to Rehoboth Beach and Zorba's Restaurant for our usual weekly breakfast. The food at Zorba's is mediocre at best but the layout of the restaurant is comfortable (a lot of booths)and  the services good and also gay friendly. Yesterday morning we both ordered a short stack of buttermilk pancakes. I have to say they were heavenly. I brought along my own authentic 100% maple syrup. I try to keep my consumption of all those high fructose corn syrup concoctions down to a minimum and who knows what's in that pancake syrup they serve at Zorba's.  My stomach is too tempermental at this stage of my life for me to take a chance on the unknown substance they call "maple syrup" in the sticky container the waitress placed on our formica topped table.




As we sat in the restaurant sipping our coffees (mine decaf and Bill's full blast caffeinated), I watched the traffic out on Route 1. The amount of cars and SUV's with bicycles piggybacked on the rear bumpers was less than usual. The summertime traffic is winding down. I didn't see the steady stream of traffic that I've been seeing all summer from my weekly breakfast perch at Zorba's. Thank goodness. While we locals all appreciate the business that the tourists bring to the beach areas of southern Delaware, we're not sad to see them go at the end of the season. We locals stay out of Rehoboth Beach in the summertime because of the crowds and gridlocked roads. I've seen that movie.  I don't want to see it again.


A sure sign that the summer season is coming to an end is my friend Cajun inviting me to join him for a drink and chat at the Feathered One (aka The Purple Parrot in Rehoboth Beach) this Sunday evening at 5:30 pm. We will renew our almost weekly get together of local friends for Happy Hour cocktails, chat and good eating in the heart of Rehoboth Beach, sans the tourists. Ah yes, I am looking forward to seeing old friends again and catching up on all the gossip of the past summer (sorry about that Harvey.)



Another sign that the summer season is coming to an end is that the onslaught of moms and dads at the hotel where I work has slacked off. Those kiddies are back in school! Last weekend was a trip and a half contending with screaming kids running to and from the breakfast room past the front desk where I am perched. Ever notice how the Little Darlings can't walk? They run. Where do they get all that energy? Wouldn't I love to have some? Did I have that kind of energy when I was a Little Darling? I don't think so because I was never a Little Darling. At least that's what my dad told me. He had another name for me, Shut Up! I didn't dare run anywhere or else I would have his big paw slamming down on my backside. But then that was another time and a different mindset.



Tomorrow I have my annual dermatology appointment at the VA Medical Center in Wilmington. That means I have to get up way to early (4:30 am) to catch the American Legion Post 28 van at 6 am for my ride to the VA. The van should get me back home around 12 noon then I have to get ready for my afternoon shift at the hotel. Then I'm off the rest of the week until the weekend. I'm working this weekend for my co-worker Monica. Her son is in Iraq and he is returning for a week's leave and she wants to spend time with him. He is a wonderful young man who generously volunteered for duty in Iraq and I will make sure to let him know how much I appreciate his effort on behalf of our country. I honor and respect all those of our best and brightest over there in Irag and Afghanistan in the service of our country.



Next Monday I have another appointment at the VA Medical Center. This one is to go over my "labs" that I took at the Georgetown VA Outpatient center. I refused to go back to the Georgetown facility because they can't keep a doctor or even a nurse practitioner to consult with me. I hate to say it but the Georgetown facility isn't doing us vets down here in southern Delaware much good. They can't even keep a doctor on premise. It's a facility in name only. I'm looking forward to seeing my previous doctor in the Wilmington VA. I felt I was in very good hands the first and only time I met with her over a year ago before I was relocated to the Georgetown VA clinic.


Next month my hours will go down to one day a week at the hotel. While the pay I receive won't do much to help with my mortgage payments, I will value the extra time I have off from work. During this past summer and spring I put a lot on the back burner while I did yard work outside. Now that the birds are gone and the planting season is coming to an end, I can get back to updating my genealogy family tree and other chores like unpacking boxes I still have from my move down here in November of 2006. Yes Virginia, I still have unpacked boxes from my move. Don't tell anyone.

Are They Gone Yet?

As I was waiting to cross over Route 1 on my way to work yesterday I viewed the steady stream of cars, vans and SUV's headed north on Route 1, which seemed endless. Finally, there was a break in the lava flow of traffic and I quickly darted my 98 red Subaru Forester across the road to make a left turn and head down to Lewes, where I work at the hotel and was due on the afternoon shift at 3 PM. All the cars, bicycle laden SUV's and motor homes were going home from the shore points of southern coastal Delaware after a glorious, sun drenched Labor Day Weekend. Goodbye! We full time year round inhabitants really appreciate you all coming down and spending your discretionary dollars but now you can go home. THANKS! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.




Last night at the hotel we had precisely ONE room rented. Now this is a Labor Day Drop off. This is good news and bad news. The good news is that the job won't be as stressful from here on out. The bad news is that my hours will be cut back again because the need isn't there. Our business did pick up later in the summer after a slow spring start. Now it is dropping off again. Almost all of the guests who call into the hotel for room reservations are still looking for bargains. I can't say as I blame them. That is the nature of our economy today. Just about everyone is looking for those bargains wherever you can. I certainly will be looking for bargains too now that my hours will be cut back.



Today under cloudy skies, a cool breeze is rustling my riotous colorful flower display in the front of my house. I can feel the impending arrival of fall. I'm ready. Oh am I ever ready. While I love yard work I have had just about enough of weed whacking and pulling weeds. I'm ready to view the outside world from the many windows of my home. I'm ready to do some inside work now like updating my 50th class reunion booklet. I've been away too long from my genealogy research and I'm anxious to pick up where I left in March. And of course I can finish unpacking all those boxes that are still in my storage room from my November 2006 move. Yes, I'm ashamed to admit it. I still have boxes that I haven't unpacked. I think it's obvious by now that I don't need whatever is in those boxes if I haven't missed it by now. But I just can't bring myself to toss anything. I am an unrepentant pack rat. With my head hanging in shame, I admit it.



On days like this I enjoy listening to my wind chimes as the swirling winds swing and sway my Pampas grass. I love seeing the change of seasons. I couldn't live where there wasn't a change of seasons. Each season has its own beauty. I treasure all of them.



Now I'm looking forward where I can meet with my friends again and we can resume our weekly dinners at the Purple Parrot in Rehoboth Beach. They're gone and we’re back!

And Then There Were None

Bill had a very trying day today. He called The Garage and his car still wasn't ready. He asked me to drop him off at The Garage at 12 noon and he would wait for it. Yesterday was our day to go to the Sam's Club in Dover, thirty nine miles away. We would have to do it today. But first, Bill had to get his '91 Jeep Cherokee out of The Garage. Of course when he went down they hadn't even started on the repairs. They did when they saw he was waiting. Two and a half hours later they told him they were finished. Frustrated, Bill paid the bill and stormed out of The Garage. Note, I refer to "The Garage" that way because that is the name of the auto repair business we patronize on Route 1, across from The Hampton Inn in Rehoboth Beach.

On the way home Bill noticed his "Check Engine" light was still on. They hadn't fixed the main reason he went in! That's why he took his car to The Garage. They found the brake problem when they took his car around the back of their place. A brake hose or something like that blew (I know I don't have that right but it was something drastic like that.) Well, the upshot is that Bill is so frustrated with this place he doesn't want to go back. Thus, in that mood we took off to Dover.

Before we left I wanted to check the bluebird box. I heard and saw more than the usual activity around the bluebird box and as I suspected, all the baby bluebirds were out save one. I took his/her picture before we left for Dover.

On the way to Dover we noticed that the traffic headed south was backed up. Ah yes, this is Friday afternoon when The Horde (tourists, weekenders, etc) descend on our fair beaches in coastal Sussex County. As year round residents we know to avoid travel on Route 1 both north and south on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. These are the days of the travel vans, SUV's and car with bike racks full on the back, and the young girls driving shotgun with their flip flop shod feet propped up on the dashboard ("Hey! We're at the beach! Time to relax and let loose and show everyone I'm one cool chick!") Oh how we love it. But, these are the folks that keep the economy going so I shouldn't be complaining. However I did see a cool bumper sticker:

"Welcome to the beach. Now go home."

Shopping at Sam's Club was extra fun today with the late Friday afternoon crowd. We never experienced that before and we don't plan to again anytime soon. Usually we go very early during a weekday morning but our schedule has been thrown all off kilter because of Bill's car getting repaired. On the way back we had to stop at the Super Wal-Mart in Milford because that is the ONLY PLACE in Lower Slower that I can get my Turkey Hill Decaf Orange Diet Ice Tea. THE ONLY PLACE. Again, shopping in Wal-Mart Friday afternoon is an extra special experience. The people, the people. I wonder sometimes do I look as strange and weird to them as they do to me? Man oh man. There are some doozies that shop at the Wal-Mart, especially the Jabba the Huts riding around on those motorized shopping carts in the store.

Returning home we were right in the middle of the Friday afternoon weekend rush to the shore. One thing I've never been able to quite figure out, what is the rush? Why do so many of our out of state tourists feel they have to break the speed limit, weave in and out of traffic to get to the shore to relax? What's THAT all about?

Well, we finally got home. Now it's unwind time. I checked the bluebird box and, as I suspected, it is empty. The last bluebird is out. That puts a punctuation mark to a very interesting day.