REHOBOTH BEACH

Rehoboth Beach
One of our favorite beach towns!

Rehoboth Beach ranks number 2 in my list of STUPENDOUS BEACH TOWNS!  It has an extremely satisfying mix of characteristics creating an absolutely splendid beach experience.  Throw together a comfortably wide sandy beach, a long boardwalk, complete public access, a mix of shady residential  streets, condos and hotels, add in a lot of charm and voila!

First of all it is a little town, about 10 blocks wide by 20 blocks long, encircled by natural barriers.  To get into town, one must drive over a bridge.  There is something about this that creates a feeling of being “Somewhere Else”; somewhere relaxing, not to mention pretty.  The fact that the town does not allow any building to be more than 10 stories high  and 1/2 the town is residential houses, adds to the small town character.  

It’s difficult to describe the charm of the place.  A listing of all its characteristics; the long boardwalk, the bike trails, the wide beach, the many stores and boutiques ranging from beachwear and souvenir shops to art galleries, the huge range of food choices from boardwalk fries to white tablecloth restaurants, Funland amusement park on one end and a state park trail on the other, only provides a glimpse of the how splendid this little town is.  We’re left with telling you our favorite places.

BrowseAbout Books on Rehoboth Ave is a bookstore, coffee shop, toy store and gift shop - it’s just perfect.  Hitting our top ten book store list, this is a small, but beautifully curated store crammed with the perfect compilation of books. It also has a coffee shop and 1/2 the store is pillows, rugs, pottery, beach themed household items.  Even this is beautifully curated, and a pleasure to peruse. Beware it is a temptation if you love a good book.  It’s got ta stellar selection of naturalist books and my nephew, now studying to be a marine biologist, benefited from the terrific selection and the largesse of his aunties!  

If you have children or you still have a little child hidden inside you that loves amusement parks, Funland, situated on one end of the boardwalk manages to fit an entire amusement park into one square block.  It’s not called Funland for nothing.  Games, rides, bumper cars, a haunted house ride can keep you occupied for an evening or two or three.  It is one of my favorite places to go because secretly - I love bumper cars!

On the other end of the boardwalk, near the end is a toy store that sells kites, balls, and other beach related items.  The kites range from kid level small to very large ornate three-dimensional dragons and sailboats.  In the early evenings the sky at this end of the beach fills up with kites.  I finally got one to fly myself - OK really my brother got it up.  I have to give credit where it is due.  But it was exhilarating to get it up and keep it going.  

Next door to the kite store is a small bike rental place.  Before 9AM bikers can ride up and down the boardwalk.  After 9AM people can head away from the boardwalk and catch the bike trail to the state park where there is a lovely pond, meadow and wetland to ride around.  There is also a hike/bike trail that will take a person all the way to Lewes, a town on the Delaware Bay.  Personally I love this trail because someone, and I bless them for it, planted honeysuckle along certain parts of the path, usually found closer to Lewes.   Both of these are some of our favorite hike/bike trails. 

One of my favorite restaurants, Eden and its more casual sister, Jam Bistro are tucked tidily onto Olive Street, 1/2 way between the Kite Store end of the boardwalk and Rehoboth Avenue.   We also love Salt Air, on the other side of town.  One of our other favorites, because it has a second floor balcony with lovely large fans and lights that make it festive, is Mariachi Restaurant.  Frankly you are never not going to have a wide choice of good eats in Rehoboth. 

A typical favorite day at Rehoboth Beach. Renting an umbrella and chairs and sitting out on the beach reading and chatting in the shade, going in the water, sitting in the sun to dry out, sending the nephews up to the boardwalk for lunch, going home to clean up, walking around town for shopping and ice cream, dinner at a favorite place, strolling the boardwalk in the cool evening air.  Heaven!

My sister Mary and I started our long USA trip in Rehoboth Beach in September of 2020. At the time we thought we were waiting for our Spanish Visas to come through, but, REALLY, without our even knowing, because of the dreaded apocolyptic COVID, we actually were waiting to start our road trip across the USA. In September, without huge crowds, it was still lovely. We enjoyed each day, even the rainy ones.