By Bob Tagert

The Atlantic shore holds a special interest to me. First, I have many memories from the mid 60’s to family trips in the early 70’s. The one constant was standing at the surf line and watching the Atlantic Ocean caress my feet. I could look out and see exactly what I had seen years before…the only things that have changed were behind me. It is a good feeling. The sunrises are also still the same.

With age, my reasons for going to the beach hasn’t changed but the timing has. No longer am I able to participate in a game of beach volleyball or body surfing, but I still love that sound and smell of the Atlantic Ocean, so I look at going in the shoulder seasons during the week, and that is the reason for this article.

Going to the beach early has its advantages. The crowds have not yet arrived leaving plenty of room at the bars and restaurants. However, there is a contradiction here…most of the folks at the beach this time of year either live there or work there. Also, many of the establishments are not yet open, leaving fewer choices. Today Rehoboth is a year-round town, not just a summer retreat. Some key businesses stay open to serve the town.

What I discovered is when we go before the season begins, we seek out the small restaurants and bars that stay open year-round so we have a chance to meet the locals. Another of the advantages to visiting Rehoboth before May 15th is the fact that all street parking is free up until then. Even though the weather can be iffy this time of year, we got beautiful sunny days with temps around 50 degrees on this trip. The weekend before, St. Patrick’s Day, the temps approached 70. Still not sunbathing weather, but still very pleasant.

We arrived too early to check in to our hotel, so we went to Dewey Beach (south side of Rehoboth) for a late lunch. Our normal stop is Starboard but found out it didn’t open until later in the week so we returned to Woody’s where we had lunch about this time last year. We had hoped to find a seat at the bar, but at 2 pm, the bar was packed with locals. A far different sight than the bikini-clad 20-somethings in the summer. Woody’s is a cool old “locals tavern” type restaurant that boasts serving the “World’s Best Crab Cake”. We took a table at the enclosed front patio and opted for a pound of steamed shrimp and sharing the lobster roll! Next time it will be the crab cake! What a great way to kick off our trip!

From Woody’s we drove around Silver Lake, across Rehoboth Avenue to the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel located on the boardwalk (obviously) on Olive Street. As with years past, when we entered the lobby, we were greeted by Emro, Peanut and Moose – the three parrots that greet all of the guests. The lobby of this Victorian Hotel is beautifully appointed and the folks working are a very helpful bunch. We checked in and headed to the elevator.

Our room was on the Concierge Level aka fourth floor. This is the top floor and reserved for adults…a very nice touch especially during the summer. Our room was directly over the boardwalk and facing the ocean. It was a clear, cool day and the sun shone brightly. The boardwalk had a few folks out for a walk, a couple of bicycles and one person walking along the water where the waves gently rolled in. On the horizon you could see a large ship heading south. The sights and sounds brought back memories.

As soon as we unpacked, we made the short walk to the main part of Rehoboth Beach…Rehoboth Avenue. Our first stop was Nalu Surf Bar & Grill for “Aloha Hour” and their grilled bacon wrapped pineapple chunks. I am addicted to them. Nalu has an island theme so my only choice was the Nalu Mai Tai – an amazing concoction of Captain Morgan, white rum, Meyers dark rum, Cointreau, OJ, lime juice, Orgeat & a touch of simple syrup – and an order of the aforementioned pineapple. Lani always keeps it simple and goes for their signature Hawaiian Martini – Schmirnoff pineapple vodka infused with fresh pineapple juice. It was fun to have the same cool gal behind the bar that we had last year and we struck up a lively conversation with the couple sitting next to us. They live in Pennsylvania but have a property in Rehoboth and come down during the off season when the crowds are gone.

From Nalu we proceeded down Rehoboth Avenue to the Purple Parrot. The Parrot is an eclectic place of music, good food and drinks and Karaoke – not to mention the massive collection of bills – ones and fives – adorned with phone numbers, names and messages stapled everywhere around the bar area. They serve a favorite of mine – Cruzan Dark rum – so I had them add some ginger ale and a lime and was good to go. We are now new BFF’s with a couple of gals who were celebrating a 60^th birthday. Needless to say, the conversation was lively.

The next morning, we went down to Victoria’s Restaurant in the hotel for breakfast. Victoria’s is an elegant restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Service is excellent and the decor takes you back in time. The restaurant looks out on the boardwalk and beach with a patio with tables and small gas fire pits for added warmth. After breakfast we went back to the room to relax and enjoy the view while we waited for a friend who was driving up from her condo in north Ocean City to join us on our adventure and spend the night.

We first took Nancy to Nassau Valley Winery – about eight miles out on Coastal Highway. Nassau has ownership roots in Virginia’s wine region with Peggy Raley-Ward at the helm. We were sorry we missed her but that didn’t keep us from enjoying a four-glass wine flight. I was particularly impressed with the two Chardonnay wines I tried. Nassau is a well-established winery and a landmark in Lewes, Delaware. We were the only customers (advantage of the shoulder season) so we took our time. When we finally departed, we made our way back to Rehoboth and – upon the recommendation of Lisa at the winery – Lupo Italian Kitchen for dinner.

Located in Hotel Rehoboth, they open at five. We arrived at 5:05 and the bar was already filled and half of the dining room seats taken. By the time we were seated and got our cocktail, the tables were all full. A very nice restaurant that stays open for the season at this year-round community. We had a very leisurely dinner with impeccable service and amazing Italian cuisine. The place reminded me of Landini Brothers Restaurant here in Old Town but with a lot of windows. Excellent place.

From Lupos we ventured to the Blue Moon Restaurant for after dinner drinks. The Blue Moon is another popular restaurant and is one of many Old Town Alexandrian’s favorites – including Lani. Always excellent cocktails at the bar with an engaging bartender. From here I drove back to the hotel to check out the live music in the Pub while Lani and Nancy decided to stay and play Drag Queen Bingo. And, yes…there are stories, but not enough room to print them here.

The Pub is part of Victoria’s Restaurant and is appointed accordingly. It has a small five seat bar with two floors of additional seating. I thoroughly enjoy myself at this classy, beautiful venue. As the bartender gave last call and I was still by myself, I ordered a drink for both ladies and headed back to our room.

They rolled in – no bingo prizes in hand – about the same time I got to the room. It was time to we change into our bathing suits and head for the “Grotto” next to the lobby. We put on our coverups, grabbed our drinks and headed down. The grotto is a large indoor-outdoor pool with water jets around the perimeter. I braved the chilly night and made my way to the rooftop hot tub. I was the only one up there…once again the glories of the fourth floor.

Our last full day at Rehoboth started out the same. Breakfast at Victoria’s, however, this time we took a seat on the patio at one of the table gas fire pits. It was nice and warm, breakfast good and the Bloody Mary’s excellent. Never underestimate the power of Facebook. I took a photo of Lani and her Bloody Mary, posted it to my page giving a shout out to the hotel and a few minutes later our longtime friend and sailing buddy, Gerry Ragland walks up to the table. He informed us that he happened to be in Rehoboth with his friend and saw the post so decided to swing by. Gerry was so impressed with the Hotel, he plans to return.

After the party broke up, we pretty much repeated our first day with Nancy. I walked along the boardwalk and stopped to do some people watching and enjoy sitting in the sun while the girls walked around doing some window shopping. They were gone long enough I thought they were getting henna tattoos. We walked back to the Purple Parrot for another Cruzan rum and then returned to Nalu for dinner. From there we returned to the hotel pub for night caps and some wonderful guitar entertainment.

Even in the off season, there’s still a lot to do in Rehoboth. Back in the 70’s, Rehoboth and the other beach towns were mostly summer resorts. Beat the rush and hit the beach this spring. If the wind lays down and the temp hits 70…you can work on that tan. The Boardwalk Plaza has a room for you.