By Bob Tagert

This past February we ventured to Virginia Beach for our March Road Trip. With six inches of fresh snow on the roads and beach, it made for an interesting trip that turned in to an extended “snow day”. This April we ventured to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for our May Road Trip. What a difference two months makes. We had beautiful weather with temps in the 60s and 70s.

Growing up in Oxon Hill, Maryland since I was 5 years old (now 78) when we went to the beach, it was mostly to Ocean City, Maryland. As the “Highrise” period at the beach moved north, we eventually discovered Rehoboth. The town was founded in 1873 as the Rehoboth Beach Camp Meeting Association by the Rev. Robert W. Todd, of St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church of Wilmington, Delaware as a site for Methodist Episcopal Church camp meetings. Today Rehoboth is a vibrant year-round city that explodes in the summer.

Our intent of visiting Rehoboth in April is to take advantage of the amenities of a beach town in the early months of the season. Another reason for choosing Rehoboth, is a chance to return to the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel. Sitting on the boardwalk and two and a half blocks from the main drag in Rehoboth, this location is perfect no matter what the weather. Since Rehoboth is a year-round community, most businesses are also open year-round but the number of people is way down. Therefore, there is almost no waiting to find a seat for dinner or drinks. Also, the parking meters are turned off so all parking is free.

Once in Rehoboth we proceeded to the Plaza to check in. As in the past, we were greeted by their great staff and the three parrots that occupy the desk area. Emro IV is top parrot with Moose and Peanut also clamoring for attention and talking up a storm. The Victorian-style Boardwalk Plaza is a beautiful hotel with many antiques and beautiful furniture. The hotel has its own restaurant as well as the hotel pub where you often find entertainment.

Adjacent to the lobby is their popular grotto… a large pool like hot tub which is open for use day and night and is connected to a small sitting pool on the boardwalk.

Upon checking, we were given an ocean front suite on the fourth floor which is only for adults. During the shoulder seasons this is nice but during the summer months when the place is buzzing with kids, it is essential. You have to have a special key card that will access the fourth floor from the elevator. Another nice touch is that only the fourth floor can access the hot tubs on the roof. This is a really nice treat.

The suites are beautifully appointed and the views are amazing. I am very happy of the photo of the sunrise that I took on our first morning. We have been lucky enough to stay in one of these suites on our previous trips and they are consistently exceptional.

After playing a little bit with Emro IV, we went to our room. We then decided to visit a few of our favorite places on Rehoboth Avenue. Our first stop involved a nine-minute walk to Nalu, an island style restaurant and in Hawaiian means surging surf or wave. Nalu has great drinks and a specialty offering of bacon wrapped pineapple chunks. Delicious. It was great to see that Jules was behind the bar. We had a lot of fun with her last year when we made our annual trek. She knows how to make a good drink and keep her bar patrons entertained. After a Happy Hour beverage and an order of the bacon wrapped pineapple, we ventured down Rehoboth Avenue a few blocks to the Purple Parrot, another one of our favorites and a fun beach style restaurant. With dollar bills stapled over all of the walls and ceiling left by customers, the place has a very comfortable feel. Feeling a bit hungry we ordered She Crab soup and a chicken quesadilla. The soup was perfect and the quesadilla hit the spot – it is enough for two for sure. After a couple of cocktails, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel, don our swim attire and hit the grotto! Adults only after 8 pm!!

The next day our friend Nancy drove up from her condo in north Ocean City to join us for the night. She arrived just in time to take a short drive to Lewes, Delaware to check out the 16^th Annual Tulip Celebration to see the 31,000 tulips that had been planted around the city and to grab a quick lunch. Full disclosure, we don’t think we saw all 31,000 but we did see a lot of beautiful plantings. While Rehoboth is a beach town on the ocean, Lewes is a small community steeped in history located on the Delaware Bay. It is a slower paced place with very a nice choice of eateries and one-of-a-kind shops. I wish we had taken more pictures. The downtown section of this little town is truly “Hallmark” movie worthy. We recommend that you check out Lewes Oyster House – they had our very favorite “Sweet Jesus” bivalves from Hollywood Oyster Company located in Hollywood, Maryland and one of my favorite beverages, Painkillers. IYKYK.

Upon our return to Rehoboth, we pretty much retraced our steps from the evening before to take advantage of the Nalu and Parrot Happy Hour eats and drinks. We then returned to the Hotel in order to catch local musician, Keith Mack, who was playing in the Tavern. He is very popular and the Tavern isn’t very big so you have to get there early to get prime seating. We were a little late but two lovely ladies let us join them to share their prime space.

We got all wrapped up in the music and nixed our plans for a nice dinner but Lani saved the day and made the trek down the boardwalk to a beach staple, Grotto Pizza and procured nourishment. They never disappoint.

Nancy and I stayed until the end and then we retired to the suite to grab a slice of said pizza and get our suits on and head down to the grotto. The three of us were pretty much the only guests in the pool at 10:30 pm. Not sure why we didn’t check out the hot tubs on the roof this year…there’s always a next time.

The next day we checked out, said our goodbyes to our feathered friends and went to Starboard (another must stop for us) in Dewey Beach for breakfast before Nancy went back to Ocean City and we headed home.

I was surprised how many cars were in town in March. It turns out it was spring break so folks were getting an early start. There were very few people on the beach as the temps were a bit chilly. However, a week later the temps were in the mid-70s and I heard that the beach got their fair share of beach goers. As I write this on April 22nd, the temps at Rehoboth reached 78 today.

Certainly, the most popular time to head to Rehoboth and the beaches is the summertime. However, if you want to beat the crowds, head out in the spring and fall. You can still find warm days but still a cold ocean, just like we learned at Virginia Beach.

Also, you can probably get cheaper room rate off season, and the Boardwalk Plaza is the perfect choice. Incredibly nice staff, great restaurant and pub and a lot less folks running around…it is pleasant.

The drive time to Rehoboth is about two and a half hours and Route 404 will take you through the small towns and fields of Delaware.