Photographed by Vince Lupo
Shirley Phillips
Co-owner, Phillips Restaurants Ocean City resident
When people come to Ocean City, they often miss the wonderful Life Saving Station Museum on the boardwalk at the south end of town (410-289-4991; adult admission $3, children $1). They have a terrific collection of early lifesaving equipment, beach fashions from the days when people arrived on horseback, fascinating books, a mermaid collection and interesting pictures of shipwrecks and life in Ocean City in the old days.
Jacques Kelly
Baltimore Sun columnist and lifelong Rehoboth Beach visitor
The pancakes at the Royal Treat Restaurant (4 Wilmington Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-6277) are incredible. They’re light and delicious and they don’t come to your table like 78 rpm records. In the morning they serve breakfast; in the afternoon it becomes an ice cream parlor. It’s a wholesome place near the boardwalk, owned by the same family for more than 20 years. There’s always a line, so what does that tell you?
North of Rehoboth Beach, a walk, skate or bike ride around Henlopen Acres and The Pines is wonderful. The residential properties date from the late- 1920s and offer great house and garden observing. It’s beautiful and shady. In its midst, the Rehoboth Art League (12 Dodds Lane, Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-8408, rehobothartleague.org) is a hidden gem where children can take art classes from June 16 through Aug. 1. Each summer they have a fabulous outdoor Art Fair (Aug. 9-10, 16-17). About 140 local and regional artists and craftspeople show their work. It’s terrific.
Jake’s Seafood House Restaurant, (1st Street, between Baltimore and Maryland avenues, Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-6237) is a large, family-style Rehoboth restaurant owned by a Baltimore family. It doesn’t get high marks on ambience and you risk getting a crying child next to you, but the seafood is terrific. Don’t be put off by the crowds.
Kendel Ehrlich
First lady of Maryland
When Bob, Drew and I are at the beach vacationing, we make quite a few trips to Laytons (16th and Philadelphia Ave., Ocean City, 410-289-6635) to get their legendary homemade doughnuts. Drew loves the ones with the sprinkles on top. And we always find time to take Drew to the Old Pro Putt Putt, too. (23rd and Coastal Highway, 410-289-6501.)
Sandy Brock
Designer, civic volunteer and beachgoer
I love The Bellmoor Spa (6 Christian St., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-5800 or 800-425-2355, thebellmoor.com). It’s extraordinarily well done— not at all beachy. It has a beautiful library feel, cherry floors, overstuffed furniture and fireplaces. It was a nice surprise to find such a great spa at the beach.
Barbara Peters
Baltimorean and Fenwick Island resident
The best-kept secret at the Delaware beaches is Fenwick Island. Don’t sneeze as you drive south on Route 1, or you’ll miss this sleepy little town outside Ocean City. Pottery Place (402 Sunshine Plaza, Fenwick Island, 302-539-3603) is funky and fabulous at the north end of the island. They have four rooms of stuff including the biggest selection of gardening containers you’ve ever seen. Prices are great. Recently they opened Pottery Place Perks out back where you can sip coffee and catch a peek of the bay.
iLand Art Gallery (Coastal Highway between Maryland and Delaware avenues, Fenwick Island, 302-539-4485) is an interesting, whimsical store for jewelry, custom water fountains and even full-scale lifeguard stands. Inside, they have tons of sand and a boardwalk for a floor. It’s across from Fenwick Crab House (Route 1 and Route 54, 302-539-2500) where you’ll find the best crabs in town.
Nassau Valley Vineyards and Winery in Lewes, Del. (36 Nassau Commons, 302-645-9463) offers a great tour, plus you can pick up a few bottles of local vino for friends and family.
Head to Bootsies Bar-B-Que (Route 26 in Ocean View, 302-539-9529) for carryout— it’s fabulous. Everybody goes there. Great homemade pies, too.
Shark’s Cove Restaurant & Marina (Route 54, West Fenwick Island, 302-436-8600 or 800-826-JAWS) is a nice tablecloth restaurant with the best views of any restaurant on Delmarva. Be sure to sit outside so you can watch the birds and wildlife— you’ll feel like you’re sitting in the middle of the wetlands.
Coastal Kayak & Sailing (Coastal Highway on the bayside of Fenwick Island State Park, 302-539-7999 or toll-free 877-445-2925) has sailboat and kayak rentals. Paddle through the Little Assawoman Bay, canal and wildlife refuge. It’s a perfect way to watch the sunset.
I’m into cutting-edge plants and Buds and Blooms (Route 54, Selbyville, 302-436-4856) has a great selection. Just down the road, Flower Haven (302-436-7482) has the best geraniums in the area— they grow them the size of grapefruits.
The Sands Motel (Route 1, North Fenwick, 302-539-7745) is an old-time shore motel on the ocean block. They are so civilized, they even allow well-behaved pets. There are a lot of family compounds nearby and when we have family reunions we put guests up at the Sands.
The Four Sisters (Route 26 in Millville, 302-541-8110) is unique. Four gals open up an old beach cottage only one weekend a month. They sell antiques and great stuff for beach houses; the look is shabby-chic. I’ve bought tons of stuff. I wait in line to get in. (Open this season July 18-20, Aug. 29-31 and Sept 1.)
J. Conn Scott Furniture (6 E. Church St., Selbyville, 302-436-8205) has been family-run for about 100 years. When I built my beach house I was running to the Design Center in Washington until I discovered this place. I’ve never seen anything like it in Washington or New York. Ralph Lauren, Mark Hampton, it’s so upscale and chic— and it’s in the chicken farms of Selbyville!
Bruce Mogol
Baltimore CPA and Rehoboth Beach resident
I hate to tell anybody about the fabulous hamburgers at Liberty Grill (4121 Route 1, Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-9440), they’re so good. Big, thick and juicy, and I’m not even a big meat eater!
Rehoboth Seafood (4131 Route 1, 302-227-3551 or 302-227-3776) has wonderful fresh fish to cook at home. I’ve never seen a selection like it.
The Sugar Plum (57 Wilmington Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-2699) has great breakfasts and you don’t have long lines like at Royal Treat and everything is made to order— it’s not a factory. If you tell them you don’t want onions in your omelet, you won’t get onions.
Rock Creek in downtown Rehoboth Beach (212 Rehoboth Ave., 302-226-3140) has pricey but great casual, cutting-edge clothing for men.
The Rose Garden (71 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-7388) is terrific for upscale women’s casual clothes.
For the best chicken cheesesteak subs, head to Louie’s Pizza (11 Rehoboth Ave., 302-227-6002) on the beach block in Rehoboth.
DiFebo’s Restaurant and Deli (789 Garfield Parkway, Bethany Beach, 302-539-4914) doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it has incredible Italian food. People come from all over to eat there.
Kingston Grille (Pennsylvania Avenue at Campbell Place, Bethany Beach, 302-539-1588) is fabulous. It’s so good, I actually hate to tell you about it.
Elmer’s Market (Route 16 between Greenwood and Ellendale, 302-349-4428) is our favorite produce stand; we think it’s even better than Farmer Bill’s. It has a much bigger selection of fruits, vegetables, flowers, plants and baked goods.
Mitzi Perdue
Author, columnist and founder of Healthy U of Delmarva
If you want to be pampered, get a scalp massage as part of your hair styling from Robin Yates at Mark 4 Hair (8101 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, 410-524-0414, mark4hair.com). It’s absolutely celestial. She drains the sinuses while massaging the pressure points. Your hair will be more lustrous and manageable and your cares will melt away.
Desserts by Rita (St. Martins Neck Road, Bishopville, 410-352-3338) is sinful. Lemon Lust is a delicious cream pie with a wonderful pecan crust. Rita specializes in things with fresh whip- ped cream that comes from Lewes Dairy, a family-run, third-generation dairy that doesn’t use any preservatives. She’s been making desserts since 1977. It’s in an old post office building that looks like a gingerbread house. (Desserts by Rita also can be purchased at the 85th Street Wine Rack in Ocean City, 410-723-0912.)
Linda Creighton
Bethany Beach resident
A great place for fun, funky objects from leopard-skin tables to faux elephant heads to incredible curios 10 feet high is The Best Things (U.S. 113, Millsboro, Del., 302-934-7493). They carry a wide, wonderful range of stuff.
The Ristorante Zebra (32 Lake Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-226-1160) is outstanding. The seafood is always prepared in a healthy way.
Betsy Heuisler
Baltimore artist and Rehoboth Beach resident
Hands down our favorite restaurant is The Back Porch Café (59 Rehoboth Ave., 302-227-3674). Every winter, Leo, their wonderful chef and his co-owner, Keith, travel to Vietnam, Thailand or Indonesia, and eat their way through Asia. When they return, they incorporate the new ideas they’ve gathered from their winter’s adventure into the summer menu. It’s always different and very inventive.
My husband, Stan, is a real gourmet cook and always recommends Beautiful Foods (715 Rehoboth Ave., 302-227-6282). It’s where the restaurant chefs get their food. The owner goes to Bruno’s in Philadelphia, where he gets off-the-charts cheeses you don’t get elsewhere. We buy cheese in Rehoboth and bring it back home. Sometimes we’ll even go down and get some during the winter. The Humboldt Fog Blue Cheese is divine, and they get their country cheddar from Yorkshire. The Israeli couscous is fabulous, too.
Hickman’s Meat Market (4307 Route 1, Rehoboth Beach, 302-226-8345) smokes its own meats and makes great homemade sausage. It’s a fabulous, fourth-generation meat market.
Anybody who goes to Rehoboth should go to the Edward Carter Gallery (122 Market St., Lewes, 302-644-7513). It’s a super gallery run by two women, Dinah and Sally, who really know art and photography. They have a gallery in New York City, too.
I hate shopping— I never go to the outlets. When I buy clothes I go to Crysti (33 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-2818). You won’t look like everyone else dressing from Lands’ End.
Everyone always includes a nice long walk to see the wild tropical parrots that live on Silver Lake in the south end of Rehoboth. Take Rehoboth Avenue to 2nd Street and that will lead you there.
I’m a real aficionado of almond croissants. It’s the one sweet thing that I eat, and Lingo’s Market (1st and Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-7072) has the best. In the summer they have them every morning, but you have to get there early. People wait to get them and they never tell anybody how few they left.
Our book club goes to Dewey Beach to rent a pontoon boat (Rehoboth Marine Ventures, 1117 Route 1, Dewey Beach, 302-226-2012) and we ride up the tiny canal behind Henlopen Acres and into the grasses north to Lewes. We have lunch and talk about a book along the way— it’s a wonderful adventure.
In July and August, the Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes (Seaside Nature Center, take Route 1 to Route 9, past the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, 302-645-6852) offers lots of free lectures on a variety of subjects. It’s a gorgeous 3,000-acre park where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic and has wonderful “walking” sand dunes and nature trails great for bird-watching.
Weather permitting, every weekend and occasionally during the week around 7 a.m., Henry DeWitt, a Baltimore software developer, plays the bagpipes as he walks up and down the beach at the Gordon’s Pond entrance to Henlopen State Park. If you get to within three or four blocks, you’ll hear him. He also plays at sunset on the deck of his house at the corner of Columbia and Dover avenues in Rehoboth. Check The Cape Gazette for the exact time of sunset.
Lisa Barnhill
Baltimorean and Rehoboth Beach resident
Pasqualini’s Bakery (101 Atlantic Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-2111) has the best breads, Italian and French pastries, pies and scones, too.
Judy Catterton
Attorney and Rehoboth Beach resident
Booksandcoffee (113 Dickinson St., in the Ruddertowne complex, Dewey Beach, 302-226-9959) is a wonderful, user-friendly place. They have poetry readings, live music and local authors’ book signings. It’s a great place to sit and enjoy the newspaper while having some coffee and a muffin. There’s a good selection of discounted books and one of its many virtues is that they have free parking.
Everybody knows about the Rehoboth outlets, but Elements (134 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-0457) on the main drag downtown is where you can get two sweat shirts for $5. I bought a pair of Bill Blass jeans there for $10— they may be seconds, but they’re great.
Baywood Greens Golf Course (Route 24, Long Neck, Del., 302-947-9800 or 888-844-2254) is a public course, but it’s as pretty and interesting as any country club course. It’s relatively new, but the developer put great effort into making it look mature. People have compared it to Augusta because of the beautiful bridges and azaleas. Just to see the place, even if you’re not a golfer, is worth it.
Bare Trap Dunes (400 Freeport Court, Bethany Beach, 302-537-5600) has a fantastic practice facility that not only includes a driving range, but lots of sand traps and a huge putting area. You can practice every kind of shot out there and it costs a pittance. It’s a public course and very well-kept.
Nancy Martin
Pianist, resident of D.C. and Rehoboth Beach
I love the Delmarva Piano Festival, an annual event for the past 12 years. It features four concert pianists from around the country who met at Julliard in the ’80s. They perform all over the world, but each year they come to Rehoboth for a reunion. All four pianists play solos, and they offer a varied repertoire.
At 3 p.m. the day of the concert they conduct a performance workshop for local young pianists selected by the Southern Delaware Music Teachers Association. The students play and it’s a great opportunity for students to get feedback from the experts. The workshop is open to the public and admission is free. It’s a great place to take a young person studying piano. Some people make a whole day of it. (Tuesday, July 29, 8 p.m. Epworth United Methodist Church, 20 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-7743. Cash admission at door for concert is $20 for adults, $10 for students. For information, contact Nancy Martin, 302-227-0386.)
Early Attic (10 Sixth St., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-0598) is a funky, semi-antiques shop full of collectibles. It’s hard to find, in the back of a house, but it’s my favorite place.
Dennis Trencher
International banker, nine-year Dewey Beach house member
This is my secret— once it’s discovered, maybe I’ll lose some weight! The day-old pastries at The Bake Shoppe (222 Rehoboth Ave., 302-226-0176) are great and they’re half-price or less. Get there before 9 a.m.
Anything Goes (149 Rehoboth Ave., Village by the Sea, Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-2960) is a wonderful place to find high-quality, interesting women’s clothing.
The Java Beach Coffee House (167 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-226-3377) has great food, but more importantly, you can take your dog and eat outside.
Bill Magruder
Coldwell Banker Real Estate
Arena’s Famous Deli Bar (149 Rehoboth Ave., 302-227-1272) serves the best sandwiches for lunch with fries. They’re really filling!
There’s consistently delicious seafood for dinner at the Big Fish Grill (4117 Route 1, Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-FISH) and it’s great for kids, too.
Best beach? Henlopen State Park, of course— it’s dog-friendly.
Janet Dudley-Eshbach
President, Salisbury State College
When going on vacation— as in life— the journey is as important as the destination. So, in heading to the beach resorts, try a new route. Instead of taking Route 50, consider taking the Old Ocean City Road (Route 346), which offers a glimpse into small-town Eastern Shore life.
Take a left onto Route 610, and find your way to tiny Bishopville. On the left side of the road you will find a unique little gingerbread-style house, home of Rita’s desserts (also billed as “The Original House of Lust”). If all those calories seem too sinful, stop at one of the roadside stands featuring locally grown fruit and vegetables.
Approach the resorts of Fenwick Island and Ocean City by heading east on Route 54. There are a number of funky shops and restaurants worth exploring just before you get to Fenwick. Tom and Terry’s, on the right side of the road, has delicious food in an intimate atmosphere literally right on the salt marsh. Some may prefer the livelier, party-like ambience of the Bay Café (Route 54, West Fenwick, 302-436-3622). After dining, or on a not-so-good beach day, explore the antiques and curios store on the north side of Route 54.
From Route 54 you pass the Fenwick Lighthouse on your right; it is a history lesson unto itself and definitely worth a visit. If you wish to avoid the high-rise mecca of Ocean City, once 54 dead-ends at Coastal Highway, turn left into Fenwick Island. Browse the Seaside Country Store and be sure to try its homemade fudge—you’ll never have better!
Another favorite destination is Seashell City (708 Ocean Highway, Fenwick, 410-539-9366). Don’t miss the second-floor nautical museum.
Whitey Schmidt
Author of eight food and travel books about the Chesapeake
You must go to Seacrets (49th Street and the Bay, Ocean City, 410-524-4900). It’s full of thatched-roof tiki bars, palm trees and fountains and sand floors. It makes you feel like you’re on a Caribbean island. On a Saturday night they might have three bands there— it’s that big. One of the little eating spots inside is actually a workboat. Or you can sip a drink as you recline on a raft at the water bar. They have a special drink that’s a mix of vodka and something that tastes just like Tang— it’ll put you in outer space.
Mickey’s Crab House (222 Jefferson Bridge Road, Route 1 and Jefferson Bridge Road, Bethany Beach, 302-539-5384) has great crabs. It looks dilapidated, with a big wooden front porch, but there’s always a crowd— it’s really cool.
For the best sandwich to eat in or carry out, check out McCabe’s Gourmet Market (York Beach Mall, South Bethany, 302-539-8550). They’ve got lots of gourmet, one-of-a-kind items for sale, excellent breads and rolls. It’s one of my all-time favorite spots.
The Seaside Country Store (Route 1 at Georgetown Street, Fenwick Island, 302-539-6110) is a huge red building along Route 1. They have cheeses that they make themselves and you can sample anything.
Judi Kardash
Annapolis resident and Dewey Beach lover
When we arrive in Dewey Beach, a tradition for us and several other families is to head to The Waterfront (Dagsworthy Street and the Bay, 302-227-3317) and sip on a Dewey Devil, a rum concoction with lots of whipped cream on top. The Rusty Rudder (Dickinson Street and the Bay, Dewey Beach, 302-227-3888) is a great place to watch the sunset and have a drink while enjoying the steel band on the huge deck. Kids are welcome, too.
Josie O’Rourke
Locust Point resident and beachgoer
Farmer Bill’s, (Route 16 between Denton and Greenwood) is a family-owned stand that has the best produce and flowers and a clean port-a-potty to boot!
In Lewes, Two Friends Ltd. (205 2nd St., Lewes, 302-644-0477) is an interesting store that isn’t overpriced. I got some cute porcelain flip-flops to hang on the wall for about $35. They’re so adorable, the store can’t keep them in stock.
I love Funland (Boardwalk and Delaware Avenue, 302-227-1921) in Rehoboth. The Skee-Ball is still a quarter. The children’s boat and airplane rides have been restored, but they look like they could be the original ones. It’s so much fun for little kids— they ring the little bell, it’s not high-tech. I love the claw machines, too.
Sheryl Piron
Baltimorean and Bethany Beach goer
Chez La Mer is a cute little French restaurant that’s been in business for 24 years (2nd Street at Wilmington Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-6494). My husband, Matt, loves bouillabaisse and they have the best. It’s so good he won’t order it anywhere else.
After any big storm we love to roam the beach and collect beach glass. Our favorite beach for finding the most interesting glass is between the boardwalk and North Bethany.
For authentic New York-style Jewish bagels, Bethany Bagelery (Route 1 and Addy Road, 302-537-2622) is fabulous.
John Shields
Author, chef, cooking show host and owner of Gertrude’s restaurant at the BMA
The best fish-and-chips at the beach is at Stoney Lonen (208 2nd St., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-2664). They’re my vote for best Irish bar/restaurant at the beach.
Gina Fitzsimmons
Interior designer and Dewey Beach homeowner
Fusion (50 Wilmington Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-226-1940) makes a delicious duck salad at a ridiculously inexpensive price, like $8. Golden raisins and shaved Parmesan top crispy duck that’s placed on fresh field greens and arugula. I don’t even like duck, but this salad is incredible. It’s enough for a meal. They’ve also redone the wine list— there’s not one French wine on it!
The most wonderful Cobb Salad we’ve ever had is at Java Beach Coffee House (59 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-226-3377). They fill a large oval plate with romaine that’s topped with freshly fried bacon— not some dried-up or jarred stuff. Then they pile on tomatoes, feta cheese and avocado that is perfectly ripe. It’s under $6.
Sharon Tufaro
Co-owner, Shananigan’s Toy Store, and Dewey Beach homeowner
As the owner of a toy store in Baltimore, I marvel at the selection of specialty toys at Fun For All Toys (42 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-1015). They have the kinds of things that kids and families want at the beach. Lots of inexpensive, fast-paced, fun games, plus art supplies and things for a rainy day.
Tickled Pink (235 Rehoboth Ave., 302-227-7575) has a great selection of Lilly Pulitzer clothing, all beautifully displayed.
When friends visit with kids, we often go to Crabber’s Cove restaurant (Dickinson Street at the bay, Dewey Beach, 302-227-4888) for dinner or happy hour at the Rusty Rudder. The kids love the climbing wall that’s on the beach between the restaurants. I think they charge $5.
Ed Riggin Sr., of Ed’s Chicken and Crabs (known by everyone simply as “Chicken Ed’s”) in Dewey Beach, won’t give up the secret recipe for his famous barbecue sauce— all he’ll say is that it has an oil-and-vinegar base and a few special seasonings. “It’s not your traditional red barbecue sauce,” says Riggin, who opened the roadside grill in 1978 after successfully running barbecue-chicken stands for his Kiwanis Club in sleepy Laurel, Del. For the first few years in Dewey, Ed’s offered barbecue chicken only, but has since expanded to include Maryland crabs and fresh steamed local seafood on the menu. The steamed crabs smothered in Old Bay come by the dozen or the bushel.
Walk up to place your order at the screened counter and you’ll see the cooks barbecuing at the open pit— no fast-food here. Then grab a roll of the paper towels provided, take a seat at an umbrella-shaded outdoor picnic table and dig in. The corn on the cob is piping hot and the pickle chips and rolls are the perfect accompaniment to the fresh, juicy chicken. Ah, summer. (Ed’s is open seven days a week throughout the season, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.)
—Shannon Canton
(Highway 1 at Swedes Street, Dewey Beach, 302-227-9484)
Grotto Pizza, that Delaware Beach concoction with the thin, crunchy crust and tomato sauce swirled atop the cheese— rather than the usual vice-versa— had its birth in 1960, when 17-year-old Dominic Pulieri single-handedly brought pizza to Rehoboth Beach. He’d been working at his brother-in-law’s pizza shop in Pennsylvania, and several customers commented that there was nothing like it at the shore resorts.
Pulieri started out renting a small takeout stand on Rehoboth Avenue. “Back then, a lot of people in this area still didn’t know what pizza was,” he says. In order to introduce it to the population, he began to hand out free samples. And once folks tried Pulieri’s pizza, they kept coming back. A year later he added tables, and the business began to grow, eventually expanding into a chain of 16 Grotto Pizza stores throughout Delaware (with plans for two more in the works).
People swear the Grotto’s on Rehoboth Avenue still has the best-tasting pies. While Pulieri allows that the humidity of the ocean is great for pizza dough, he suspects it’s mostly the boardwalk atmosphere that makes the pizza taste better than at all others.
And the Dewey Beach location has its own defenders— just ask any one of the dozens of young adults lined up at its counter on weekend nights at 1 a.m., just after the bars close. The wait can be long, but somehow nothing else will satisfy at that particular time of night.
These days, the 60-year-old Pulieri can be spotted greeting people or tossing pizzas at any one of the 11 Grotto Pizzas at the beaches, but his favorite restaurant is still his first. “We’ve been there for a long time,” he says. “You know, 43 years serving the public, that gives you a good feeling.” —Shannon Canton
Most beachers know that once they park their car on Friday afternoons, they need never move it again until late Sunday. And if they can’t walk to their destination, they take the Jolly Trolley. The trolleys— large open-air, bus-like carriages attached to the backs of sturdy SUVs— start running at 8 a.m. each day between Memorial and Labor days. But their peak times are between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. on the weekends, when bar-hoppers shuttle between Dewey and Rehoboth beaches. The route begins at the boardwalk and stops along Rehoboth Avenue, then heads south into Dewey using the coastal route along picturesque Silver Lake. Trolleys come every 15 minutes and make stops every few blocks. Fares run $2 to $3 for a one-way trip, depending on time of day.
Since David and Christine Hastings took over in 1991, the Jolly Trolley (sometimes referred to as “the drunk bus”) has become the unofficial mass-transportation system for Rehoboth and Dewey. “People can rely on the trolley for convenient partying; it’s a safer alternative to driving or even walking,” says Hastings. And from the people-watching aspect, more fun, too.
—Shannon Canton
(Jolley Trolley, 302-227-1197)
Drive through Dewey Beach on a summer day and you’re sure to see a crowd clogging the decks of the Starboard Restaurant. Open since the late-1950s, the restaurant was strictly a local hangout until 1986, when the Sunday “Make Your Own Bloody Mary” bar made its debut. In 1999, new owner Steve Montgomery and his partners took “Bloody Sundays” to the next level, providing live music and expanding the outdoor space, and the buffed and sun-bleached hordes continue to make it a weekend habit.
The Bloody Mary bar offers 50 different tomato juice mixers, 30 vodkas, 250 hot sauces and garnishes such as celery, carrots, asparagus and onions. Montgomery, a Washington, D.C., native, suggests mixing carrot juice, Worcestershire sauce and Old Bay with a healthy dose of vodka to give your Bloody some punch. The party lasts long into the afternoon.
The Starboard serves breakfast and lunch daily, and on Saturdays, the DJ begins spinning at 9 a.m., the perfect backdrop to the Eggs Delmarva, homemade raisin-bread French toast and variety of huge omelets. The heaving crowds on the dance floor and decks on Saturday nights are a testament to the classic Dewey tradition of weekend partying.
“For years, people have been stopping by the Starboard for a ‘quick Bloody’ on Sundays on their way out of town,” says Montgomery. “Those people are always the last to leave.”
—Shannon Canton
(2009 Highway 1, Dewey Beach, 302-227-4600)
While most night life at the Delaware beaches takes place in Dewey, the Summer House Restaurant and Saloon in Rehoboth Beach draws its fair share of loyalists, as well. Tuesdays are “Mooney’s Iced Tea Nights,” named after popular former bartender Harry Mooney. The signature drink is similar to a Long Island iced tea— sans tequila. “It tastes like sweetened iced tea and goes down really smoothly,” says Summer House owner Susan Krick. Sometimes too smoothly; and for those who aren’t yet converts to Mooney’s, the ice-cold Budweiser is also discounted on Tuesday nights.
Opened in 1977 by the owners of D.C.’s Beowulf restaurant, the Summer House became the warm-weather home base for Beowulf regulars during the summer months. Krick and her husband, Richard, took over in 1984 after they moved to Dewey from Washington, D.C. “We quit everything, bought the restaurant, moved to the beach and have been running it ever since,” says Krick.
The Summer House is popular for its food— salads, sandwiches, burgers, seafood and crab cakes. But the place really kicks in on weekends in-season, when the bar and dance floor fill up with revelers, many of whom are the original “beach connection” folks who pioneered the Dewey/Rehoboth beach-house-share circuit in the ‘70s. And don’t be surprised to see girls dancing on the bar— it’s a tradition here.
—Shannon Canton
(228 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 302-227-3895)
After a Saturday on the sand, head over to the Bottle & Cork for live music during happy hour. The “Jam Session” starts at 5 p.m. every Saturday, when many beachgoers grab a few cold ones before heading home to get ready for dinner or a night out. On Friday and Saturday nights, the Cork gets packed and sweaty as weekend regulars and the beach house crowd dance to live bands like Love Seed Mama Jump, Mr. Greengenes and Burnt Sienna.
During the rest of the week, the Bottle & Cork attracts an older, more laid-back crowd. The Greaseband plays oldies every Monday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., starting June 23. (If you have dinner at the Rusty Rudder, Crabber’s Cove, The Lighthouse, Waterfront or Northbeach on Mondays, you’ll receive free show tickets.)
The oldest bar in Dewey Beach, the Bottle & Cork opened in 1936 as a tavern and roadhouse along a dusty stretch of Route 1. Expanded countless times over the years, the sprawling club has a large stage area, numerous bars and an outdoor courtyard (definitely the place to position oneself on hot, crowded summer nights), and has become legendary for its musical lineup and big-name national touring acts such as Blues Traveler, the Dave Matthews Band, Rusted Root and Train. While the sign over the stage reads, “The Greatest Rock’n’Roll Bar in the World,” the house T-shirt hints at the spirit of the place: “Come for the hook-up. Stay for the music.”
—Shannon Canton
(1807 Highway 1, Dewey Beach, 302-227-7272)
