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DELAWARE
"Small
wonder" is Delaware's motto, which seems apropos given the state
has the best small town beaches along the mid-Atlantic coast. Rehoboth
Beach, with its elevated, wooden boardwalk, saltwater taffy shops and
amusement arcade, is a friendly, small-town beach experience - a favorite
among Washingtonians for a beach weekend. While the beach can be crowded
at the town center, just stroll down the beach and you can find your piece
of sand and surf with just the right amount of companions. While Rehoboth
is popular with the gay crowd, this is truly a family beach. When I appeared
on the Regis and Kathie Lee Show, she told me to look up her parents who
operate a B & B here.
Cape Henlopen State Park, near the historic town of Lewes, is one of my
favorite areas to get away from the beaten path. The many miles of roads
and paths through this 2,500-acre park are best explored by bicycle. One
of the most interesting experiences is to climb over the "walking"
sand dune, which is nearly 80 feet in height and over a mile long. My
kids love to tumble down the steep (leeward or advancing) side of the
sand dune. You can feel how it moves on a windy day. Be careful to cover
your eyes when the wind is blowing hard and the sand grains are flying.
The dune is composed almost totally of quartz sand grains that are so
hard that high sand-blasting winds can pit glass or take the paint off
of a car in a matter of minutes. The Lewes dune is the third largest sand
dune on the East Coast, only exceeded by Jockey's Ridge in North Carolina
and the Provincetown dunes on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland and Virginia) peninsula shoreline has
the same pattern of sand as experienced in New Jersey; the coarsest sand
and hence the steeper beaches are found in northern New Jersey and Delaware,
with the beaches southward becoming finer grained and more gently sloping.
Therefore, the beaches drop off more suddenly at Cape Henlopen than Ocean
City or Assateague Island further south, which can be a problem on big
wave days. Large waves breaking directly on the beachface, especially
at high tide when the outer bar is well submerged, can cause dangerous
shorebreak conditions (see Beach Safety). Tidal currents can be apparent
at Cape Henlopen beach near the mouth of Delaware Bay. This is not the
best beach for children, but this undeveloped shoreline is a great area
to explore.
At the south end of Cape Henlopen State Park, just north of Rehoboth Beach
are two prominent World War II observation towers on the beach. They were
built behind protective sand dunes at the time, but beach erosion has
caused the sea to creep ever closer to these lonely towers (which are
now closed). During the war, machine guns were sometimes fired at surfacing
U-boats just offshore to no avail. Unfortunately, these German submarines
took a deadly toll on coastal shipping at that time, and there are many
shipwrecks just offshore all the major waterways (especially Delaware
and Chesapeake Bays). Here the water is usually too turbid for good diving.
The best surfing beach in Delmarva is the north beach at Indian River
Inlet. This designated surfing beach drops off fairly quickly. The offshore
shoals (called an ebb tidal delta) of Indian River Inlet set up the right
conditions for board surfing - big waves quickly encountering shallow
sand bars, causing them to break into deep water shoreward. Inlets that
sweep sand far offshore to form the lunate-shaped ebb tidal shoals often
create the best surfing conditions along the East Coast, but one must
be wary of the strong tidal currents and boat traffic.
Dewey Beach is known as a small-town party beach in the summer; it is
essentially closed during the winter. While sailing, sail boarding, water
skiing, and jet skiing are favorite sports on the bay side (Rehoboth Bay),
the big attraction is skim-boarding on the ocean beach. Dewey hosts the
annual skim-board competition, which is dominated by teenagers. Enthusiasts
wait with their small circular boards to ride the leading edge of broken
waves as they spread out to form thin smooth planes of water on the beachface.
The trick is to hydroplane on a few inches of water across the sand surface
(much like car tires on a rainy highway when a driver is in trouble).
Too much or too little water, and it doesn't work. The flatter beaches
in Florida make for easier rides. I once saw a guy at Destin Beach along
the Florida panhandle jump on his skim board with his hands and then proceed
to do a head stand. What a thrill! This makes a pretty good spectator
sport as well.
Bethany Beach is known as the "quiet resort" as compared to
rowdy Ocean City, Maryland to the south. North Bethany beaches are all
private. The town itself, with its boardwalk and restaurants, caters to
families. The state of Delaware has been replenishing these beaches, but
occasionally the stone groins (some people mistakenly call them jetties)
poke out into the beach face, indicating continued beach erosion. Be careful
not to swim close to these underwater structures, which can be completely
submerged at high tide, but still dangerous. My favorite place to stay
in Bethany is the Addy Sea Inn, a Victorian era B&B right on the seacoast.
There is always fresh lemonade and cookies in the parlor. I like to stay
in this small town and walk to the state park beaches which bound most
of the seaside resorts in Delaware.
Delaware
State Travel Service
99 Kings Highway
Dover, DE 19901
(800) 441-8846
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