Snow never stays on the beach for long. If the salt air doesn't get it, the salt water definitely will get rid of it. As you can see from the first picture, it didn't get it all though.

Today was the first day since the storms that I have had a chance to take a walk on the beach. My dog, Chance, and I headed out about noon. it was actually quite nice. The sun was shining bright and there wasn't much wind at all. It was even pleasantly warm when I sat sheltered by the dunes. Since, it is a holiday weekend, I had a lot of company. I guess everyone is suffering from cabin fever and wanted to take advantage of such a nice day.

As you can see , the storms have brought a fresh supply of sea shells to the beach. Shelling is always a popular pass time and many visitors come down this time of year just to hunt for shells. Winter always brings tidal pools that appear and diappear as the tides come and go. Chance loves to run through them, she thinks it is great fun. It's fun not only to watch her play in them , just to gaze in them. Sometimes you find some really nice shells lying in the shallow water, but I, also, love the patterns that they create in the sand.

The last two pictures are of the sand dollar that I found. YES. it is a real sand dollar!!!! In the first picture, it is just as I found it. I just couldn't resist blowing some of the sand off and positioning it all by itself on the sand for portrait shot. The reddish color is the true color of a sand dollar. They only turn white when they die, dry out and the sun bleaches them. Many people look over them on the beach because they look more like an old, rusty can lid then a sand dollar. I almost stepped on it before I saw it. I am so delighted with my find as it is very rare to find one this large and perfect in shape - not one blemish!!!!!

It has been a wonderful weekend. Last night my son and his girlfriend took us out to dinner for Valentine's Day. We went to the Cottage Cafe in Bethany Beach. I gotta tell ya, they have the absolute best rock fish. They serve it over jasmine rice and top it with a lobster sauce. It was cooked to perfection! Definitely worth the trip to Bethany.

I hope all of you have had a wonderful weekend as well. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

More snow Pictures

If you are at all familiar with Rehoboth I think that all of these pictures are pretty self-explanatory, except maybe the last picture. It's a picture of the construction on the new bridge at Indian River Inlet. Enjoy!

Snow, snow, snow, aaaaand more Snow. . . .

Hello Everyone, I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I had intended to post about local events all winter long. Unfortunately, it has been a hectic fall and winter. Time has just flown by. Our area has had an abnormal number of strong storms. We've had one Nor'easter after another. From late September until 2 weeks ago, they have brought inches of rain at a time and caused lots of beach erosion.

Two weeks ago, we were hit with the first of three blizzards. That brought 12" of snow to the Rehoboth area. Exactly a week later, the second blizzard hit leaving us with another 12" or so. The picture above was taken of 34 Virginia Avenue right after that storm.


This is 38 Virginia Avenue after the 2nd blizzard. The photos are complements of Dustin Crago a dispatch for Rehoboth Beach Police Department. Thank you, Dustin!

We keep this home open all winter. When I realized just how bad the storm was going to be, I offered to let the PD use it to house the off duty officers and personnel. We have a really great police force. I knew that the officers would be exhausted when they got off duty and thought that it would be nice to make sure that they had a warm, comfortable place to get some rest and relax. They slept in shifts there for 3 days.



This photo was taken at the bandstand. If you look closely you can see the flag pole.








This is another picture of Rehoboth Avenue. I don't know whether you can see it, but the Subway sign is peaking out at you. Aaaaand hidden behind that huge pile of snow is Louis' Pizza. They will reopen in mid March. Man, just thinkin' about that makes my mouth water. There is absolutely nothing like Louis' Pizza. The pepperoni is sliced so thin that it gets really crispy and the crust has just a faint taste of butter. Ummmm!!!! Hurry up mid March!!!!

Here's our landmark replica of the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse. It's the first thing you see when you come into town as it now sits in the center of the turn about. Isn't is pretty sitting there in the snow? The wall you see peaking out of the snow is about 36" tall.

Here's a shot of Lake Geriar. It was taken on the North side of the lake heading toward the Henlopen Hotel. The high rise that you see in the distance is One Virgina Avenue. It's only a short block from my property. Isn't the lake lovely?

I did manage to get to Rehoboth last Monday right after Blizzard #2. Believe it or not, the outlets and Walmart were closed!!!!! Now you know that it has to be bad, when they close.

Route 1 was all but impassible, it was a solid sheet of ice. It seemed like the county had enlisted any and every sort of equipment that could push snow to clear the roads. The outlet parking lots have huge walls of snow along the highway. I would guess that the piles are 10 to 15 foot high. It's impossible to see what lies on the other side.

Now, you'd think that would be the end of it here, wouldn't you? Well, not quite! We were hit again on Wednesday! Yup, blizzard #3!!!!! Although we didn't get as much snow, this storm was worse in a number of ways. It started out as rain giving us a slushy mess. Then, the snow and the wind started, causing white out conditions and a lot of drifting. We have been under a State of Emergency so I haven't been out on the roads, but I've been told that there drifts over 9 feet high. Worst of all, there have been buildings collapse. The Robin Hood Restaurant and California Shine both have damage. I have been told that the back part of both buildings caved in from the weight of the snow. These buildings are next to each other in the ocean block of Rehoboth Avenue.

We have not had this much snow since the Blizzard of 1979!!! In fact, the weather here has been very mild for the last 10 years or so. In the last 6 years, we have had no more then a dusting of snow. I was beginning to think that my grandsons would grow up without experiencing the joy of playing in the snow. Now, the poor kids are sick of being house bound and ready to go back to school.

I plan on going to Rehoboth tomorrow, so I will try to get more pictures to post.

More bad news -There's more coming. . .

Stay tuned. . . . Stay warm!

It's been a beautiful day . . . .

The storm is over, the sun is shining, and the weather is warm. Thankfully, there was hardly any property damage anywhere. Beach erosion was very heavy and that is bad enough. The wind driven ocean spread sand all over everywhere. Some of it ended up in huge piles on the roads and boardwalks. Even more was carried out to form wider beaches that are dotted with shells now.

So now the clean up begins. Front end loaders are busy scraping the sand off of the roads and boardwalks. Thankfully, that's about all that needs to be done. In a week or less it will all be cleaned up. The officials really don't want people on the beach, but that isn't stopping anybody. Crowds of people came down on Sunday to see how we made out and they all wanted to get on the beach. Who can blame them? It's fun walking on the beach hunting for shells.

The worst thing that happened to my properties was lost limbs from the Black Walnut tree. It's a very old tree. We plan to cut it down sometime this winter. I've known it needed to go for several years, but oh do I hate to lose it. It's been there as long as I can remember. I have pictures of the house when it was just a small tree. When I was little, one of my fall jobs was to beat the squirrels to the nuts. Although the squirrels got their fair share, I've managed to pick up big baskets full of nuts. After I collected them, I would watch my grandfather shell them. That's not an easy job. They are very hard. He used to bust them with a hammer, then pick the meat out.

Maryland Black Walnut Cake was my father's favorite cake. Mom mom always made one for his birthday. Yum!!!!! I haven't had one in a very long time, but I think I will make one for Thanksgiving. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water! For Christmas, Mom mom made big batches of cookies with those nuts. They were so good we ate them almost as fast as she baked them.

Aaaand, so the excitment is over and life is back to normal - for now!

Today's pictures of beach errosion . . . .

I don't have time to drive around to Rehoboth today, so all of these pictures are taken at Bethany Beach. I wish I could make the pictures larger as there is so much that doesn't show. There is a lot of beach errosion. The beach replenishment is almost all gone. The first two pictures were taken just off of the main street. The drops are straight down and more then 60%of the duneline is gone. The middle picture was taken about a block from route 1. If you look closely the water is almost to the top cross piece on the barricade. Bethany is much lower then Rehoboth. It is not unusual for parts of it to be flooded during a storm, but this is a little much.

The next picture is of an entrance to the beach at Wellington Street. The stuff that looks like mud is actually dirty seafoam. It is slimy and very slippery. I had to walk through it to get the last picture. It is of the south end of the boardwalk. Look closely - the dunes are gone, water is under the boardwalk, and the fence has been thrown all over. That piece sticking up in the air that looks like part of a pier was actually the walkway that took you from the boardwalk to the top of the dune. As you can see, beach errosion has been heavy. It is worse here then in Rehoboth from what I hear.

The good news is the storm is winding down and there has been no significant property damage anywhere that I have heard of. The beach will be back by Spring!!!!!!

Three Day Nor'easter hits. . . .

Hello, everyone!

I took these pictures yesterday.

The one at the top left was taken at the end of Rehoboth Avenue. The fencing that you see is blocking off where they are replacing the boardwalk. It is not there because of the storm. Believe it or not, they are taking out the concrete to replace it with boards. The concrete was in very good shape and would have lasted way longer then the boards it will be replaced by. GRRRRR!! Such a waste of taxpayer money!

The next two pictures were taken at the point just past the Henlopen Hotel in North Rehoboth. It is not far from my homes. The water was already up to the bulkhead that protects the road. The spindrift was flying like snow. There was so much traffic that I had to wait in line to even get up to the bulkhead. It sorta reminded me of going through the drivethru at McDonalds at lunch time. I didn't even try to get out of the car, the winds were just too strong. We have had gusts of up to 70 miles an hour over the past 48 hours. By this time I am sure that the ocean has breached the area at the next hightide.

The last picture really doesn't need much explanation. Yup, Dolle's was open aaaaand there were actually people buying popcorn. I am sorry they didn't show up in the photo.

This is the worst storm to hit our area in a long time. When I went to Rehoboth yesterday, route 1 was still passable. Several hours after I got back home, the ocean broke through the dunes just north of the inlet. They had to close the road from Bethany Beach to Rehoboth Beach; it remains closed at this time. I will now have to drive around the backbay to get there. Fortunately, my God son is staying at one of my beach houses, so he is taking care of everything for me. It's a relief knowing that he is there. So far, I haven't had any major damage. There were several limbs from the walnut tree down and there are several leaks in the older house. Of course, considering how strong the wind has been, it is no wonder.

We still have flood warnings out until this evening and the entire county is under a State of Emergency. Our EMS are busy rescuing people that are stranded by the flood waters. Rehoboth isn't affected by flood waters. It was built on high ground. Dewey Beach, Lewes Beach, Bethany Beach and the backbay areas are all affected. Most of the rescues, have taken place in the Long Neck/Oak Orchard areas.

As I write this, I am sitting on my porch watching the rain and the wind. Later, I will try to get down to the boardwalk in Bethany Beach for more pictures.

Shopping and the beach. . . .

The weather has been just wonderful this past week. During the day the sun is so bright and warm; there is hardly a cloud in the sky. It's so warm, you hardly need a sweater! I am still wearing shorts and flip flops during the day! The evenings have been so balmy that the boardwalk is still frequented by a good number of people. In fact, everyone is so thrilled with the mild weather that the atmosphere is quite festive.

I am still enjoying the beach. The sandpipers are back. They are so much fun to watch as they dart to and fro as the waves flow in and out.

Personally, I would like some cooler weather. My winter walking gear is all ready! Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast approaching, but I just can't get in the mood with all of this warm weather. At this rate, they will slip up on me and I will be in a mad dash to get ready. Sorry, but housework is just not high on my priority list when the weather is this nice.

Friday, I went to the outlets! My grandsons were in need of new jeans. Of course, the stores are crowded. They have tons of buses pulling in there everyday. They have had as many as 70 buses in one day there. Can you believe? I guess it's the "no sales tax" thing.

Of course, I have my favorite stores. Lately, I am having great luck at Osh'Kosh for the grandsons. Great buys there! I had recieved an e-mail coupon for 20% off of my entire purchase. I spent over $100.00, so I got a card that gives me $10 off my next purchase and another 20% off coupon. Whoppeee! For myself, I love Coldwater Creek. I bought $80 jeans there for $9.99. What a buy!!!! For gifts, I love Kirkland's. My son likes Tommy H.,, I can't say I have found really good deals there though.