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.

After the storm . .

I still haven't had time to run up to Rehoboth to get pictures. I will try to do that tomorrow.

The weather is lovely right now. It has been in the 70's for the last 2 days, the sun is bright and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Purrrfect fall weather!!!!

Yesterday, Chance and I walked on the beach in Bethany. Chance is my sweet doggy. You can see her in the picture above.

As you can see, the storm caused a great deal of beach erosion. I found beach access at Oakwood Street. (The bottom picture.) Walking north, I there were drops of up to 15 foot straight down. The "cliffs" are so high that I wasn't sure exactly what part of town I was in at times. Once in a while, I could see just the top a roof that I recognized. Needless to say, the beach wasn't crowded. I only met one other person on the beach. The winds were gentle and there was only the gentlest of waves.

We walked a little over a half mile north before I found a place to get back to the street without having to turn around. The handicap ramp on the north side of town is still in place, so I used that. It was such a beautiful walk that I would have loved to have stayed much longer.

The shells are starting to wash in. Late fall, winter, and the early spring are good for shelling. I find it fascinating that different types of shells seem to the be more plentiful at certain times of the winter season. The beach was full of shells as you can see in the picture of Chance. Of course, all Chance wanted to do was run and that didn't make shelling easy. I did find a coupla nice conch shells.

The beach replenishment here was done in a much different way then in Rehoboth. The duneline was put much farther away from the boardwalk and it is much higher. It rally doesn't take much of a storm to give the ocean reason to claim what is hers. Rehoboth didn't have as much erossion this time.

A Stormy Jazzfest. . . .

There is soooo much going on in Rehoboth this fall. During the week the town is filled with people taking leisurely walks through town and on the beach, but on weekends it is still downright crowded. As you can see from the photos that I am posting many of the businesses in town are still open. It is so very different from when I grew up here. All of the businesses closed and boarded up on Labor Day back then. I think the only store open in the fall was Lingo's Market on first street. Back then, they were the small "country store" that provided for the needs of the "locals" all year.

Now, there is tons of things to do all over Sussex County every weekend. It is hard to pick what festivals to attend and impossible to do it all. This weekend was Jazz Festival weekend in Rehoboth. Almost every restaurant had a Jazz singer, group, or band for entertainment. There were so many choices that it was mind boggling and leaves you wishing that you had a whole week to take in everything. Each year, this festival gets bigger and better.

Thursday, we were visited by the first of two Nor'easters; the second arrived yesterday. The winds have been bad all weekend, gusting to over 40 mph at times. It has rained almost continually all weekend - sometimes just a mist and at other times torrential. When the rains have lightened people have rushed out wanting to get a look at the beach and to feel the shear power of the ocean. There is nothing like the feel of the salt air stinging your face. The beach has been eaten away by the surf and the water is licking the dune lines at high tide. Interestingly, a Nor'easter, draws people to the beach, so there were even more people here for Jazzfest then usual. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to stroll restaurant lined Wilmington and Baltimore Streets to listen the the jazz music drifting onto the streets.

I drove from Bethany Beach to Rehoboth around noon on Thursday. The winds have blown the water up into the backbay, so water was all the way across Route 1 in places. Friday, really wasn't a bad day for winds, so driving around wasn't bad at all and people packed the outlets. Yesterday, it was the worst day of the weekend. The winds and rain were at their worst and only the hardiest were out. Route 1 between Rehoboth and Bethany was not a fun drive as the water was on the road in many places and crossing Indian River Bridge was a nightmare. It seemed to me that the worst of the storm hit last night. Today, I didn't go to Rehoboth. I did walk around Bethany and much of it is under water. Bethany is much lower then Rehoboth and is often flooded during a storm.

Good news, Rehoboth has received some of the federal stimulus money. They are replacing the rest of the boardwalk with that money. As many of you know, it is not before it is due. I have posted a picture of the construction. They have started on the south end of the boardwalk and will move to the north end when they are done there. Until they start on the north end, it is still possible to walk from my house to Funland on the boardwalk.

Life is good here!!!!

Yesterday was our first Nor'easter for the year. The surf was only slightly angry, but the winds were strong. Walking down to the beach, I felt like I was walking through a wind tunnel. The closer I got to the beach the harder the wind pushed me back. By the time I reached the boardwalk, I was leaning into the wind and it was taking a good deal of energy just to move forward.

The pictures that I am posting only give you a slight idea of what it was like. They weren't even taken at high tide!!! As you can see the water was already reaching the dunes and sea foam was flying. There were a few hardy souls that were trying to sit on the beach up against the weather fencing to watch the waves. They were wrapped in rain gear and were having to hold onto everything they had with them. Later in the day, the water reached the street at the Henlopen Hotel not far from my homes.

By the time I decided that I needed to head back to the car, it was starting to rain in ernest. We ended up with over 4 inches!!!!! At times, the wind was driving the rain so hard that there were many leaking roofs and water driven in around windows.

Today, when I walked around town, I noticed a number of awnings that had been damaged. Over all this was a pretty mild storm that left very little damage. The worst was beach errosion. It is early in the year for that much errosion. The good news is the sands are ever changing. We always loose beach in the fall and winter, but the sea is kind and usually brings it back in the Spring.

It's no seacret that I truly love the ocean no matter what it is like, but I think I like it best when it is like this. I love the sheer power of those waves.