We Gave In and Visited Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Shopping for beach toys on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk.
Initially the trip was planned with only economics and convenience in mind. You can get to Delaware in about five hours from New York City (assuming traffic and a rest stop), and only spend three quarters of a tank of gas on the drive down. It’s also considerably cheaper than Virginia Beach during the high season, which is generally late spring through Labor Day. And Rehoboth Beach not nearly as unpredictable as Myrtle Beach. What’s more is that Rehoboth Beach is much tamer than it’s neighbor Ocean City and has substantial appeal for families looking for an affordable getaway during tight times when every penny counts.
On our first visit to Delaware my family and I stayed at the Henlopen Hotel. I chose this hotel because it was in our price range and has a good reputation for being clean and meticulously cared for. Other pluses are that it’s situated on the quiet end of the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk (again, I’d like to keep it that way) and my room was a 45 second walk to the quaint beach. As a New Yorker a quiet restful vacation with minimal driving seriously helps me to recharge my batteries so a hotel on the beach is a must. The first thing you notice about the Henlopen is the very clean new lobby. In beach towns I’m used to sandy/wet lobbies and damp elevators - that is not the case there. It’s an older building so the effort to keep it up is apparent and appreciated. Our room had a queen bed and a roll away along with a decent sized balcony boasting an ocean front view. Two showers made for quick clean-ups after a day playing in salty water and sand.
View from our balcony suite at the Henlopen Hotel.
Overall the room was much nicer than I thought it would be based on my past experience in this kind of hotel, and how much I paid for the reservation, which was about $140 a night. The only things that made me raise an eyebrow about the Henlopen is the AC units kind of endlessly drone, there’s no safe in the rooms, and you get what you pay for at the free breakfast. But those are small things when you think about the location, the cleanliness, and the fact that the staff is friendly and accommodating.
In the town of Rehoboth Beach, and on the boardwalk, you find yourself surrounded by food. The regular boardwalk fare is always present so if you are into funnel cakes, fried clams, and french fries you are in good shape. If you really want to try on gluttony for size to see if it fits, you can pick up a few quarter pound hot dogs at Top Dog located at the intersection of Rehoboth Avenue and the boardwalk where huge sausages served on hoagie bread with toppings like bacon and barbecue sauce, and cole slaw with thousand island are sure to please. Me and my wife’s hands-down favorite food spot in the boardwalk area is Zoggs Raw Bar and Grill. We chose this spot because they had giant gourmet tacos served in a lightly fried homemade shell, and a variety of tropical rum drinks. I had the Mahi Mahi taco with their house mango salsa and a rum punch, and the wife had the prime rib taco with crumbled blue cheese and a mojito, and of course my son had the chicken tenders, which were huge breaded chicken breast. They even played obscure Bob Marley tunes the whole time we were there. I don’t remember what the place looked like, just the unique, stylish food.
When you see this sign in Rehoboth Beach, stop and eat.
When we weren’t vegetating on the beach, stuffing our bellies, or dropping quarters at the arcades, we were shopping. A few miles from the hotel are the famous Tanger Outlets. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of shopping, and I specifically don’t like outlet shopping, but somehow when you are on vacation enjoying perfect weather it’s bearable. I picked up a few things from J-Crew and Sunglass Hut. After trying with no luck to get my wife to buy some Michelle Obama inspired wears, she instead opted to go bag hunting. She picked up girl sacks from Calvin Klein and Coach. Dev got footwear from Timberland. And we all played in the Bose and Sony shops, amazed by how even at outlet prices we still couldn’t afford those brands.
For an affordable, relaxing family beach vacation with charm don’t count out Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It may not be Hawaii but it certainly is a good place to wind down and reconnect, even if just for a few days.
