I just returned from a F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S jaunt to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to visit a good friend from my culinary school days many moons ago.
Four days ► alone ► exploring a locale I've never been ► catching up with long lost friends whom I adore = one helluva happy gal!
We, of course, ate lavishly. We laughed. Drank wine. Talked for hours. Shopped. Shared. It was so much fun.
And the icing on the cake? Rehoboth is a beach resort town as well, giving me a rare opportunity to compare experiences with someone living the beach life, too - one 1,081 miles away on a distant shore of the Atlantic Ocean on the Eastern seaboard.
And what did I discover?
As different as Rehoboth Beach and South Walton are in terms of architecture, weather, history, demographics and geography, the realities of life - the day-in day-out realities - in both beach towns are strikingly similar. There was a lot of, "we have something just like that, too" and "how funny, I so know what you mean. That is exactly how it is in ..."
Like what? Well...
They have their own version of The Red Bar - that one beach bar and restaurant that's been around for ages, where all the locals know one another and which represents the character of the area.
There is a definite seasonal cycle in Rehoboth, too - the majority of a business's gross sales are made between Memorial Day and Labor Day and in the off-season, it can feel like a ghost town. Many businesses shut down during the winter.
Most of their tourists and part-time residents hail from a large geographical radius defined by driving distance and includes large metropolitan areas - for them, it's Philadelphia and Washington D.C. amongst others.
There is a palpable Spirit of Place in Rehobeth as well. People exude a sense of being genuinely happy and are out-of-their-way friendly - I felt like I made new friends whom I would open my home to if they came to visit.
There is a strong sense of community, camaraderie and beaucoup appreciation for being able to call Rehoboth "home" or "home-away-from-home."
The local economy in Rehoboth is feeling the pinch of the national downturn. Maybe not as severe as we feel it here in South Walton but there is - not vocal concern necessarily - but curiosity as to how the 2009 tourist season will pan out.
Rehobeth is sandwiched between other beach resort communities which offer tourists, and locals, a different experience - one town is a magnet for the "school kids who want to party", another a more affordable vacation. Sound familiar?
Beach erosion is an issue and they have a Beach Nourishment initiative, and debate, they contend with, too.
They also say in Rehoboth, "If you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes" and we giggled at how wrong the weather reports seem to be.
Locals and environmentalists bang their heads against the wall every season when visitors fail to respect the importance of being good stewards by picking up after themselves after a day at the beach.
The list goes on and on. At the end of the day, we all agreed that we felt like we had won a kind of lottery; like we belonged to an exclusive club of those who somehow found the courage to leave not only the comfort of a familiar and convenient urban lifestyle and high paying jobs, but also our clans behind to chase our dreams in paradise. And that shared acknowledgment, folks, was priceless.
I'm so glad to be home.
