Rehoboth - what’s the appeal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Developers built up the outer suburbs (Millville etc) and Rehoboth is overrun now.

The farmers can make more selling their land for development than raising soybeans or chicken farming.

The poultry industry recruits the poors from South Florida to work in the chicken processing plants in Sussex County.
Local white and local African Americans will not work in the chicken processing plants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone I know who goes there grew up in this area. Everyone I know who moved here as an adult doesn’t get it at all (including us.)

As someone who grew up in the area going to Rehoboth every summer and still goes, I think this is right. When I was growing up, it did feel more like a quaint seaside town. Lots of charm, no big highway cutting through it like OC, enough to do that it was fun for kids.

We keep going because it's convenient, we know it well, and we can park our car and just walk all week. It's easy for us to relax there. But it's nothing remarkable.

[Anonymous]

The beach in downtown Rehoboth is not good. Much narrower than it used to be which makes it very crowded. The state park beaches are better, but the trade off is you don’t have a boardwalk right off the beach and you have to drive there.

It was also just really busy here in the DE/MD beach towns last week. This week is noticeably less busy.

It’s hard to really get to know the area if you’re just here for a week at a time. Like anywhere else, the locals and people who can do frequent day trips know the best spots.

[Anonymous]

In-season, we prefer Fenwick. We stay in a family-friendly, slightly shabby development in Selbyville, it's comfortable and familiar, and we like the state park. Off-season (we usually go one weekend after Labor Day), we will stay in Rehoboth or Bethany. There are a couple stores we still like (Bella Luna, the bookstore in Bethany) and some decent seafood restaurants that when it's not crowded we enjoy. The appeal is the distance from DC, the Ocean, and not being Ocean City or Virginia Beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s close. It’s an ocean beach. That’s the draw.

Yup. Plus nostalgia for some.

[Anonymous]

We prefer OC and where we stay (away from boardwalk) it’s not crowded at all. Latest trip was in July.

[Anonymous]

Just got back from a long weekend at Rehoboth. Found a last minute place just a couple of blocks off of Rehoboth Ave on AirBnB. We arrived on late afternoon on Saturday, and the crowds were beyond crazy. We’ve been going on and off for over 25 years, and Ive never seen it like that. Thankfully it dropped off dramatically on Sunday. But even the trip home on a Tuesday afternoon on Rte 1 was filled with traffic.

As for the beach, we’ve always gone to the beach at Gordon’s Pond. It’s so much nicer.

My spouse has tossed out the idea of maybe retiring there. Financially it makes sense. And I know it’s much calmer in the off-season. But after this weekend, I just can’t see it. Who wants to sit on Rockville Pike, even at the beach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a 2.5 hour drive from DC and there is a nice mix of beach, restaurants, boardwalk, biking/walking, and shopping. I’m biased because I’ve had a family home here my whole life, but there aren’t so many places where you can come for a week and not have to use your car for more than the occasional grocery run.

With older kids there are some really good places to eat and the kids can bike anywhere, so can go to Funland, get dinner, etc. for little ones, the short loop of early morning beach, lunch, nap, browsabout, and early Funland or ice cream makes for a more interesting day than just sitting on the beach.

It’s not the Caribbean, but it’s easier to get to!

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone I know who goes there grew up in this area. Everyone I know who moved here as an adult doesn’t get it at all (including us.)

I grew up here and I agree with this. Most people I know who vacation at the DE/MD beaches also have parents/family/friends with places there. So going there is relatively cheap. We go multipole times a year to see family but would I spend $4-5K to rent a house there? Absolutely not. We went to Puerto Rico for less than that, including airfare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll never get it either, OP. All I want from a beach vacation is to be as close to as uncrowded a beach as possible. A crowded beach is as appealing to me as a cruise ship. I hate it. I don’t care about the town at all. I’m happy staying in eating chips, salsa and shrimp the whole time if I have a deck overlooking the water.

You can always go to a state park beach. They’re less crowded.

I don’t want to have to take any sort of vehicle from where I’m staying to the beach.

[Anonymous]

My takeaway from this thread is nobody is familiar with north ocean city where the beach is wide and uncrowded. Everyone seems to think OC is trashy…but it isn’t. And the OC and Rehoboth boardwalks essentially have the same crowds and issues these days.

I’m nearly 50 and I’ve been going to the MD and DE beaches several times a year since birth thanks to friends and family with houses/condos. Each town has its own appeal and hidden gems.

I’m sad about the hyper-construction and crowds. The towns don’t have the necessary infrastructure. And the costs are out of control. We would never pay for a rental…there are far better destinations for our vacation money. Thank goodness we know people with beach houses ;0)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone I know who goes there grew up in this area. Everyone I know who moved here as an adult doesn’t get it at all (including us.)

As someone who grew up in the area going to Rehoboth every summer and still goes, I think this is right. When I was growing up, it did feel more like a quaint seaside town. Lots of charm, no big highway cutting through it like OC, enough to do that it was fun for kids.

We keep going because it's convenient, we know it well, and we can park our car and just walk all week. It's easy for us to relax there. But it's nothing remarkable.

I agree. I love it because my parents and grandparents went there in the summers, too. I might run into high school classmates who I haven't seen in years. Funland still looks the same as it did when I was a kid, and the view from the Paratrooper, especially at night, still delights me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll never get it either, OP. All I want from a beach vacation is to be as close to as uncrowded a beach as possible. A crowded beach is as appealing to me as a cruise ship. I hate it. I don’t care about the town at all. I’m happy staying in eating chips, salsa and shrimp the whole time if I have a deck overlooking the water.

You can always go to a state park beach. They’re less crowded.

I don’t want to have to take any sort of vehicle from where I’m staying to the beach.

then don’t complain about crowed beaches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone I know who goes there grew up in this area. Everyone I know who moved here as an adult doesn’t get it at all (including us.)

As someone who grew up in the area going to Rehoboth every summer and still goes, I think this is right. When I was growing up, it did feel more like a quaint seaside town. Lots of charm, no big highway cutting through it like OC, enough to do that it was fun for kids.

We keep going because it's convenient, we know it well, and we can park our car and just walk all week. It's easy for us to relax there. But it's nothing remarkable.

I agree. I love it because my parents and grandparents went there in the summers, too. I might run into high school classmates who I haven't seen in years. Funland still looks the same as it did when I was a kid, and the view from the Paratrooper, especially at night, still delights me.

And the Sea Dragon! I love seeing the ocean from those rides, and I'm 50, and have been going to Rehoboth since I was a teen. I love the ocean (not so much the actual beach), so the crowds don't bother me, because I'm never on the beach during the day. I love walking around the Boardwalk and Rehoboth Ave, going to my favorite breakfast places (shout out to Breakfast Guru), getting ice cream, shopping at Browseabout...to me, it's relaxing and familiar and a great place to recharge.

A couple years ago, my parents came with us, and it was amazing seeing how much fun my 80+ year old dad had playing the games at Funland.

I'm also a fan of going in the off season. I wish I could afford a house that's even close-ish to the beach, because I'd love to retire there. Not sure that will happen, but I'll keep going back as often as I can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My takeaway from this thread is nobody is familiar with north ocean city where the beach is wide and uncrowded. Everyone seems to think OC is trashy…but it isn’t. And the OC and Rehoboth boardwalks essentially have the same crowds and issues these days.

I’m nearly 50 and I’ve been going to the MD and DE beaches several times a year since birth thanks to friends and family with houses/condos. Each town has its own appeal and hidden gems.

I’m sad about the hyper-construction and crowds. The towns don’t have the necessary infrastructure. And the costs are out of control. We would never pay for a rental…there are far better destinations for our vacation money. Thank goodness we know people with beach houses ;0)

I agree with this. Everyone on here always says to go to the state park beaches and while I agree that they are less crowded than Bethany or Rehoboth, they're still way more crowded than a lot of the beaches in OC. Yes, the beach area at the end of the OC boardwalk is insane but once you get to the beach areas past where the boardwalk starts, it's not super crowded and the beaches are much wider than the DE beaches. We have a place on 28th street so we usually go there because we can walk but north of 28th, it's much less crowded.

And yes, I can see where OC can be considered trashy. But I was on the Bethany "boardwalk" this past weekend and if I had to see one more shaggy-haired Bethesda lacrosse bro in Vineyard Vines....ugh!