Rehoboth Beach, a roughly one-square-mile strip on the toes of the nation’s first state, has an irresistible, yet subtle appeal: A life-sized mermaid, tail arched in an innocent but nonetheless seductive curve, looks out from a store window, while ridiculously priced toiletries such as soaps, lotions and fragrances becomes justifiable when infused with nostril-clearing sea salts.
These and other nearby treasures are a small sampling of what Delaware’s premier beach offers and, while this popular vacation spot may sound extravagant, careful planning can mean a day trip with plenty of fun.
Packing up the car one Saturday morning, my sister, Eileen, a sophomore at Central High School, and I decided to make the two-and-a-half hour drive for a day of fun in the sun on a $160 budget. Actually, it took four hours to get there because we missed the Christiana Road exit and somehow looped our way in and out of Elkton, Md. — a mistake that cost us $8 in tolls, plus a few pints of gas.
Famished after the longer-than-expected journey to get there, food became the priority. It took quite awhile to settle on a lunch venue. For one, Eden at 23 Baltimore Ave., with its pan-roasted filet mignon and gnocchi with brown butter, sage or roasted tomato sauce ($33), tempted us like a garden in culinary paradise. But trying to keep spending to a minimum, we begrudgingly walked away.
Then there was Nage, which we passed while driving through the string of outlets along Route 1. Even though we opted for the Sea Breeze Restaurant and Bar at 15 Wilmington Ave., where softly illuminated seashells cast out golden hues, we couldn’t help but wonder what the crab cake sandwich with kohlrabi remoulade, arugula and roasted tomato relish ($13) would have tasted like.
Still, nothing beats good, old-fashioned comfort food. "Can I get you some more iced tea?" Liz Burgess, our waitress, asked after we had slipped into a Sea Breeze window seat.
The menu consisted of soups, like cream of crab, to salads to traditional and sea-inspired burgers. Beer-battered fresh cod fried golden brown and served over beach fries with tartar sauce is $10.95 and their most popular dish, Liz told us.
We were in the mood for something filling, not fancy, so Eileen picked the buffalo wrap, while I stuck with my all-time favorite: a club sandwich, minus the roast beef. Both were $8.95.
Our total, tip included, was $28. Not bad, and there’s still $132 to go.
When we stepped back into the sunlight, we made our way up the block and away from the beach (we were saving that for later). Normally, I would stroll along the boardwalk, but the abundance of quaint, eclectic, casual and chic shops lining the streets — namely Wilmington, Rehoboth and Baltimore avenues, all of which run perpendicular to the shoreline — got the better of us.
"Can we have a quarter pound of this? And a quarter pound of that?" a teenage boy and his pony-tailed sister asked their father inside the Candy Kitchen, located right on the corner, at 102 Rehoboth Ave.
Their pleading was enough to entice me to purchase a chunk of the homemade chocolate fudge. Three dollars and nineteen cents buys you a little over a quarter pound, and if you’re not a chocolate hoarder like me, you can probably split that among a few people. Our cashier, Beverly, was even so kind as to cut it into eight, bite-sized pieces.
"It’s like a Tootsie Roll," Eileen said moments before entering an art gallery.
"Only better," I replied.
With so much to see, the gallery’s kaleidoscope-studded mosaics and landscape paintings didn’t keep us for long. We crossed the two-way lane that spans the middle of Rehoboth Avenue and browsed the clearance racks at trendy boutique Azura. The sign outside read: "Buy three items for $100."
Knowing $100 would knock a big portion off our $160 (and we’d already spent $30 on gas), we proceeded to the Sea Shell Shop at 119 Rehoboth Ave., which was 10 doors down.
Wow.
With its strings of pastel pink, green and orange earrings dangling from the ceiling, wine glasses with bikini-clad woman as stems and nautical and sailing collectibles, the home d�cor and gifts here are every souvenir junkie’s dream. There are plush flounders suspended from overhead hooks, miniature pirates and boat captains carved by skilled carpenters and best of all were the seashells. Ten dollars and 72 cents got us 20 an they were brighter than the ones on the beach.
At advice from Sea Breeze’s Liz, we stopped by Dolle’s to pick up a $4.25 half-pound box of saltwater taffy, but not before stopping by Rehoboth’s greatest asset: The ocean. Besides being the only free part of our adventure, the deep breaths of fresh, clean air did our lungs some good.
Budgets are made to be challenged, so we paid a visit to the Tanger Outlets, conveniently clustered along Route 1 — the four-to-six lane highway — before going home. In J.Crew, Eileen found a satin blue, polka-dot headband for $4.97, while we both took home Abercrombie & Fitch shirts for less than $13 each.
At about 9 p.m., we put down our shopping bags and kicked off our shoes. Fumbling through my wallet, $7 tumbled out.
"Hey, Eileen, guess what? We have some money left over!" I said.
"Yeah, but did you check out the receipts?" she asked.
Lo and behold, our total for the day was $92.93 and, with gas and tolls, only $152.93. Examining the receipts, I discovered the secret to our success: Delaware has tax-free shopping! Now that is one deal that’s hard to beat.
It all adds up
Lunch + tip at Seabreeze: $28
Homemade chocolate fudge: $3.19
Seashells: $10.72
Taffy: $4.25
J.Crew: $4.97
Abercrombie & Fitch shirts: $25.80
Tolls (to and from): $16 ($8, if you don’t cut through into Maryland)
Gas, two refills: $60 (with plenty left over)
Total: $152.93
