From Cape May to Ocean City

A farewell to the marina staff and to CJ and Jeff. Our plans to stay for only a few days had turned into a week, but we had the feeling that we’d be back. We headed south to the Delaware/Maryland beaches.

We pulled into Sandy Cove RV Park and gasped. The park was filled with trailers on cinder blocks with tacky wooden decks and lawn chairs – a year round site for trailers. Since it was the end of the season, the short-term rental spaces were completely vacant. The manager told us to take any spot and we hooked up to electrical and water and settled in. The view outside our window was beautiful- right on Indian River and Bay. Mija went crazy bounding through the open grasses by the water- her own personal playground complete with every species of bird – herons, mallards, cormorants… It was getting late, so we decided to try Bethany Beach for a sunset and drinks. The Mango was completely deserted. The two waiters split the two tables with patrons and we had happy hour drinks and appetizers (a quesadilla that was primarily cheese) and had great views of the beach and the sunset.

The next day, we explored the Delaware shore from Rehoboth Beach to Dewey Beach to Lewes. Rehoboth looked a lot like the ticky tacky resort towns in Florida. Lots of tourist shops and boardwalk. Outside the main town, however, the houses were lovely and well kept. Lewes was charming- a small, quaint town with lots of charm and beautiful housing stock. We called a realtor to get some sense of the market. A beautiful Victorian in town was selling in the high 500’s. With rental income of $1200-2000/week during high season, it became a real possibility for a different kind of lifestyle. We had a great dinner at Redfins – a restaurant just a few miles from our camp. Fresh swordfish and the best calamari we’ve ever had.

We got up the next morning and headed to Cape May. The ferry from Lewes took about an hour and we explored the beautiful Victorian town of Cape May – with some of the most beautiful Victorian homes we’d ever seen. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant and since the weather was heating up, we opted to have Mija leashed to the front porch of the restaurant. She caused quite a fuss with the people passing by.

From Cape May to Ocean City, Maryland. The day was overcast and did nothing to improve the strip that constitutes Ocean City. It was the worst of Florida beach towns. We stopped for lunch at General’s –chipped beef on bisquits. It was right across from Big Peckers Restaurant. We were able to track down some flip-flops at a reduced end-of-season price at the beach store (“gook shoes” as my friend from WalMart calls them).

From Ocean City, we drove to Berlin (where they filmed Runaway Bride). It was charming – but again, much too small for future consideration.

John had made friends with the guys at the local trailer service center. They recommended a great local place for wings- the best in the state. So, we headed off to Smitty McGee;s. The wings were as advertised. We tried them medium and nuclear. The bar was filled with retirees playing some video quiz show game, so John signed me up. While we didn’t score much on points, we did meet several of the locals and got some advice on retirement. Delaware is a retiree’s heaven- low taxes and inexpensive property.

Notes:
Hockesene- new money outside Wilmington
Greenville DL- old money outside Wilmington
Only Victorians- Lewes
New Castle- historical town – in town only, but watch the areas
Car 2.75% tax, no sales tax, Senior programs are great
1st 20K income not taxed. After 62, no school tax.
$300K house- $800/year property taxes.
2.5 miles from beach- insurance problems- floor issues over Bay Bridge.
Other suggestions: Duck, NC (on A-1A), Amelia Island FL, Sea Island/St Simons