What to See and Eat in Delaware?

[RoadAbode]

Staying a bit closer to home in late June, but got a nice looking site at Delaware Seashore State Park to settle into. Never camped in Delaware, wanted to check it off the list.
Would love to hear recommendations of what you think would be the not to miss places to see, and any great eats in the nearby area.

Great eats for us are just places that have good food, halfway reasonable prices and welcome you in jeans - or maybe shorts and a clean shirt - no holes. 🙂

Thanks and Peace

[chefdc1]

As the former chef of Victoria's (2000-2005) at The Boardwalk Plaza Hotel on the boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach, I'm a little partial , but I must say that, for a small town, Rehoboth has many, many amazing restaurants. I could really go for a beer and a burger at Dogfish Head right about now!

[RoadAbode]

There is so much to check out in the area! We never even when over the Cullen (Indian River Inlet) Bridge to check out Bethany beach or Fenwick Island! This area is definitely on our "revisit soon" list. Thanks for the tip - we love having our Friday night pizza!

ependydad wrote:
When you come back, definitely check out Mancini's Brick Oven Pizzeria in Fenwick Island, DE. Amazingly good.

[ependydad]

When you come back, definitely check out Mancini's Brick Oven Pizzeria in Fenwick Island, DE. Amazingly good.

[RoadAbode]

Just wanted to post an update - Thanks for the great info. The weather has been great here and I highly recommend the North Inlet Campground of Delaware Seashore State Park The campground on this side of the inlet has only been open since March 2015, and it is setup very well. Here's a Link to a Photosphere I created here.
Have seen a pod a dolphins right from our site! Only thing my family wishes is that the showers were a little more private - changing area is communal. Great pathways to the beach, and a beautiful playground for the kids on the side where the campground butts up to the Coast Guard facility.
The staff here are trying keep plenty of family friendly activities happening. Last night they had live music in the pavilion, and a (small) bonfire on the beach with toasted marshmallows.
Saw sometime in July they are doing a Seafood and crafts festival right here. Wish I could make it back down for that!
For eats, thanks for the suggestions and I took them all into account. Finally had to go with family likes and interests. I can say don't discount Dewey! We had a great meal at a Hawaiian themed restaurant named Nalu - great portions and tasty. Loved the ambiance. We did go for an early dinner (4pm) so YMMV.
Other eatery we tried was the larger Grotto Pizza in Dewey. They have a free parking lot on the side street (Read Street) they are on - almost missed it and was going to do meter (not much free parking in any of these coastal towns)when another patron coming out pointed me to the parking lot. Pizza was great with doughy, well baked crust. In Rehoboth, we stopped for a treat at the Fractured Prune Donut Shop. Fresh hot specialty donuts - these are more expensive than Dunkin Donuts, but they are amazingly good. I had a "french toast" donut and might get another one.
Went to the Nassau Valley Winery to partake of their offerings. Self guided tour was not as interesting as I hoped, and the wait to get a tasting was a bit long. They seem to have wines more to the dry side (we prefer dessert wines) but still bought a bottle of peach wine which will be good for dessert tonight. Grounds of the place were lovely to walk.
Tomorrow we are going to a Sea Glass and Art Festival - looking forward to seeing that.
Thanks for the suggestions - we're planning to coming back to the area again to check out more!

[RoadAbode]

Thanks all for the great tips! Dunno if we will hit OC boardwalk, but am planning on checking out Rehoboth. I'll try to remember to post back here how June goes - but will def. post to our blog RoadAbode Blog - Looking forward to checking out the "Diamond State"

[two_travelers]

Check out historic New Castle and Bombay Nook National Wildlife preserve in the northern part of the state. A meal at Crabby Dicks near Middletown is also worth a stop.

[DelawareCamper]

one major note when staying at Seashore state Park, when ever you leave your campsite always put your awning in and easy up down,, the wind can kick up really fast,,, We have seen quick summer storms and wind kick up so fast without much warning,,, if your at the outlets or site seeing you'll have no time to get back to put the awning in... This is from experience.... but its still the number 1 campground on my list.... love clamming, and fishing,,

[trailertraveler]

Lots of good suggestions. Not near the beach, but a couple of places I don't think were mentioned are the Hagley Museum which is the site of the original Dupont black powder works and for shopping the relatively new Cabela's at the Christiana Mall area.

[spoon059]

RoadAbode wrote:
DelawareCamper - Looking forward to some interesting beach hikes. Plus Outlets = Happy daughters - Thanks!

sayoung - I'll research the Fort - I do like history (daughters not so much)

If you are up for a day trip, the town of Lewes is about 15 or 20 minutes north and west of the park. Lewes is a beautiful older town with GREAT seafood restaurants. One of my favorite places to eat there is Touch of Italy. It is an authentic Italian deli/pizza restaurant. AMAZING chicken parm sandwich...!!!

Anyway... if you drive out past Lewes, past the Lewes/Cape May Ferry you get to Cape Henlopen State Park. There is a dry campground there, but the state park is beautiful. Lots of hiker/biker trails and some WW2 history that I love. They have a restored WW2 observation tower that you can actually climb up and look out and see around. They have the restored army base there as well as decommissioned artillery guns there. There are some beautiful beaches and great trails as well. I love the park, we try to bring our bikes up there and ride for at least a day. That is a paid entry park though.

If you approach from the northern end of Rehoboth you can walk or ride a bike on the trails. I've never ridden all the way from Rehoboth to the bay though... but I'm sure it can be done.

Also research this http://www.traillink.com/city/bethany-beach-de-trails.aspx. There is a bike trail just south of the rv park that lets you ride parallel to Rt 1, but in the woods. There are lots of riding paths down there and they are all fun rides!

[spoon059]

I've never stayed at this park before but we go to Bethany/Dewey/Rehoboth for family vacations every year. I think this year we will be staying there because we now have too many kids as a combined family for a regular house!

Rehoboth Beach is a very family friendly area. They have a nice boardwalk and clean beaches. They have good food in the downtown area. I'm not a seafood guy, but they have good seafood restaurants... perhaps someone else will chime in.

One of my favorite places to eat there is Nicola's Pizza. I don't like the pizza very much, but they have their own spin on a Stromboli that is called a Nicoboli. Its a Stromboli of ground beef, cheese, sauce and their spices. I LOVE those things. I get at least 2 or 3 every time I go down there.

There is a joint down there called Louie's pizza. Its pretty close to the boardwalk on the main road and has the best pizza.

Thrashers French fries are THE BEST FRIES! My wife didn't eat them for years because she thought they were the generic boardwalk fries. They are not. They are great.

Dewey Beach is more of a young adult scene. Lots of bars and commercial crap. There is a little dive greasy spoon restaurant in Dewey Beach right were Route 1A and 1B converge. I think its called Sunrise restaurant. I don't even know if they advertise their name, there is a big sign that reads BREAKFAST ANYTIME. That is our favorite breakfast spot. It looks like a dump but they have really good breakfast food for a fair price. I've gotten some sandwiches at lunch time too, pretty good. Also in Dewey is the Northbeach Restaurant. It is on the Rehoboth Bay and has decent food and bands on the weekend.

Bethany Beach is a little more upscale family friendly. Newer houses, newer main street and a small buy new boardwalk. Its a fun little town to walk the main street and boardwalk after dinner and walk in the little stores and have an ice cream on the boards. My parents love the Blue Crab in Bethany. They have a great BBQ place called Bethany Blues. Its really good quality BBQ and amazing side dishes too. There is a restaurant called Mango's on the 2nd level right over the boardwalk that serves carribean style food. I don't like carribean food but the location is AMAZING. Our favorite family restaurant there is the Cottage Café though.

I don't usually go down to Fenwick Island or Ocean City too much, especially now with a toddler and a newborn. It is very crowded and city like. Lots of drunk people and crappy food. Traffic is terrible and there is a stop light every 100 feet. When we were younger we would spend an evening on the boardwalks because they have a lot more "stuff" than Rehoboth or Bethany. I couldn't even begin to tell you where to eat down there...

June sounds like a great time to go, hopefully its not too hot for you. Fair warning, there are very few trees or natural shade at the Seashore Park. You will need that awning and perhaps a pop-up shelter if you have one. They have recently redone the park, adding RV sites on the north side of the inlet. I think they redid the south (original) side, but I am not 100% sure.

Please post back about how you liked it, because we are planning to go there in August.

[NCBrianTT]

This was one of our favorite camps last year. The south side of the park was renovated for last season and the north side of the park will be finished for this spring. We had many great sunrises on the beach and even better sunsets across the bay. There is no fresher seafood than catching flounder from the inlet(you will need a license) or you can charter from the north side marina. At the marina was a pleasant outdoor bar, Hammerheads, which served cold drinks to help take in some of those sunsets.

We had so much fun walking the area boardwalks finding the best fries, funnel cake, pizza and all the stuff we just should eat much of... We found our inner kid-selves at Funland on Rehobeth boardwalk playing games for a dime and riding the rides that haven't changed in 30+ years.

Each town really has its own personality and worth spending some time in Rehobeth, Dewey, Bethany, Fenwick and OC. Our best crab cake was found at Woody's in Dewey; best fries at Thrashers in OC & Rehobeth; best local pizza at Grotto or Nicola's. Hope you have a wonderful time finding your favorites.

[RoadAbode]

Thanks guys! This is like an "informational" Christmas morning! There are definitely some places in here that look interesting, and from your suggestions I'll further research. There's no way I would have come up with some of these lesser known gems by just "Googling." Thanks!

azdryheat - Thanks for the suggestion anytime "seafood" is mentioned with the word "good" it piques my interest. Threw in "deli" and I just might have to check that out!

DelawareCamper - Looking forward to some interesting beach hikes. Plus Outlets = Happy daughters - Thanks!

sayoung - I'll research the Fort - I do like history (daughters not so much)

geotex1 - I had read that DogFish is a good place - Thanks for confirming that!

Lantley - Big. Fish. Grill. - three of my favorite words 🙂 Thanks I'll look further into that.

camper19709 - This is a nice list of a few "offbeat" attractions. I'll further research. Thanks!

1775 - Was there on a trip back in college - forgot about it - this my girls might like (They enjoy Longwood and the Dupont history) Thanks!

Thank you all, any other suggestions please do post, I subscribed and will check back in.
Thanks again, Wasn't too sure about Delaware, but this looks like it will be an interesting trip.

[magnusfide]

Tripadvisor.com is very handy for what you're seeking. Terrific review system and descriptions. Just enter the towns/areas and it pulls up sights to see, restaurants, etc

[Busskipper]

RoadAbode wrote:
Staying a bit closer to home in late June, but got a nice looking site at Delaware Seashore State Park to settle into. Never camped in Delaware, wanted to check it off the list.
Would love to hear recommendations of what you think would be the not to miss places to see, and any great eats in the nearby area.

Great eats for us are just places that have good food, halfway reasonable prices and welcome you in jeans - or maybe shorts and a clean shirt - no holes. 🙂

Thanks and Peace

Just head on down to the Boardwalks -OC is younger and at times a little crazy and crowded, but should be seen/experienced. Rehoboth is just as crowded little more family and has many options for food. Then you have closer to the CG's, Bethany - great family and Boardwalk friendly. All will have lots of options just depends what you are after.

We have spent the last 50 years never missing a summer and will say that we tend to cook in and just enjoy the sunrise and sunsets mostly in the off seasons, but still spend two weeks with a family reunion and it has never gotten old.

Great choice, and for the most part the finger food on the Boardwalk is the best.

Last you might want to head down, possibly on another trip to Assateague Park, Might get lucky and see some of the horses.

BOL,