The Beach, aka Nana's beach house in Rehoboth Beach, DE

Our first family pic at the beach with all 4 of us.  August 2006?

I have only known Bish for 21 years, but she has been coming to Rehoboth Beach, DE for all of her life (according to her story she came up here with her mom not too long after being born!).  So Bish has been coming to the beach for 50 years now.  Her grandmother (Nana) bought the house in the Henlopen Acres area of RB to use as a retirement home.  For those of us not from the Eastern Seaboard, the "thing to do" in the summers is to get away from the heat/humidity by "going to the shore."  Depending on whether you live in Philly or DC or somewhere else slightly inland, you go to the Jersey Shore, Rehoboth Beach/Dewey Beach/Bethany Beach/Ocean City.

MTS & Darby watching TV on the floor.

Uncle Mike and Danica (I think?)

So the family beach house has a very special significance to Bish, and I'm sure the rest of her family.  Bish is the youngest of 10 children, and supposedly one of Nana's favorites.  Bish's Nana had passsed by the time I met Bish, so I never had the opportunity to meet her.  Bish still holds her Nana in very high regards, and always has.  Bish has very fond memories of coming to the beach to live with Nana every summer growing up.  When she was young, they would commonly go down to the ocean on probably a daily basis.  Then as she got older she had a part time job at the t-shirt shop It's a Breeze (now turned into something else).  She remembers going to an auction house occasionally with her Nana, ordering the "family size" pizza from Nicoloa's, the Pink Palace, eating Thrasher's Beach fries, hanging out at Funland on the boardwalk, and I'm sure numerous other stories that I have forgotten.

Aunt Ita holding Darby and sitting with cousin Emily Young on the porch.

Aunt Mary doing the horse ride with Darby.  Danica patiently awaiting her turn!

With Uncle Peter at Nicola's Pizza.

So going to the beach has always had a special significance to Bish.  She has not only told me stories of her time up here when she was a kid and growing up, but also stories of her coming to the beach for a weekend here and there in college to just get away and find solace in this place.  The beach is Bish's "happy place," and always has been.  She loves it here, and I'm sure always will.

Slackettes on the boat ride at Funland.

Slackettes in the Atlantic Ocean.

I find it comical how much Bish loves the ocean, vs. a pool.  We have had a pool in our backyard for about 6 years now.  I think Bish gets into the ocean more often than she gets into our pool... and she only spends 1-2 weeks at the beach typically every other year, while living in our house for all of the hot summer Arizona days.  She occasionally sits on the edge of our pool with her feet in, but rarely actually gets into the pool water!  But get her near an ocean, specifically the Atlantic Ocean in Rehoboth Beach, and she is glad to go get into the water!  I on the other hand, prefer the pool.  I do enjoy the beach/ocean, as you friggen get sand everywhere!  This doesn't happen in our pool!

Colleen, Darby, and MTS.

Darby, MTS, and Danica.

I have been fortunate enough to have joined Bish on many trips to the beach since I have known her.  I would guess that I have probably been to RB 12-13 times in the years I have known Bish.  And we figure the girls have probably been here 7-9 times in their short lives.  RB has provided our family with a fun vacation spot for us to take the girls to that we all have many good family memories of since Darby was born in 2003.

MTS, Emily & Elizabeth Young, and Darby.

Darby feeding Danica.

The Slackettes have understood the significance of going to the beach since a young age.  They enjoy going down to the water and playing in the surf, lounging around on the patio reading a book, buying fresh fruit and veggies at local farmer's stands, as well as nights at Funland on the Boardwalk.  Our girls have been fortunate enough to travel a fair amount with us, but going to the beach is probably the one occurrence they look forward to doing when it is in our future vacation plans.

MTS & Darby on the Carousel at Funland.

Slackettes on some ride at Funland.

All of the above is why this trip to the beach is of such significance.  As I mentioned in my first post of our trip, Bish has decided to get out of her ownership share of her family's beach house.  She is not the first to do so, and probably will not be the last.  So this will be her, and likely our, last trip to Rehoboth Beach, DE. I do not see her ever coming back to RB, as it will remind her too much of her Nana and all of the good times she has had here, and will no longer have here.  Bish is very much the type of person, that once she makes up her mind on something, she never looks back.  I hope the girls someday come back to visit RB, to remember the good memories they have from coming here during their younger years.

Peter, Mary, me + Ita, Danica, Bish, and Darby.

Kayaking in 2016.

If you are ever looking for a fun beach town to visit during the summer, I do highly recommend visiting Rehoboth Beach, DE!  It is a great little town.  There are some great restaurants to eat, lots of fun little stores to shop in, lots of activities for young kids at Funland, and excellent people watching along the boardwalk!  It does have a lot to offer as a summer vacation getaway!