Rehomo Ramblings: A fond adieu to summer (and Earl)
0It is hard to believe this past Labor Day weekend marked the unofficial end of summer at Rehoboth Beach. But, as they say, always end on a high note.
Oh G-Earl!
I arrived to Rehoboth on Wednesday evening and headed to the Blue Moon with my housemate Henry "Energizer Bunny" Salevsky to see Marty "Broadway Baby" Thomas perform. He put on one heck of a show and dazzled the crowd with his amazing voice, humor, charm and good looks.
The next day, I was back at the Moon for karaoke. It appeared Mona "You Like Me. You Really Like Me!" Lotts was holding almost back tears for her last show of the summer season-or maybe it was from my attempt at singing. Either way, it was a sad yet fun evening. And for those folks who will still be visiting off-season, Mona will continue to host karaoke through the end of October.
Hurricane Earl hit Rehoboth on Friday but ended up being all hype (much like a number of online profiles I've seen). There was a steady rain most of the day, but by late afternoon, however, the sun was shining and the boys were out and about. Every bar in town was hopping. A line stretched down the block to get into Aqua to ogle the shirtless servers; the Moon had a full house for its Glee-themed drag Divas Show and post-show videos; a bunch of boys discovered the Purple Parrots' new biergarten and even Cloud 9 packed them in for the kick-off of Bill "Let's Dance" Alldredge's White Party weekend.
Some really desperate housewives
By Saturday morning, Earl was a distant memory and all the boys flocked to Poodle Beach to enjoy the fabulous weather. My partner and I were among them, and we hung out with our friends, Dr. Howard "Botox Rules" Brooks and his other half Joshua "I Got a New Job" Klein, who were staying at the swanky Hotel Rehoboth.
After the beach, my partner and I went to the The Real Desperate Housewives of Rehoboth Beach party, organized by the boys of Wisteria Lane (a.k.a. 5 Prospect). David "Daddy #1" Salie and Mark "Daddy #2" Bromley were wonderful hosts, and it was easy to see why they always attract a great group of guys to their beach house for the summer.
Off to CAMP
From the party, we headed to the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center for the CAMP Rehoboth Sundance Auction. There were more than 500 auction items as well as great food by Nourish and Henlopen City Oyster House. Among the many attendees were some of our favorite lesbians: DC gals Carol "Always Doing Good" Bresler and Carolyn "I'm the Taller One" Billinghurst; and Philly's finest Cassandra "Financial Guru" Toroian and Jackie "I Love My Gay Boy" Blue.
Anything but a drag
Sunday afternoon was the big Rehoboth Drag Volleyball Tournament. Marking 22 years of this unique tradition, one of the teams consisted of campy flight attendants and the other team elected to pay homage to Lady Gaga with an outer space twist. It was a close game but, in the end, the mile high beauties ruled the day-under the leadership of Brent "Fly My Friendly Skies" Minor.
Hungry, my partner and I headed downtown after the game to grab a bite to eat at the Parrot's biergarten. We had a nice meal and really enjoyed the new space (as well as the sexy bartender). I have a feeling that I-and many others-will be spending lots of time here in the future.
Following our lunch, my partner and I stopped by Beach Essentials for its Labor Day sale. After trying on what seemed like nearly every swimsuit in the store, we found new suits for our upcoming trip to Cancún.
With time remaining on our parking meter, we went to Aqua. Shortly after we arrived we were joined by a couple of our current housemates, Marc "It's Tool Time" Yesberger and Steve "I'm Addicted to My Bike" Leraris, as well as past roomies Alan "Dress for Less" Krisfalusi and Mark "I Love New York" Joseph.
Post-cocktails, we all returned to the house for disco naps and were then off to CAMP Rehoboth Sundance. The organizers did a great job transforming the plain Jane Convention Center into a fabulous night club. With an open bar all night, sensational music by DJ Mark "Let the Beat Go On" Thomas, and a fantastic light show by Paul "Disco Balls Rule" Turner, we partied hard for hours. Of course, having friends Kamal "Shake, Shake, Shake" Kamara and Justin "Tall, Dark and Handsome" George join us on the dance floor helped keep us going strong.
Monday was recovery day. I mostly puttered around the beach house for the day and grabbed a casual dinner at The Green Turtle, which opened its Rehoboth location just this year and offers some of the best views of the boardwalk and beach.
While the summer beach season has ended, Rehoboth still has plenty to offer visits for the rest of the year. These include:
• Delaware Pride, featuring Kimberley Locke, Brendan Velasquez and Frenchie Davis; Saturday, Sept. 18, from noon to 6 p.m.
• AIDS Walk Delaware; Sunday, Oct. 3, starting at 1 p.m.
• Autumn Jazz Festival; Oct. 13-17.
• Sea Witch Festival, an annual Halloween celebration; Oct. 29-31.
• Independent Film Festival, featuring approximately 100 of the best American and international films; Nov. 10-14.