Your Delaware- local news, local happenings, things to do in Delaware!

Welcome back to Your Delaware, a Delaware-focused show. I'm Jen, your Delaware Realtor. We have a great show for you today, and I feel like we have so much to talk about. You know, it is the winter, so a lot of times there's not a lot going on, but I have a full lineup for you today. I'm so pumped for this. But first, let's start off with last week's episode. I talked about how we did not have all of our Christmas decor down. I still had five trees up, and you will be happy to know that everything is down. I got everything down yesterday. We are fully packed away. No more Christmas. I am in full Valentine's Day mood, which means that my house, I want it to look like it threw up pink. Because you know, if you've seen, obviously, I think you've put two and two together, that my favorite color is pink. If it comes in pink, I'm going to order it. If it comes in sparkly pink, even better. So yes, everything is down. I know I had a comment that was asking if I have themes for my trees. Yes, I do. I kind of slacked this year, though. I don't think I took a picture of every single tree, but I do have a majority of them. But yes, I do have themes, whether it be the farm tree, or Nora's tree, or our family ornaments tree. We have a Star Wars tree, because yes, we are a Star Wars loving family. And then we also have our Philly tree. And then I think I had like Ice Princess. Yeah, I definitely have themes for all of them. I'm going to post pictures of the ones that I did take pictures of, and I cannot believe I slacked on that. But yes, it's all gone. It will come back next year. I am starting from ground zero. And like I said, now it's Valentine's Day in my house. So I want it to look like it threw up pink, and red and white. All right, let's get right into it. So I know we also talked about our recent snowstorm that hit Delaware. So if you live in northern Delaware, you did not really see a lot of snow. If you live in Kent County or Sussex, you saw a lot of snow. In some places, Sussex got a foot of snow. Schools were closed for the entire week. And I actually have an article as to why that happened. But I know that DelDOT was really, really struggling with getting the backroads taken care of in Sussex. But we have talked about this so many times. And this actually kind of still blows my mind. Despite having snowfall, we are currently still in a drought in Delaware, which I mean, it has rained, I feel like a good amount since November. Now, if you are like a little backstory, all of October, it did not rain at all. Nothing. We have never had an October where it did not rain. And well, this was the first. But then in November and December, we had a good amount of rain. I mean, at least I thought so. There were nights where it rained like a half inch, quarter inch, sometimes an inch. And even with our foot of snow or near Clayton, I think we were reading at eight inches, which is a pretty significant snowfall. And here's the thing. We also had those eight inches and then it never went above freezing for a few days after that. So it would just, essentially, the snow, the snow is still out there right now. I just want to have you know that the snow is still out here. And I don't remember a time where we had the snow and then it didn't melt literally a day or two like afterwards. So we're going on, I think, what, almost a little over a week and we still have snow. So it says parts of Delaware have seen over a foot of snow from multiple storm systems this winter already. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. And then, so we had the snow, right? Then it never went above freezing. And then last Friday into Saturday, if you were below Kent County, you essentially saw either, I think it was like two to three inches more on top of everything else. So I woke up and literally it didn't look like we shoveled anything. It was all, it still had two to three inches of snow left on top of everything that we did. So everything we shoveled to the driveway, all the walkways, it didn't even look like we had shoveled at all. So I forgot to mention that. It says despite all of that snow, Delaware is still stricken by a lingering drought. According to data from the US Drought Monitor, most of the state is in a severe drought, which is, that's actually crazy. So parts of Sussex, including Lewis and Rehoboth Beach, remain in extreme drought, one level above severe on the monitor scale. Wow. It says a record-breaking streak of over one month without measurable rainfall in most of the state from October through November created severe drought conditions that will take some time to dig out of. He said December had normal levels of rain, which is great. But unfortunately, because we had that month of no rain, it's just going to take us a little bit. Wow. I did not expect that. It says we won't completely be out of the drought before spring comes back, which is normally when we see our wet season, I guess you would say it. I can remember, and I mean, if I go back through pictures on my phone, if I look back at like March, April, and honestly, May, I mean, the whole saying like April showers bring May flowers is 100% Delaware, at least where I live, because my backyard after, you know, we've done a lot of digging in our backyard to get it where it is now. But when we first moved in, when I tell you it was like a straight pond back there, I can remember my truck actually got stuck in my backfield. I live on two acres and my second acre isn't developed at all. And it got stuck in the middle. I had to call someone. I didn't know what we were going to do. I almost thought we were going to have to call a tow truck because that's how wet the ground was. So I am curious to see when we will come out of this drought. I hope soon, especially because as we come into summer, I mean, a lot of people like to, you know, burn fires and have the fire pit going and everything else like that. So I would hope that we see some more rain, not so much snow, because I'm going to be completely honest I'm already over it. But yeah, so I know we talked about this as well, but Sussex schools remained closed. We had snow on a Monday. They were closed that entire week. So they essentially had a three week Christmas break. So and here is why. So I thought it was because of DelDOT. But let's just see. It says it snowed about 10 inches in southern Delaware. Some some places got afoot. I know they did because I saw them actually measure with a ruler. So it says, well, while DelDOT has been salting and plowing ever since, some conditions have kept roads untravelable, honestly. So essentially, it says once the storm had largely ended late Monday, we then had very cold air settle in, which has kept temperatures around freezing during the daytime and much colder at night. So we have not had the benefit of road surfaces warming up significantly to help melt snow and ice. Add in the gusty winds all week. Oh, yes, we've had some wind. And you're also dealing with drifting snow. I can attest to this that I actually was complaining a little bit about the roads near us because essentially, like I said in the last episode, I saw the plow go by. I mean, I'm sitting right in front of a window. I saw the plow go by at least three times within that half hour that we shot this episode. So I was like, oh, OK, so our roads are fine. I mean, there's no way. I can tell you that I went out later that day and the roads were awful, awful. And it's because the wind was just whipping and it was coming off of the fields. I am surrounded by a lot of farm fields. And it was just drifting all over the roadways. So you honestly, there was a road that I didn't even think that the plow had come down. And ultimately, it had it just the wind was just whipping. Like I said, it was just super, super cold. So essentially, that is why DelDOT had a lot of trouble trying to clear the roads in Sussex. And if we're being completely honest, Delaware is just not set up, especially Sussex County, to receive a foot of snow because it's not really normal. Even when I lived there, I don't remember. I mean, I do remember one time where we did get a significant amount of snow. I don't remember a foot. Maybe I could be wrong. My husband remembers there was a foot. I remember it took them forever to at that point, to get all of us back to normal. So I can understand and it's not because so it says these factors combined with making it extremely hard for DelDOT to keep secondary, local and subdivision roads clear, packed snow and ice is the toughest to deal with because the plows can't remove it. And rock salt is most effective at temperatures above 20 degrees. I actually didn't know that. Even if the salt helps melt snow and ice in the day, it refreezes overnight when the temperatures drop, which we talked about. So that is why schools were closed. I really hope, I mean, I know a lot of people, I mean, like, let's be honest, a lot of people were complaining. But I can understand why DelDOT was essentially struggling is because even though they had all hands on deck, if the weather's not cooperating with us, I mean, there's really nothing they can do. So we saw Sussex have off. I know Smyrna school district had off Monday, Tuesday and a two hour delay on Wednesday. But even then a lot of parents were complaining because the roads were absolutely awful on Wednesday, even with that two hour delay. So I know Apo had off Monday, Tuesday. They went back Wednesday. Or no. Yes, I think that's what it was. So yeah, I know. I know that it's very difficult, especially when you have your job and you are expecting your kids to go back to school. But just know that DelDOT was trying. We're just not equipped. And I will say, if you look at the surrounding states, Delaware does a good job at salting and brining the roads and plowing. I will say that because I lived in Pennsylvania and I can honestly say they didn't do that what DelDOT does for us. So well, yes, I know it is very difficult with people's jobs. Give them just a little bit of slack. I know that's easier said than done. All right. So moving right along. I'm super excited for this. So indoor pickleball courts have opened in Lewis. I have quite a few clients that call me and they are looking for a community that either has a pickleball court or somewhere that they can go and play pickleball. And while the newer communities are trying to put in the pickleball courts, a lot of the older communities do not have that. And this is a great option because you can play obviously in the winter as well as you can play if you don't have a pickleball court in your community. So it just opened in Lewis. So it says as pickleball continues to grow in popularity, he's excited for the facility to expand his pickleball offerings to meet the needs of the resort areas, casual players and dedicated enthusiasts. So it says pickleball is more than a sport is the way to connect, compete and stay active. And I well, I have never played. I do want to play, although I'm going to be honest, I'm not very I'm not very good at sports. Shocker. Yeah, not very good at sports, but I would definitely do this as something just to be like just something fun. I was never very good at tennis, so I have no idea. Is this the same? Can you let me know? Like, what is the difference between tennis and pickleball? You're probably looking at me like I'm an idiot, like I literally have no idea, but I really don't know. Like I said, I hear a lot of people talk about it and they start like, oh, it's so much fun. And there's people that like join leagues and like they just do it for fun. And I don't know. I don't know what the difference is. So let me know and let me know if you play and what your favorite, I guess, component is of the game. Like, how do you keep score? I know nothing. I know absolutely nothing. I just know a lot of people really enjoy it and it's become very, very, very popular. All right, let's move on. All right. So Rehoboth, let's go. We're going to stay in Rehoboth. So there has been a public hearing on one project and a preliminary site plan review for another project for Rehoboth Beach, and specifically the boardwalk. So I know that they have taken our beloved Dolly's sign down and they have put it at the museum. And that corner, I'm not really even sure what that's like turned into. I know like the corner Dolly's is not really, well, it's definitely not Dolly's anymore, but it's definitely, I don't even know what it like actually sells. To be honest with you, I get so upset at the fact that that Dolly's isn't there anymore that I don't even pay attention. But essentially, they want to take that building down. They also want to take the Coors Brothers ice cream place down. And I think, I believe the arcade all the way down to Grottoes. And I'm not sure if it's also Grottoes or not, but they want to put in a hotel there. Essentially, it would be three levels above ground and then it would be one level below ground. And I think the below ground would be parking. And while I understand that they are trying to add more hotels, I just do not see why you would take, I know this is such an unpopular opinion. I don't know why you would take those buildings and the businesses away to add a hotel that really isn't adding, I guess, I don't know. I just feel like it's not adding anything. And it's a very unpopular opinion. But having a business on Rehoboth Avenue and seeing the other business owners essentially struggle a lot of times because the parking situation is absolutely horrendous, horrendous. We need a parking garage or something. Now, obviously not right on the boardwalk. But I just don't think this is the best move. Now, it looks like it has gone through. So it looks like it's going to happen. I don't know when it would happen. But essentially, it is passed. And then also, there are two other hotel projects that the city is going to be deciding on. The one would be first rezoning the Beach View Hotel on Wilmington Avenue. So they want to do a top down, like a whole redo of the hotel, which the hotel is already there. So I mean, really, they're just redoing it. And then also, they want to talk about rezoning 330 Rehoboth Ave. If you are not familiar with this, this is a little bit up on the avenue. It is where the Sotheby's real estate company used to be. And now, I believe it just sits like vacant. And essentially, they want to make that also into a hotel. It'll be a four story 90 room hotel project called Rehoboth Grand, which once again, I just feel like you're adding all these hotels, and you're not adding any infrastructure, which means you're not adding any parking garages. You have basically, if you're just staying on the avenue, you don't have very many parking spots. It's a nightmare down there. I mean, you have locals that literally say, in May or June, I'll see you in September. And it's like, what? And I get it. We're a tourist destination. I just wish that they would put more support towards the businesses and less towards the hotels. On popular opinion, I'm also coming from a business standpoint, just being on the avenue and knowing how it is down there. If you are looking to vacation now, it looks like there's going to be three more hotels, essentially, for you to vacation at. All right. Moving right along. So we have why roundabouts are not traffic circles and why they are becoming more popular in Delaware. I am seeing... I thought they were called traffic circles, but I am seeing more roundabouts being put in literally everywhere. There are multiple ones in Middletown. I believe there is a new one coming to Dover off of Kenton Road. They just took a building down actually to be able to put that in. It says roundabouts are becoming an increasingly common feature on U.S. roadways with over 7,000 operations nationwide. In Delaware, the Department of Transportation roundabout location map shows that there are about 35 roundabouts in use. And I feel like most of them are in Middletown. It says this means motorists and pedestrians in Delaware are increasingly likely to encounter roundabouts instead of traditional intersections as they navigate the state's roadways. Designed for simplicity and efficiency, roundabouts can still confuse drivers unfamiliar with their navigation. So this is hilarious. They say DELDOT provides resources about roundabouts, including instructional videos available on YouTube. I don't know why that's so funny for me. I didn't think you needed a YouTube video, but there's a YouTube video for everything. So the difference between a roundabout and a traffic circle. It's important to distinguish how roundabouts function differently from traditional traffic circles. So the ones that are found in New Jersey. It says Delaware's Transportation Authority describes traffic circles and rotaries as typically larger and designed for higher speeds. They may require vehicles already in the circle to stop or yield to entering traffic, which can lead to congestion and crashes. Roundabouts, on the other hand, are circular intersections that move traffic counterclockwise around a central island, typically smaller than traffic circles. Entries into roundabouts require slower speeds, which is essentially helpful for inexperienced and older drivers, according to DELDOT. And we know that Delaware is a retirement community or destination. So that makes sense why they would want to do roundabouts instead of traffic circles, because we do have a lot of older drivers, which makes sense. Circulating traffic has the right of way and does not stop for vehicles approaching the roundabout. Okay. So if you are wondering why we are seeing more, that I think right there just answers the question. Essentially, intersections, we're seeing a lot of accidents. A lot of accidents, actually. So they are trying to, instead of doing intersections, they are trying to do roundabouts in the hopes that we will see less accidents and it will help our inexperienced and older drivers with navigating the roadways. So it makes total sense. And I'm glad that we found that answer because I actually had that thought process quite a few times, especially coming to Middletown. Why do we have these roundabouts? Why are there roundabouts everywhere? But now that makes total sense. And it's because obviously it slows down people. I personally, I've said this before, and I got tore up on Facebook for it. I personally think on my road, we need... I'm on a road where if you are traveling on my road, we do not have a stop sign. But the other intersections do have the stop sign. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen people airlifted out of here because people fly down my road. And essentially, the other person just doesn't realize, I guess, that they have the stop sign and the other person does not. Even though the signs are like, I don't know, this big. How are you supposed to see that? I have no idea. And essentially, we have a lot of accidents. It's just been awful. So I have tried to bring this up multiple times on Facebook and the Facebook groups. And I've gotten torn up about it because for some reason, people don't want them. I don't understand. All I'm asking for is honestly just stop signs. But I do think roundabouts would actually help as well. I because you do not need to go 90 in a 50. So yeah, it's awful. It's awful. I hate this road. But essentially, it is what it is. Hopefully, they change it. But all right, let's do something fun. We are coming into a Girl Scout cookie season, which... I love me some Girl Scouts. All right. I used to be a Girl Scout. When I say used to, I think I got it up to juniors. And then I was like, all right, I'm done. I think it's like brownies junior. Yeah. Anyway, I sold boxes of cookies, but I feel like I didn't really sell a lot. But now I see these girls, which I would be totally happy if Nora said, hey, I want to be a Girl Scout because I'm all about this. The prizes for how many boxes of cookies that you could sell were pretty decent. I don't know what they would be now. But I cannot wait for her to say, hey, I want to be a Girl Scout. I'm going to be like, yes, let's do this. And you better bet your bottom dollar, I will 100% have her on here selling you Girl Scout cookies. Because I am totally going to leverage the power of video and social media. And we are going to sell some Girl Scout cookies. So with that, what is your favorite Girl Scout cookie? So growing up, when I was selling Girl Scouts cookies, they were called Samoas. I know that they're like what Caramel Delights, I think it's a hard toss up between that one and Thin Mints. But ultimately, at the end of the day, if you put me up against the wall and made me choose, it would be a Samoa. I just, oh my gosh, I love it. I love it. The chocolate with the coconut and then the caramel. Oh my god. Now, don't get me wrong. I love Thin Mints. Like if you put them in the freezer, oh, they're so good. But I think I'm just, I'm a Samoa. Or what is it? Caramel Delights. Yes, they're Caramel Delights. But there are, okay, so here, I know a lot of people like Peanut Butter Patties, which are AKA Tagalongs. I don't know why. Like, I just, I'm not a huge fan of those. I know that they have like lemon ones. All right, so it looks like, okay, so they have Lemonade Ones or Lemon Ups, which I don't actually know what that is. I know that they make like gluten-free ones now. Let's see. We have Tree Foils or Caramel Chocolate Chip, Adventure Fools versus Toffee-tastic. I don't know any of these guys. I feel, oh my gosh, you're going to have to explain. If anyone knows what these are, you're going to have to explain because I really don't know. You have Toastier versus Girl Scout S'mores. Oh, wait. Okay, okay, okay. Here we go. Here we go. All right. Adventure Fools are indulgent brownie-inspired cookies topped with caramel-flavored cream with a hint of sea salt. Okay. Then you have Caramel Chocolate Chip, which is chewy cookies with rich caramel, semi-sweet chocolate chips and a hint of sea salt. You have the Samoas. We already talked about that. So good. You have the Do-si-dos. Oh, see, I remember that one. A peanut butter sandwich. It says crunchy oatmeal sandwich cookies with peanut butter filling. You have the S'more cookie. I think that kind of explains itself. Lemonades, shortbread cookie with a tangy lemon flavor. You have Lemon Ups, crispy lemon cookies baked with inspiring messages. Oh, that's nice. You have the Tagalongs, which is the peanut butter patty, which is kind of like, almost like a Reese's, but like, almost. You have the Thin Mints. We talked about those. The Toastier, toast-shaped cookies full of French toast flavor and dipped in delicious icing. Okay. And then Toffee-tastic, rich buttery cookies with sweet, crunchy toffee bits. And then Trefoil, shortbread cookies inspired with the original Girl Scout cookie recipe. See, I remember those ones too. Okay. So these have changed a lot since I was a Girl Scout. Obviously, not the Trefoils, not the Tagalongs, not the Thin Mints and not the Caramel Delights, slash Samoas. So, all right, let me know down in the comment section, which ones you like. And if you have a daughter, or I think it's just, yeah. So if you have a daughter that is going to be selling cookies, drop a link. I'm all about it. What are they like? I think they're like $6 a box. I think they were $3 a box when I sold them, but let me know. Let me know where they'll be, if they're going to be at the Walmart or I know there's so many different places like Home Depot. Where else? We used to be at like the pet store. I'm trying to think where else. I think it was really just a pet store, but that's fun. And yes, I want to buy, I want to support your kids. I mean, I can't buy like a thousand boxes or anything else like that, but I do want to buy some Samoas. All right. So moving on, I thought this was also super fun. So DENREC launches new photo contest showcasing Delaware. So DENREC is doing a contest essentially, and I believe registration opens up January 15th. And it says all entries must be submitted by 430 on Tuesday, April 15th. And essentially the winning photographers will receive a prize package consisting of a $500 Visa gift card, a Delaware State Parks annual pass, a gift bag, and a signed certificate. That is so much fun. So you can, for all ages, all photographers, all skill sets, whether you love nature. And it just says it's calling all photographers to showcase their skills and love for nature in the new DENREC photo contest. The contest seeks to highlight Delaware's outdoors through striking photography. I wish that this, I had known about this because we just had a bald eagle in the backyard and it was up in like a tree and we've had a lot of bald eagles actually, but I would have loved to get like a really good picture. Mike's going to see this and he's going to want to buy this like really expensive lens now because of this. Thank you, DENREC. Because if you know anything about nature, it does not stick around for you, which means you have to be quick and you have to have a very good lens. We actually just had a woodpecker in the back and I think Mike got some pictures. If he did, I'll have him put them up on the screen. But all right. And two more things, guys. I told you how we had a lot, we had a lot going on. So I know a lot of people like to do dry January and I don't, I don't drink, but so I think I guess I do like dry whatever, like whatever the day is. But I wanted, I found this article and I thought this would be super cool. Five Delaware locations made the list of 225 best spots for mocktails in the U.S. for dry January, which I thought of 225 places and five places in Delaware earned a spot on this list. That's pretty huge. So let's look at where the best places to get a mocktail in Delaware. So it says that they surveyed 3000 people to identify the top bars across the United States making mocktails in January. All right. So Green Craft Beer and Kitchen in Newark received the highest ranking at 177. And they have a strawberry basil ale or aid. Sorry. They have a strawberry basil aid mixes muddled strawberries with lemon basil, orange lemonade and club soda. They have a berry blast, which also is similar, but it blends raspberries with blueberries, simple syrup and club soda. They also have a peach guava tea featuring fresh brewed iced tea, peach and guava nectar. This would be right up my alley. I love peach iced tea. Like if there was a soft spot that I have for any drink that really isn't water, it would be peach iced tea. I love fresh brewed peach iced tea. Like in the summer, I actually actually go looking for it. So if you know of a place in Delaware that I haven't like I just send me a list because if you know of a place that has like the best peach iced tea, please let me know because I will forever be grateful. I love peach iced tea. All right. So what else? We have coming in at 182. We have Simmerdown in Wilmington. They don't have a list. It says coming in at 207. We have Torbert Street Social in Wilmington. Coming in at 213 is Iron Hill Brewery in Wilmington. Lots of Wilmington. They have hop water, which is carbonated water infused with flavorings of hop, green cone shaped flowers called inflorescence. Oh, okay. That's pretty cool. Wow. I would I'm all about checking out some Iron Hill. That sounds amazing. All right. So if you are doing or if you're participating in Dry January, you might want to check out those places. I know that there's plenty of other places in Delaware that probably have great mocktails. And be sure to share your information and let us know down in the comment section below. All right. So lastly, I know there's not a lot of things going on in Delaware in the winter, but there is something going on this weekend, which is January 17th to the 18th. I'm actually looking at my phone. It is in downtown Dover. So it says that Fire and Ice Festival is set to transform downtown Dover. It is going to be featuring breathtaking ice sculptures, dazzling fire displays, family entertainment, craft vendors, local restaurants and food trucks and community spirit. It says there's going to be live ice sculpting demonstrations. There will be fire displays and fire pits where you can have a s'more. Lots of unique items from local vendors. And then there's also going to be live music, interactive activities and a festival atmosphere for all ages. So it looks like that is happening, like I said, January 17th through the 18th. It doesn't give me time. Let me see. Hold on. It actually says it starts at 3 p.m. on January 17th and it goes until 9 p.m. on January 18th. So definitely check that out if you are interested in doing something this weekend. Like I said, not much going on in Delaware, but I'm sure as we come into February, we are probably going to see hopefully some more things going on and I will keep you up to date. And I'll let you know if anything else pops up. So I know we talked about an insane amount today. I know it's the winter. I didn't think I'd have that much to share, but we have so much to share, especially when we get a huge snowstorm in Delaware and it basically shuts the state down for about a week. But I really hope that you enjoyed this episode. Stay tuned for next week's episode. If you are looking to buy or sell in Delaware, I would absolutely love the opportunity to help you. My information is down below in the description so you can schedule a meeting with me or we can do a phone call or we can go see some new construction. Be sure to subscribe to the channel so that you never miss a new video. Make sure you like this video and I will see you on next week's episode. Hey, if you were thinking about moving to Delaware, you should definitely check out this video right here. And if you would love to tour Delaware new construction homes with me, check out this playlist right here. And don't forget, subscribe to my channel.