Category: Lewes

"Building Resilient Coastal Communities" Is Coast Day 2013's Theme

10/3/2013

Coast Day 2013 Is This Sunday, October 6, in Lewes, Delaware!

Celebrate the Beautiful Delaware Coast!

Coast Day 2013 Announcement From The University of Delaware:

"The University of Delaware's festive Coast Day returns for the 37th year on Sunday, Oct. 6 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our theme this year is "Building Resilient Coastal Communities." Throughout the event, UD scientists, staff, and students are highlighting some of the many ways we are working to maintain a healthy environment and ensure that society continues to benefit from the coast. Anyone curious about the wonders of the sea can visit the Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, Del. on Coast Day to learn about the state's rich marine resources."

"Coast Day will highlight how UD scientists, staff, and students are improving understanding of ocean environments and serving coastal communities. Coast Day attendees can interact with researchers, tour ships, try hands-on activities, and attend presentations on a range of topics."

"Family-friendly activities include an event-wide treasure hunt for answers to questions about the environment and Coast Day exhibits. Children can meet sea-dwelling animals such as horseshoe crabs and dogfish sharks at the critter touch tanks. Everyone can enjoy live music, vendor displays, and seafood favorites showcased by local chefs at the Crab Cake Cook-Off and the Seafood Chowder Challenge."

"Coast Day is sponsored by UD’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment and the Delaware Sea Grant College Program."

"Admission and parking are free!"

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Sea Glass Festivals

6/23/2012

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Lewes' Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival 2012

Sea Glass Collected Along the Delaware Shore

The Lewes Historical Society's 2012 Mid-Atlantic Sea Glass & Coastal Arts Festival on Saturday and Sunday, June 23 and 24, in the Historic Complex at Second and Shipcarpenter Streets in Lewes, Delaware, attracted over 5,000 guests. The festival is a fundraiser for the Historical Society and an annual event that local artisans and patrons look forward to each year.

Over forty sea glass artists and other coastal artists participated in the event which featured listening to keynote speakers, having sea glass shards identified by time and place of manufacture, selling jewelry, crafts, and sea glass, and enjoying beachcombing activities.

Sea glass can be found all over the world, and the beaches of the northeast United States' coastline are no exception. Delaware's Atlantic seashore and its Delaware Bay shore are excellent places to collect the surf tumbled shards of glass. The most prized pieces have a salty appearing patina on all sides and corners of the glass, with no shiny surfaces in evidence. These are considered to be jewelry class pieces and are more valuable than those pieces with shiny glass showing through. The colors range from mottled clear glass through browns, greens, aquas, blues, golds, oranges, and black. The best times to look for the tumbled shards are during spring tides and during the first low tide after a storm.

Test your eye for spotting sea glass on a sandy beach in the pictures below. Can you find the sea glass in each picture? There may be more than one piece in each picture!

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Lewes Beach and Roosevelt Beach, Delaware

3/31/2012

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Lewes Beach and Roosevelt Beach Along the Delaware Bay

View of Lewes Beach South to Cape Henlopen

Lewes Beach in Lewes, Delaware (pronounced Lewis), is one of the area's beautiful, family beaches stretching along the Delaware Bay. Its gently sloping shoreline creates two to three foot waves that provide a safe place for children to swim and play. The sandy beach extends south in a crescent shape to Cape Henlopen State Park and north to nearby Roosevelt Beach, which is adjacent to the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal that connects the two cities. At the entrance to the canal, the University of Delaware docks its fleet of ships which includes their newest seagoing research experiment vessel, the R/V Hugh R. Sharp. Lining the canal are numerous docks, boathouses, lovely family homes, and well-known eating and shopping establishments.

View of Lewes Beach North to Roosevelt Beach

Walking along the shoreline from Lewes Beach to Roosevelt Beach, beachcombers find a variety of shells, whelks, conches, horseshoe crab shells, seaweed, minerals, stones, rocks, sea glass, and shipwreck artifacts. Along the way, several jetties designed for small craft launching and for holding the sandy shore in place, jut out into the gentle bay, often accumulating barnacles, starfish, and other water life while providing feeding habitat for small bay fishes.

Entrance to Roosevelt Beach Over the Dunes

Entrance to both bay beaches is an easy walk along designated paths over the dunes or along pathways from parking areas. Lewes Beach has a metered, paved parking lot, and Roosevelt Beach has a free, graveled parking area. Lifeguards are on duty during the summer season at Lewes Beach, but Roosevelt Beach does not have lifeguards. Instead, families watch their children play in the slight surf where sailboats and kayaks launch out into the gentle bay waters.