The Rehoboth Beach Patrol this summer will mark its 101st year of protecting beachgoers. Photo by Carolyn Brace
After a cold, wet spring, consistently warm weather returns to Delaware with Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start to summer.
A time to remember members of the military who gave their lives for the country, the three-day weekend starting Friday night will feature multiple events marking the occasion.
It will also see a stormy Friday leading into what looks like a gorgeous weekend, with more than 123,000 Delawareans expected to be traveling to the beaches and elsewhere.
That’s more than 12% of the First State’s population, and a 7.6% increase in travelers from 2021’s Memorial Day Weekend, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.
Here’s a few things you need to know about the weekend:
Travel
If you’re one of those thousands hitting the road, INRX, a traffic analytics company, partnered with AAA to provide the worst and best times to be traveling over the weekend.
90% of Delawareans traveling will be driving, and gas prices are expected to stay where they are, averaging $4.60 per gallon in the state, according to AAA.
In Sussex County, DART, the public transportation system in Delaware, will be operating its beach bus and Route 305 services. DART also will also offer bus service in New Castle County on Routes 2, 4, 5, 6, 13, 15, 33, 40 and 64, with all routes operating a Sunday schedule. Route 47 will operate on a Saturday schedule.
SEPTA’s Wilmington/Newark Line will operate a Sunday schedule on Memorial Day.
To comply with the huge number of travelers, the state will suspend all construction-related lane closures from Thursday at 12:01 a.m. until Tuesday at 12:01 a.m., according to the Delaware Department of Transportation.
Beachgoers can expect to pay for parking. In Rehoboth Beach, meters will charge $3 per hour; in Lewes, it’s $2.50 per hour at the beach and $1.50 in the town; Bethany Beach is also $2.50 per hour; and Dewey Beach is $3 per hour.
Weather
A Friday storm and threat of rain Saturday will dampen the start of the weekend at Delaware beaches.
Temperatures on the sand are expected to be 77 on Friday and 76 on Saturday.
Sunday and Monday seem set to be glorious days, with a high of 75 and sunny both days.
No state beaches have any mask or vaccination requirements, inside or outside.
Memorial Day events
The Rehoboth Beach Patrol and Mayor Stan Mills will ring in the patrol’s 101st year with a small bell-ringing ceremony at 9:30 am Saturday, May 28, on the boardwalk at Baltimore Avenue. The Beach Patrol lifeguards will be on duty from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekends and 10 a.m. 5 p.m. weekdays throughout the season.
The Georgetown Kiwanis Club ceremony will be at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 29 at The Circle. The ceremony will include a wreath-laying and a 21-gun salute and taps.
The Harrington Memorial Day parade starts at 9 a.m. Monday May 30 on Dorman Street, then running on Commerce Street.
The Milford Memorial Day ceremony begins at 10 a.m. Monday May 30 at the Milford Senior Center
At 2 p.m. on Memorial Day, a service will be held at the Kent County Veterans Memorial Park, at S. Little Creek Road, Dover. It will last about an hour and will honor Kent County servicemen who died in the Vietnam and Korean Wars, as well as those who’ve died serving in the Middle East.
The 155th Wilmington Memorial Day parade, the country’s oldest continuous parade, will kick off at 6 p.m. Monday. It will start at Delaware Avenue at Woodlawn Avenue, with participants marching east to the Civil War Monument at Broom Street. There, those who died in battle will be honored with a memorial service.
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
