Dewey’s old welcome sign, bike sharrows, Camel’s Hump stamp

I saw that Dewey Beach recently moved its welcome sign a little farther north on Route 1 to be closer to the town’s municipal limits. That seems to make sense. It’s a good way to let vehicles know enforcement of town rules begins closer to Fifer’s, not Sunrise Restaurant.

Reading about the move reminded me of when the town’s original welcome sign was stolen in late summer or early fall of 2015.

The original sign was located in the same spot as where the existing sign was just moved from – in the median, at the intersection of Routes 1 and 1A. It was hand-carved and cheerfully welcomed visitors to the town’s famous way of life. The sign showed what could be a rising or setting sun, a couple of sailboats, some seagulls and a beach umbrella.

At the time, town officials said they thought it was alcohol-related petty crime and that it was likely a college-aged kid using it to decorate their dorm room. I’m not going to encourage alcohol-related petty crime, but I am curious what happened to the old sign. Ten years removed from it being stolen, does the person who did it regret their decision, or do they look at it and smile while playing beer pong and reliving their glory days?

Guess we’ll never know – unless someone wants to anonymously send me a proof-of-life photo. I’m sure the statute of limitations has passed.

Bike sharrows on Rehoboth Avenue

I’ve had a few people ask me if I’ve seen the new bike sharrows that have been painted on Rehoboth Avenue as part of the recent repaving project. I have. The stencils – a person on a bike, with two arrows over the bike rider’s head – are used to designate street areas where vehicles and bikes share space. On the newly paved blacktop, the bright white sharrows are impossible to miss.

However, I’d like to clear something up. While they are considerably more noticeable, this is a repainting of the sharrows, not a new initiative. They were originally installed in early spring of 2022 after being recommended by the streets and transportation committee the year before. Nearly 150 of the sharrows were painted on Rehoboth Avenue, Henlopen Avenue, Bayard Avenue and State Road.

There were concerns at the time that the city shouldn’t be encouraging biking on Rehoboth Avenue, but the consensus was that people were already riding their bikes on the city’s main street, and the city needed to make it as safe for them as possible.

See, good things do come from city committees.

Joke of the Week

Due to the construction of the new Rehoboth Beach Patrol, I’ve spent a lot of time on the ocean block of Baltimore Avenue in the past few weeks. Over the course of that time, the demolition of the former JAM Bistro took place. Prior to the bistro, it was the Camel’s Hump. There’s a camel stamped into the sidewalk in front of where the Hump used to be. It’s got a huge oil stain, but the stamp survived the demolition. It made me laugh to see the stamp still stood, so here’s a joke about camels. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: How does a cool camel say hello?

A: How you dune?