Video portrait of Sussex County in the words of Sussex Countians

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

I may be making mistaken assumptions, but when we are down in RB, I usually feel I can identify many local daytrippers who I assume are coming to RB from rural/small town Sussex, Kent or the Eastern Shore -- mostly rather sketchy looking young people.

Based on your brief description, I suspect they are from NCC.

[doctorjef]

Could be, jm02. They just don't quite look like NCCo kids to me, but then I don't see too much of the specimens of our local county youth outside of Wilmington and its immediate burbs.

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Rdlr, I may be making mistaken assumptions, but when we are down in RB, I usually feel I can identify many local daytrippers who I assume are coming to RB from rural/small town Sussex, Kent or the Eastern Shore -- mostly rather sketchy looking young people. If I'm correct in this, it may largely be a certain older teen to twenty-something demographic in Lower Delaware who make the trek to Rehoboth Beach. Of course, for all I know they could be from farther afield, but they just look like lower SES locals to me (meaning I wouldn't notice the middle class locals at the beach because they don't stand out or else they're the ones who stay away from the beach).

No, I don't think so. Please don't make that assumption. The Sussex County young people I'm in contact with are involved in crabbing, fishing, 4-H, FFA, and exhibiting at the Delaware State Fair. I've seen some of those you've described at the beach, and they sure don't look like "Sussex" ......hard to tell until we hear them talk. Middle age and elders I know, keep their distance from the beaches during peak season.

[doctorjef]

You know the nice kids, rdlr! And they could well be the majority, but the trashy ones exist everywhere too. Part of my assumption is that these types don't look like they could have scraped together the gas money to have come from very far away at all, and I reckon the NJ ones have plenty of places to go up there. However, I'm always surprised that I see quite a few NJ license tags around the DE beaches, and a surprising number of Ontario and Quebec ones as well.

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

You know the nice kids, rdlr! And they could well be the majority, but the trashy ones exist everywhere too. Part of my assumption is that these types don't look like they could have scraped together the gas money to have come from very far away at all, and I reckon the NJ ones have plenty of places to go up there. However, I'm always surprised that I see quite a few NJ license tags around the DE beaches, and a surprising number of Ontario and Quebec ones as well.

NJ people love the Delaware beaches vs. their "shore".

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

You know the nice kids, rdlr! And they could well be the majority, but the trashy ones exist everywhere too. Part of my assumption is that these types don't look like they could have scraped together the gas money to have come from very far away at all, and I reckon the NJ ones have plenty of places to go up there.

I see your logic. I never really noticed them when I was in RB last year. It may be that that look is just another part of the urban fabric on the streets of Philly and perhaps didn't seem particularly remarkable to me.

[DelawareLiz]

I must agree there wasn't much diversity in the video, and Sussex has plenty of diversity--not so much where I live, but you'll find a large Hispanic population along the Sussex towns bordering route 113. And yes, there is a notable Haitian population in the Seaford/Laurel area.

As rdlr said, most locals would never be out and about on a summer weekend, myself included. Other than a three mile round-trip drive to a kayak launch or a trip south to Virginia, my vehicles stay put on the weekend. I don't even like to ride my bike much on weekends anymore; there's too much chaos, even on the back roads.

I've also seen the trashy late teens-early 20's crowd at the beach (my husband calls them his "future clientele"), mostly in Rehoboth and Ocean City. I've seen a lot more of them these past couple years. I don't see much (if any) of that in Lewes or Bethany, thank goodness. It's REALLY bad in Ocean City and they cause quite a few problems. I'd also agree with jm02 that they're from NCC, from some of the shadier areas like New Castle or sections of Newark. My son has had issues with them bothering him and his friends at Rehoboth Beach. My son is well-spoken and clean cut, and these dirtballs will harass the local kids that don't "walk their walk" or act like they do .

[doctorjef]

Originally Posted by jm02

I see your logic. I never really noticed them when I was in RB last year. It may be that that look is just another part of the urban fabric on the streets of Philly and perhaps didn't seem particularly remarkable to me.

I'd buy Beachliz's theory that they come from New Castle (the city). They don't have the urban "sophistication" of the Philly scruffballs and they are all white (the ones I'm talking about anyway). They tend to have scruffy beards, look malnourished, have horrid tattoos that look amateur, smoke cigarettes, and often wear stupid looking caps. They stroll around in cut-offs or longish, ill-fitting shorts, invariably barefooted even when they're not on the beach itself (I gather they prefer the boardwalk anyway).

[DelawareLiz]

Doctorjef, that description was exact! They are always white garbage and like to wear "wife beaters" even when they really shouldn't be wearing them. Oh, and every other word is the "f" or a "b" word. Don't forget that part. I am so thankful that I don't have kids like the description above living in my area.

[longnecker]

Well you guys have pretty well described why the local job holding college bound teens don't cross Rt 1 during the season. Unless they are working of course.