by Penny Reeder
I remember, the best days of summer were at Rehoboth Beach. There was the sand, and the waves; there was the boardwalk, and the rides. The whip whirled you around with what seemed like incredible speed. There was, and still is, a beautiful old carousel. And the teacups — they’re still my favorite ride, even today. I can usually cajole at least one of my children, although they’re big now and they outgrew the teacups eons ago, to ride the teacups with me —because they love the way we laugh together as the centrifugal force seems to force the logic and the sensibility right out of our brains!
When I was growing up with my two sisters and my mom and my dad, we lived on a farm on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Farming was hard, sweaty, labor-intensive work. There were 20,000 broiler/fryers in a long low shed called “the chicken house.” There were soybeans and corn in the fields, and tomatoes, butter beans, potatoes, summer squash, and the sweetest corn in the garden. All had to be watered, fed, tended. It was truly a family effort, and there were few days off.
Every 12 weeks, my dad would sell the latest “crop” of three-and-a-half pound chickens and prepare the chicken “house” for a new flock of baby chicks. And, some time during those two to three weeks between flocks of chickens, we would take a day off and drive, an hour away, to spend a day at Rehoboth Beach.
We would take a picnic in the big red metal Coca-Cola cooler and stop somewhere between Georgetown, Del., and the beach at a picnic/rest stop along the side of the road. We would unpack and devour my mom’s Maryland fried chicken, bread-and-butter sandwiches, sliced tomatoes from the garden, and the best potato salad in the world. Then, back in the car, the excitement would mount as we drew closer and closer to the Atlantic Ocean.
After a little while, I would announce to Mother and dad and my sisters, “We’re there! You can smell the salt in the air!”
Once I made a friend while I was playing in the sand. “Do you wanna jump off the boardwalk onto the sand?” she asked. She didn’t ask, as my first-grade classmates had, “Why do your eyes move around like that?” or “What’s wrong with you, can’t you see?”
“Sure,” I said. I wondered if I could do it, but she grabbed my hand, we raced up the nearby steps to the boardwalk, about a half a story up, walked to the edge, and jumped off, landing in the warm sand, full of giggles and a confidence I hadn’t often experienced!
Then and now, there is no place that I love more than Rehoboth! What could be better than a new friend who accepts you the way you are? What could be better than Dollee’s sweet, sticky, caramel popcorn, or real Boardwalk Fries (cooked in hot peanut oil the way the French really do, twice, so that they’re crispy on the outside and tender inside) served with salt and vinegar (the way people in England eat their chips)? There’s Salt Water Taffee, and the best fried chicken anywhere (except in that Coca-Cola cooler) at Gus and Gus.
There is the neat guy who rents bikes; he’ll rent you one or enough for a whole family, and he sold me a tandem bike to surprise my husband on our 25th wedding anniversary.
From those early days of childhood until today when I have children of my own, I haven’t thought of anything that would make Rehoboth Beach better. Until today! Today, I learned that something just happened at Rehoboth Beach that will make it even better! Today I learned that the Beach Bus, the one that carries folks all around the town, has become completely accessible to me, because the buses are equipped with Talking Signs!
That means that I could go to the beach by myself. I would know what bus was coming and where it was going, and I could travel through this lovely little town on my own. I could leave teenagers sleeping late at the beach house and go out for espresso on my own. I could leave kids and their dad at the Kite Loft, where the window-shopping is apparently as enjoyable as flying “The Revolution” on the beach, and travel, on the bus, on my own, to meet friends at the Back Porch Cafe for soft-shelled crabs, or the Camel’s Hump for falafel, or that tacky bar on the boardwalk where we always order platters full of fried oysters.
Congratulations to DART First State, Delaware’s statewide transit system, for taking the initiative to open up their lovely little town to people like me who love the beach as much as we love our independence!
And what of this independence? Is this just a beginning? Now there are 17 accessible buses equipped with Talking Sign transmitters. In addition, the “NextBus” system, which informs people about which bus is expected to arrive next at a particular shelter, where it’s going, and how long the wait will be, has been installed in several bus shelters, and that information, which scrolls in real time across an electronic message-board display, can be accessed via a text-to-speech translator which allows for reception of messages on those same Talking Sign receivers.
Tomorrow, will I be able to walk down those Rehoboth streets and know what shops are what? As I pass the T-shirt shop where I bought the sweatshirt with the neon peace symbol so many years ago, will my Talking Sign receiver let me know it’s there? Think of the possibilities of walking down those streets and that wonderful boardwalk and knowing where the shops and businesses and amenities one wants to visit actually are!
How to Get Your Talking Sign Receiver in Rehoboth Beach
According to Drew McCaskey, a spokesperson for DART First State, there are 25 Talking Sign receivers, which can be signed out by any visually impaired visitor to Rehoboth Beach.
Ward Bond, CEO of Talking Signs, Inc., told me, “You may pick up a receiver at the DART office at Park and Ride behind the Holiday Inn Express where all the buses go and turn it back in when you leave.”
McCaskey noted that this is a pilot program. “But,” he continued, “we’re very excited about it, and we realize its great benefit for visually impaired people.”
McCaskey, who is an active member of local Lions Clubs, said that DART First State will be collecting data about the use of the Talking Signs receivers, and that the agency hopes to expand the service, if they find it to be highly utilized, to other transit systems within the state.
How Do the Signs Work?
The Talking Sign system acts as a “traveling companion.” A compact, hand-controlled receiver verbally tells a user the route number and destination of a bus as it approaches a bus stop from up to 100 feet away. It utilizes signals sent by infrared light beams from permanently installed transmitters inside the buses. The receiver decodes the signal and delivers a voice message through its speaker or earpiece to a user.
The electronic message boards, which display the real-time next bus satellite-based rider information about buses which are expected to arrive at the shelters, when they’re coming, and where they’re going (and whether you have enough time to duck into the Dollee’s arcade for a quick video game, or to put your pizza order in at Grotto) are installed at shelters at DART’s Park and Ride Lot, at the Ruddertowne stop, and on the boardwalk at Rehoboth Avenue.
The receivers, which are about the size of a standard TV remote control device and are powered by a standard 9-volt battery, can be carried in one’s hand or worn on a break-away strap around one's neck. I asked Bond what would happen to a receiver if a user happened to drop it in the sand, or, worse, in the ocean. I was just joking around, but Bond, always the one to consider all the possibilities, answered, “The sand won’t hurt. After all, silicon is our basic ingredient. There are no moving parts to get clogged up with sand. If a receiver gets wet and you let it dry out, it will still work. However, salt water will have its effect over time, probably.”
For further information about Talking Signs at Rehoboth Beach, Del., visit the Talking Signs web site at http://www.talkingsigns.com, or the DART First State transit agency's web site at http://www.DARTFirstState.com.
When I Get to Rehoboth...
After I spend about a day and a half sitting by the ocean’s edge, gradually moving my beach chair further back on the sand as waves threaten to engulf my 4-track tape player, and reading an absolutely frivolous book, I’m going to find that Park and Ride facility behind the Holiday Inn Express and sign myself out one of those receivers. Then, I’m going to ride around on the beach bus and check out the scene. And after I indulge in all kinds of beach food, and maybe take a ride on those teacups, I’m going to walk up and down the boardwalk and into all the shops and show the proprietors my Talking Signs receiver. I’ll encourage them to buy the transmitters to turn their own printed signs into signs that talk to visually impaired people like me, so that, finally, Rehoboth Beach will be a haven, not only for relaxation and indulgence, but also for freedom, and independence!