lewes

State transportation officials made it official this morning: The Del. 1 expansion project is done.

But here’s the fine print: the little detail work like painting lines on some travel lanes, wrapping up paving on side roads and planting sod really won’t be finished until Friday.

Even as the project completion was being announced, the turn lane off the highway onto Freeman Highway, the main access road for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, was closed for paving.

As more gas stations throughout Delaware crept toward the dreaded $4 a gallon figure, fewer travelers took to the roads over the Memorial Day weekend.

The state's busiest highways -- Del. 1 and I-95 -- both showed a large dropoff in the number of cars passing through toll plazas, according to numbers released Wednesday by the state Department of Transportation.

Memorial Day weekend traffic on Del. 1 was down 10 percent, or 65,000 vehicles, from last year. The state collected the figures from the two toll plazas on Del. 1 from Thursday to Tuesday.

Everything was in place to kick off a summer of discontent.

Ever-rising gasoline prices. Grim economic news. Global environmental worries. Election year partisan wrangling.

None of it intruded at Rehoboth Beach early Saturday, though, as Miles, Lexi and Riley Keogh of Alexandria, Va., opened Memorial Day weekend playing tag with a gentle surf.

"We came over early, so we missed a lot of the traffic," Miles said during a break in the action on the city's storm-battered but recovering beach. "It wasn't the worst we've ever been in. I'd say it's probably in the top third. Gas prices aren't great, but they're not that horrible."

As much as kids know that the 3 R's define the school year, they also know that summer is all about the 4 S's. That's right: Sun, surf, sea and sand are about all kids need for a memory-making family vacation.

Of course, a week at the beach along the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia shore also means arcades, thrill rides, water parks and Thrasher's fries. But if you find that, by day four or five, you're looking for something a little different, something a little special that might mean new memories, you're probably not alone. Here are a few favorite excursions. Some take a full day, others just a few hours, but regardless of where you're staying, they're worth the effort.

Construction crews are dwindling, the smell of fresh asphalt is in the air and the morning commute gets a little bit smoother each day.

But motorists aren't the only ones happy to have the sound of jackhammers cease and see the hundreds of orange traffic cones disappear.

For business owners along Route 1 in the Lewes-Rehoboth Beach area -- many of whom have seen a drop in customers since the construction crews moved in fall of 2006 -- the end can't come soon enough.

This summer, the magic word for bars and clubs at the beach is "outdoors." From Rehoboth Beach to Ocean City, the night life is moving to poolside cabanas, outdoor tiki bars and waterfront cantinas.

Rehoboth Beach

Aqua Grill on Baltimore Avenue will be holding serious parties this summer. After an off-season makeover, the restaurant reopens this weekend as a warm-up for Memorial Day's blowout. Sponsored by PlanetOut, the three-day party features appearances by singer and performer Randy Thompson from Key West, Fla.

Many people are convinced John G. Griffith would be alive today if something as simple as rumble strips were in place along the Route 1 corridor in coastal Sussex.

Griffith, 44, of Timonium, Md., was killed early last July 28, as he worked on his bicycle off the shoulder near the Indian River Inlet bridge. Police said the driver apparently fell asleep, drifted onto the shoulder and hit Griffith, director of Johns Hopkins Fibroid Center for the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. He died at the scene.

American Indians knew it. The U.S. Army knew it. And now thousands of readers of AARP Magazine, the publication for the 50-plus set, know it.

Cape Henlopen State Park has one of the best beaches north of Florida.

"It's a perfect location," said Rob Schroeder, a Lewes-area resident and longtime fan of the park. "With the ocean, with the bay, with the pine barren and the marsh behind it, it's a park that has something for everybody."

Opportunities for a new life and a better future were set into motion for Sussex County in 2007.

Conjoined twins celebrated their first birthday apart and wind farms promised a plan to provide clean energy to Delaware residents.

Beach dunes will be replenished from nature's wear and beach-goers may have an opportunity to breathe in fresh air with a possible smoking ban. Not without some controversy, of course.

Dewey Beach

Dewey Beach Club -- As he's done in previous years, veteran local disc jockey Dave Lemmon will spin oldies. Admission is free, but call for reservations; seatings are at 7 and 9 p.m., with "open" seating at 5 p.m.

Lighthouse Raw Bar -- New Year's Eve Bash (free admission)

Baycenter (at Ruddertowne) -- The umpteenth annual New Year's Eve performance by Love Seed Mama Jump (with guests Burnt Sienna and Kristen & the Noize) at Ruddertowne will go on as usual -- with a few slight changes. The Rusty Rudder has closed for the winter for the first time, but the show will go on next door at the Baycenter (and its downstairs sister business, Crabber's Cove). Tickets are $115; they started at $75 or so back in the summer months, but have gone up about $10 per month since then. As the Beachcomber went to press, Ruddertowne entertainment director Vikki Walls said 621 tickets have been sold. The entire left side of Dickinson Street bayside classified as Ruddertowne was recently purchased by new owners, but they're keeping the "no cover" tradition at the Lighthouse Raw Bar for those who would like a cheaper night out in Dewey.