(credits to the owner 302 Life – photo is tagged -sourced from Facebook)
I’d just like to wish each and every one of you. a wonderful Christmas. I hope Santa has been kind to you and brought you all the books on your wish list. He’s brought me a few that were on mine.
If you’ve received a nice new kindle or perhaps a cover for an older kindle then perhaps you might also want to add some new books. I can recommend a few 😉
For those who have already read some or all of the Silver Lake series, I’m sure you can imagine Jake and Lori admiring Rehoboth Beach’s beautiful Christmas tree. I’d love to see the town at Christmas….maybe one day.
This year when it came to choosing a destination for my summer holiday (summer vacation) believe it or not, I did pause to think twice.
Should I go back?…
My heart screamed a resounding “YES!” so I listened to it.
As a result, at the end of last month, I found myself back in my “happy place”, walking through the pages of my Silver Lake books.
I returned to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in the USA.
Perhaps I am biased after all these years but there’s something magical about that small town. It’s some 45 years since it stole a piece of my heart as a 10-year-old.
When I saw the first road signs for Rehoboth Beach as I was driven down the Coastal Highway, my heart skipped a beat.
What if the magic was gone?…
I needn’t have worried. As soon as my toes sank into the soft warm sand, I knew I was back in the right place.
My soul sighed with contentment.
I spent 11 days soaking up the sun (and some thundery rain that soaked me to the skin), living and breathing the pages of my novels.
This year, as well as feeling as if I was walking through the lives of Jake and Lori, I also felt as if I was looking out for scenarios that the characters could naturally slot into.
**** slight spoiler alert ahead if you’ve not read all the books ****
When I was in the amusement arcades with my cousin and her young son, I could picture Jake there with his kids. I could almost see his patience being tested as Jesse played “the claw” machines, determined to win a certain plushie or more tickets.
On the beach one morning, I watched the lifeguards teaching the younger kids who had signed up for the Junior Lifeguard Program. Would that be something that Jake and Lori’s kids would want to do? Would they be encouraged to do it?
Watching the Rehoboth Beach Patrol lifeguards working, I wondered if Grey’s daughter, Becky, would enjoy a summer being a lifeguard or Melody perhaps. Were Grey or Rich or Paul or Jake lifeguards in their earlier lives?
The creative wheels began to turn…
All too soon it was time to say goodbye to my happy place.
Til next time, Rehoboth Beach.
If you’ve missed the Silver Lake series and want to check it out, here’s the link-
At the end of Rehoboth Avenue, at the turning circle, there’s a bandstand. I think I’ve mentioned it in the Silver Lake series but I’ve never used it in a scene (yet).
Early in the first book, Stronger Within, I created a fictitious rock festival called Surfside, based on Surfside Park at the north end of the boardwalk. Having visited the park during my trip, its tiny and if such an event were to exist its more likely it would be in one of the larger parks or at the bandstand itself.
During the summer months, there are free concerts at the bandstand on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 8pm for around an hour or so.
The first one I went to was one of the US Army Concert Bands. It was fun and reminded me of going to see Boy Child’s school band concerts back in the days when he still played the trumpet.
The second one was a classic rock band from New Jersey. They were great!
The third one was a Jimmy Buffett tribute band. They were fun.
On 4th July, there was a special concert for the Independence Day celebrations. It was a US Navy Jazz Band. I stopped to listen for a few minutes but decided to pass…not my taste this time.
The final one that I managed to attend was on my last night in town, 5th July and was a Southern Rock/Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band called High Noon. I wasn’t missing that one! So, having bought myself an ice cream, I grabbed a seat. I had arrived later than I originally intended so was about four rows from the front. I ended up sitting beside a nice retired gentlemen who had seen the original Lynyrd Skynyrd line up in 1976 or thereabouts. He was excited to see High Noon and commented that he’d been four rows from the front the night he saw the real deal all those years ago.
High Noon were great! They played a mix of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band and 38 Special. I was in seventh heaven!
The time was flying by way too fast.
Third song from the end of their set, High Noon introduced one that they said was pretty special. Half the crowd was calling out for Freebird but were told “not yet”.
Much to my amazement and delight, they began to play Simple Man.
Now, if you’ve read my Silver Lake books, you’ll already understand just how special that song is to me.
If you’ve not, I’ll briefly explain. Simple Man is Lori’s favourite song for Jake to play live for her at their family get togethers and it is woven into all five books, especially the last one, Long Shadows.
Never in a million years did I expect to be at a rock show in Rehoboth Beach listening to a band playing Simple Man live. I was completely emotionally overwhelmed. As I sang along with the chorus, my emotions were flowing down my cheeks.
It was simply the most perfect musical memory to bring home with me.
All I can say to High Noon is “thank you for making my last night at the beach so special.”
And yes, I went to their merch stall and bought a tee 😉
If you’ve missed the Silver Lake series, you’ll find it available worldwide via Amazon
To continue my journey through the pages of my Silver Lake books, the first Saturday I was in Rehoboth Beach, I decided to go for a trail walk and to explore the Gordon’s Pond area. Gordon’s Pond is mentioned in the books and geographically, its situated slightly inland from the two WW II fire towers. Its part of Cape Henlopen State Park and there is an official trail there for walking and biking.
Armed with some Goldfish crackers, water and Gatorade, I set off. I took my smaller beach towel too just in case. (To be honest, I took way too much stuff with me, but I wanted to be prepared for all eventualities.)
I headed north out of Rehoboth Beach along Ocean Drive, towards the state park entrance. It was about three miles to the state park or thereabouts. There are some stunning mansions on Ocean Drive! (I may have taken photos of a few as inspiration for future “book houses”.) I was surprised to see several deer at the side of the road who barely flinched as I walked by.
When I reached the state park, I followed the road until I reached the start of the Gordon’s Pond trail. There was also a sign in the car park saying that it was also an access point to Whiskey Beach. I filed that thought away for the return journey.
The Gordon’s Pond trail itself is 3.5 miles long. I had thought that it was a lap around the pond itself. It’s not. It runs along one side of the pond and is an out-and-back trail. It’s a lovely walk with lots of dragonflies flitting about. (They are nigh on impossible to photograph) I saw a few wading birds in the pond but not as many as I’d expected to see. I overheard a man commenting that there’s usually flocks of them but that they haven’t arrived yet this year. Parts of the pond looked quite dried up too.
When I got to the end of the trail, I’d walked 7 miles. Clouds had gathered and it looked as if a storm was rolling in. It was hot and sticky.
Dilemma…. should I walk back the way I came? Should I walk back to the start of the trail then go onto Whiskey Beach and walk back from there? Or should I find a way onto the beach from where I was and walk all the way back to Rehoboth Beach on the sand?
Decisions…decisions… I decided that the shortest route was probably back along the beach.
After a few minutes I found a sign saying Navy Crossing, a surf-fishing vehicle access road, and set off down it. Quite quickly I was in deep powdery sand, so the Converse and socks had to come off.
In my bare feet, with the Converse tied onto my bag, I kept going down road to the beach. I love these beaches!
For those who don’t know, surf-fishing beaches are where the folk take their 4x4s and trucks right down onto the sand. They let out a lot of the air from their tyres to allow them to drive on the sand without sinking in. (There’s an airline at the end of the access road for pumping them back up when you leave) If you drive down onto the beach though you need to have a fishing line in the water. Folk then set up for the day with their chairs, their coolers, their flags flying high, music playing, kids and dogs playing…you can picture the scene, right?
Watching for holes in the sand where the kids had been digging, loose dogs, rogue waves and fishing lines, I set off down the beach, keeping the ocean on my left.
The trucks thinned out and I reached Herring Point, a surf beach. The surf crowd were all out too. Most of them were sitting about chatting, listening to music with their boards beside them as there weren’t that many big waves around. I stopped for a rest for a few minutes then kept going.
More trucks and fishing lines followed as I walked through another surf fishing spot but at least I could now see the two WW II fire towers. They were a welcome sight!
The main beach in front of Rehoboth’s boardwalk was crowded when I finally got there. My legs felt like jelly by this point.
When I stopped my tracker on my watch once I stepped back onto the boardwalk, it informed me I’d walked 11 miles. The last 4 of those had been barefoot on the sand. I was exhausted! If you’ve ever walked any distance in sand, you’ll get it.
It had been a great hike though and I’d happily do it another time.
Trust me, I slept well that night!
If you’ve missed the Silver Lake series, you’ll find it available worldwide via Amazon
I mentioned my lack of running stamina in an earlier Silver Lake blog however I had packed my running shoes with every intention of running along the boardwalk while I was staying in Rehoboth Beach.
The boardwalk is just over a mile long, giving me a 2 -mile lap. I could do this! And do it I did and more than once during my stay. Go me!
Even at 6am the boardwalk was surprisingly busy. There were folk out walking, power walking, jogging and running. At that time in the morning, its not too hot making it the ideal time of day for exercising.
As I ran along the boards, I actually felt ok. I’m not overly focussed on the time when I run. I run for my mental wellbeing as much as for physical fitness. However, I do keep half an eye on my times and have to admit that in the heat I was running better than I usually do at home.
In my Silver Lake books, Jake Power regularly runs along the sand to the two fire towers. There was no way my legs were up to that, but I was curious…what did it feel like to run on the sand like Jake does?
After one of my early morning boardwalk runs, I decided that there was only one way to find out and headed down onto the beach.
Running on the hard packed sand, just out of reach of the waves, was easier than I’d thought it would be. The challenge came when I hit a softer section and felt my feet slip and sink a little. I only ran about half a mile or so on the sand but at least I can hand on heart say I did it.
I’m not too sure what Jake would have had to say if he’d seen me….
My real-life journey through the pages of my Silver Lake series continues.
It was my birthday while I was staying in Rehoboth Beach and, after a chilled-out day on the beach, I needed to find somewhere for dinner. Initially I had just planned to grab a takeaway burger or something on the boardwalk but a message from my mum saying, “Are you having a special dinner tonight?” planted a seed.
When I wrote the Silver Lake series, especially Stronger Within, I mentioned a boardwalk sports bar called The Greene Turtle. A few years ago, The Greene Turtle was renamed and is now a bar/restaurant called Above the Dunes. So, on a whim, I headed there for dinner.
The gods were smiling on me, and I managed to secure a seat outside on the balcony. (Yes, I’d written a scene out on that balcony in one of the books too.)
Dinner (honey glazed salmon with broccoli and mashed potatoes washed down with a beer or two) was absolutely delicious.
Sitting looking out over the beach and the ocean, watching the seagulls swooping over the boardwalk was idyllic.
It was all too easy to imagine that Jake and the guys from Silver Lake were sitting at a table nearby.
If you’ve missed the Silver Lake series you can find them for sale worldwide on Amazon
As I mentioned in my previous Silver Lake blog, I recently returned to spend some time in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, USA, the setting for my Silver Lake series of books.
On my first day back in town I was up early to be on the beach for sunrise at 5:40am. (Jet lag helped here lol) Sitting on the sand, watching the sun creep up over the horizon felt truly magical…then I looked north up the beach and saw them… the two WWII fire control towers that are mentioned many times in the books as Jake Power goes for an early morning run along the beach to turn at them.
My running stamina doesn’t extend to running that far on sand (more on that in a future blog) but I decided I could walk out to them instead.
Walking along the waterline with the waves washing in over my bare feet as the sun slowly climbed higher in the sky was so peaceful. There were a few other early birds out walking on the beach, so I wasn’t the only one watching the sky turn many shades of red through gold. It was the perfect way to start my first day in town.
Two or three locals ran past me as I walked. I really wasn’t hard to imagine that one of them was Jake.
The towers proved to be slightly further north than they looked but eventually I reached them. A chill ran up my spine as I realised that I’d stepped into the pages of my own novels.
There are 11 fire control towers in total across Delaware and southern New Jersey. They were commissioned by the US Army in the 1940s and were watch towers. The two at Rehoboth Beach, Towers #5 and #6 stand about 60 feet high. Their entrances and windows are sealed off but as I stood looing up at them I couldn’t help but wonder just how spectacular the view of the ocean would be from the top.
I wonder if you can see Jake and Lori’s beach house which lies about 3 miles south along the beach from the top?..
If you’ve missed the Silver Lake series you can find them for sale worldwide on Amazon
Eleven years ago, give or take a month or two, I created a fictitious rock band in my debut novel, Stronger Within,
For those of you who haven’t read it (tut tut) the book is set in the small town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware USA. I wanted my rock band to have a name that reflected where their roots lay. Cue a Google maps search of the area looking for inspiration…. then I spotted it. A small lake, just inland from the south end of the boardwalk – Silver Lake. (It is in fact one of only two freshwater lakes in the area, originally formed from the runoff from the Wisconsin glacier.)
The rest as they say is history…. read the Silver Lake series to see how the rock band worked out.
Recently I spent some time back in Rehoboth Beach. That small town is one of my favourite places on earth. It had been twelve long years since my last visit, and I had never seen Silver Lake in real life. As I walked along the beach and the boardwalk everything felt surreal. I felt as though I was walking through the pages of my own novels.
It goes without saying that one of the first places on my “must see” list was Silver Lake. It did not disappoint!
Stronger Within starts with our favourite aspiring rock star, Jake Power, helping artist Lori Hyde home along the boardwalk after a fall on the beach. As I walked along the same stretch of boardwalk I could imagine them by my side. I followed the boardwalk to its south end then made a short pilgrimage along the beach to where Lori’s house is in the books. There’s a gap in real life between the third and fourth houses off the end of the boardwalk and its in that gap that is site where I imagined Lori’s house to be situated.
Next on my book tour was Silver Lake. I headed down Prospect Street towards East Lake Drive and there it was shimmering in the afternoon sun in front of me. Silver Lake!
It took my breath away!
Even if I do say so myself, I’d pictured it perfectly in my books. I feel I’d done a pretty good job of describing East Lake Drive too.
Actually standing in the spot that was meant to be the end of Lori’s driveway, looking out over Silver Lake was a special and emotional moment that will live with me for a long time.
I could almost hear Jake practicing his guitar in the background.
If you’ve missed the Silver Lake series you can find them for sale worldwide on Amazon
Coral McCallum 