50 CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // JULY 2019
DO TANGER OUTLETS
Delaware has no sales tax. At the
Tanger Outlets in Rehoboth Beach,
the price you see on tags is what you
pay—and sometimes less, given the
steep discounts at stores like Banana
Republic Factory, Kate Spade, and
Michael Kors. 36470 Seaside Outlet
Dr., Rehoboth Beach; 302-226-9223;
tangeroutlet.comEAT AGAVE
The best part of this Mexican
restaurant in historic Lewes is its
guacamole menu. My favorite is
the Gala apple and midnight moon
cheese guac—it’s gooey and rich but
cut with the sweetness of apples. The
second-best part? The margaritas.
137 2nd St., Lewes; 302-645-1232;
agavelewes.comMEDING’S SEAFOOD
On every two-hour trip home
from the beach I took growing up,
I would stop here, sunburnt and
exhausted, and Meding’s cream of
crab soup would revive me. 3697
Bay Rd., Milford; 302-335-3944;
medingsseafood.comSTAY DOGFISH INN
With just 16 rooms, this boutique
inn is located along the Lewes-
Rehoboth Canal and prides itself on
its sustainability—they use forest-
friendly toilet paper, LED light bulbs,
and biodegradable cleaning solutions.
105 Savannah Rd., Lewes; 302-644-
8292; dogsh.com/innMemories of Dogfish Head
Delaware’s prized brewery, now a tourist destinationBEER TRAVEL MILTON, DELAWARE
THE FIRST THING I NOTICE as I pull up to
Delaware’s Dogsh Head Brewery isn’t the
scent of malt or hops lling the air of small-
town Milton, or the giant stainless steel fer-
mentation silos outside. It’s the steampunk
treehouse with wiry, rusty
branches and a spiral stair-
case that leads to a hex-
agonal house planted on
the lawn.
The treehouse was rst
built as an art installation
for Burning Man, the mas-
sive desert alt-festival, then
found its way to Coachella,
the massive desert main-
stream festival. With no
permanent home, Dogsh Head took in the
40-foot-tall steel sculpture, and it’s remained
on site since 2010. The eight-ton treehouse
isn’t open for guests, but boy, is it fun to look at.
I’m from Delaware, so for me, Dogsh
Head is as synonymous with beer as National
Bohemian is in Maryland or Bud Light is
everywhere. It’s what NoDa Brewing or Olde
Mecklenburg Brewery are to Charlotte—but
in Delaware, for a long time, we had only
one choice. Now we have Mispillion River, Big
Oyster, Fordham & Dominion, and about 20
others—remarkable for a state with a popula-
tion of less than a million.
In my early 20s, I liked Dogsh’s Namaste
White so much, I bought Namaste-avored
lip balm from the gi shop. Today, for every
birthday and Christmas, my dad still gives me a
six-pack of whatever Dogsh has in season. In
Charlotte, I scour bottle shops to nd the lime
green cap with a shark-shaped exclamation
point, which signals the ABV
is more than 15 percent. The
brewery calls it the “Dogsh
danger cap.”
I was a year old in 1995,
when Sam and Mariah
Calagione opened Dogsh
Head. As a young kid, I
remember my dad drink-
ing their agship 90 Minute
IPA as he cheered for the
Redskins—a good beer
helped curb the disappointment of Redskins
fanhood ever since their 1992 Super Bowl win.
Once I was old enough to drink, it was the rst
beer I tried (beat that, nameless-keg beer).
For those reasons, the brewery is like an
amusement park for me. My eyes are wide as a
tour guide shows us the fermentation process
and the cannery, and explains the beers’ notes
over a tasting, all for free.
Dogsh Head tastes like home. Even though
it’s widely available at most bottle shops and
grocery stores now—and, in May, merged with
The Boston Beer Co. (Samuel Adams)—I still
get a buzz of nostalgia when I see that shark
logo in Charlotte. Especially if the cap is lime
green. —E.W.Dogsh Head’s steampunk treehouse (above)
outside its Milton, Delaware, brewery. Dogsh
Head’s Palo Santo Marron (right).
COURTESYPALO SANTO
MARRON
DOGFISH HEAD BREWERY
STYLE: A wood-aged, unfiltered
brown ale with notes of
caramel and vanilla
ABV: 12 PERCENT THIS!TRY