Dear friends,
One of the best things my father did was to buy a beachfront house in Lewes, DE in 1944 for $10,000. I had a marvelous childhood. Fishing, crabbing, swimming, and everything that our beach community offered made it special. Every year my cousins Rick and Elaine Heugh rented the house next door to us. The Lewes Yacht Club was a special place, and the Lewes Beach kids really enjoyed it.
My father had a great boat named the Tide Runner, which made me the king of the Beach. I was in love with Dosie Bayard, which made things even better. One weekend, my dad took my cousin Rick Heugh and me, along with my other cousin Bill Poulterer and his friend Ned Maull, to Two Mile Beach in Cape May, NJ, where we had a fabulous camping trip.
Folks, life could not have been better. Those lazy, delightful days of sun and salt water with my many friends were indeed something special. That’s the way it was in Lewes, Delaware, during that special time. Looking back, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, the Mark Twain characters, had no advantage over this young man and my special friends. Such was life.
That was the way it was, and I wish I could go back, but I can’t. So be it.
Yours truly,
JUDSON Bennett-Coastal Network
Please follow me on LinkedIn:
Captain Judson Bennett on LinkedIn
Judson Bennett
Author
Captain A. Judson Bennett was a life- long resident of Lewes, DE. He served the maritime industry for 33 years, primarily as a Delaware River Pilot, guiding large ships to the Port of Philadelphia. Captain Bennett has been an active and consistent entrepreneur over the years.
He was elected as a Lewes City Councilman for 6 years. Afterwards he ran for the Sussex County Council as a Republican, and with 20 thousand people voting, lost Delaware’s closest election by 3 votes to an 8 year incumbent. Abandoning his personal political ambitions, he became the Republican District leader, advocating conservative values. Captain Bennett became a lobbyist in the state legislature advocating among many ideas, financial literacy concepts in education. He managed several political campaigns, including one for Governor of Delaware and one for the US Senate against VP Joe Biden. He is now the owner, operator, and writer for the Coastal Network which communicates regularly with over 6000 people throughout the State of Delaware.
Captain Bennett is a graduate of St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, DE (where the movie “The Dead Poet’s Society was filmed) and also graduated “Magna Cum Laude” from the University of Delaware with a BA in Criminal Justice and an MA in Liberal Studies.
He is now a Widower, living in West Palm Beach, Florida. Captain Bennett has one son, three grandchildren, and one great grand-daughter, all who live in Richmond, Virginia.
