In Trendy Locale, Sea Changes Ahead

8 p.m. The Dogfish Head brewpub (320 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-226-2739) rarely imposes a cover for its local and regional live music. Get the bartender to set you up with a tasting from the brewery's dozen or so various taps -- the mini-brewery inside the restaurant makes some of the company's most off-beat beers -- and cut the damage with a wood-grilled pizza. Finish with the espresso bock, and you'll be ready to rally.

10:30 p.m. Step next door. The restaurant may be brand-new, but the impressive hand-carved oak and mahogany bar at Finbar (318 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-227-1873) -- named after the furniture maker himself, not his creation -- goes back to 1873 (hence the phone number) and the prints around the walls nearly as old. If you're tired of suds, here's plenty of Irish whiskeys to go around.

Midnight By now you and your voice should be well lubricated, so join the karaoke junkies at the Purple Parrot & Bird Cage Bar (134 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-226-1139). Let your bird fly free.

SUNDAY

11:30 a.m. If there's one thing New Orleans vets know, it's hangover cures. Follow their example, and chase your bloody mary with a plate of raw oysters at the new but already old-friendly Fins Fish House & Raw Bar (243 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-226-3467). The slate usually lists a half-dozen types of oysters; order a sampler with liberty and extra Tabasco for all.

12:30 p.m. Brunch at the Back Porch Cafe (59 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-227-3674) is one of the nicest al fresco choices around, what with its two decks and a breezeway full of tables. If you're lucky, they may be serving fresh shad roe, but almost anything goes well with good sparkling wine: "J" by the glass for $9 or Taittinger by the half for $33.

On the way home The beach resorts are full of barbecue joints, but nothing beats the real charcoal-grilled chicken at the Kiwanis stand on Route 113 just east of Delaware Tech (near Georgetown) and on 404 at Route 36 past Bridgeville.

Side Track

If you and your SO are fleeing a particularly stressful week, consider a spa treatment. Rehoboth, the body-conscious beach resort, has a half-dozen spas, including the large one at the Bellmoor Inn (6 Christian St.; 302-227-5800 or 800-425-2355). The couples massage there will run you $180 for 50 minutes of bliss.

Staff Writer Eve Zibart is more wild pony than wetsuit, but she can't resist a haunted house.

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