Ocean City

I went to Ocean City, Maryland once as a child. I don’t really remember much of it other than having dinner. I think that was the first time I tried lobster (and very much enjoyed it). I don’t know why I’m mentioning it other than as a lame attempt at a segue.

On the way to Ocean City, we saw this bar (which I happen to think is very cleverly named):

Entering the main drag (Baltimore Avenue) of Ocean City:

The next few photos are from our drive down the main drag. There’s something about the look of beach towns that I love. All that tackiness and really bad taste, I suppose.

See what I mean?

No beach town would be complete without a Flamingo Motel or Hotel or some kind of -tel:

This is where we stayed (because we got a good “off season” rate):

The Spinnaker Motel wasn’t a bad place to stay. It’s in the southern part of Ocean City with some decent ocean views and only a half block from the boardwalk and the beach. The room was huge (an efficiency) and I could see us staying there for a week or two during the summer.

Ocean City, Maryland has a big St. Patrick’s Day parade every year. I’m not sure why they do this or what the history of it is. Did a lot of Irish folks settle in OC? Or is it just an excuse for a party? Inquiring minds want to know, but I’ve had no luck in finding information on the internet other than it’s an annual tradition.. Because of the parade, off season rates aren’t as low as the usual off season rates. Keep this in mind if you should get the urge to stay in OC during the off season.

We arrived too late for the parade, so we went right to our motel. After checking in, M and I went in search of a St. Patrick’s Day dinner (and maybe a few beers to go with it). One of the women working the front desk at the motel recommended a place that I can’t for the life of me remember the name of, which is either a reflection of my poor memory or a reflection of the fact that it wasn’t very memorable except for the hostess who was really into the spirit of the day:

Isn’t she cute? She made a great leprechaun, being a person of very small stature and big personality. She talked a big, beefy guy, filled with St. Patrick’s Day spirits, into giving her the little leprechaun on her shoulder.

The corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes dinner was the special (of course). It was pretty bad. Not inedible bad, as we did manage to eat it. But the corned beef wasn’t a real corned beef brisket. It was that lunch meat stuff, the kind of meat you really can’t identify other than it has the correct color for corned beef. The potatoes were canned and had that tinny taste that comes with canned potatoes. The cabbage, though, was quite good. Not overcooked, not undercooked. Just right.

All this was served on a paper plate with soft white bread that was pretending to be rye. The beer special, we were told, was served in a commemorative glass which turned out to be one of those cheap plastic cups with Miller Lite and leprechauns decorating it.

Cheap and tacky. We’d definitely hit the beach.

After dinner, we took a walk on the boardwalk. It was during this walk that it snowed. 🙂

We were the only fools out there walking in the cold, snow, and wind. It was a neat thing, having the boardwalk all to ourselves. I would imagine that it’s wall-to-wall people during the summer months.

The ocean looked pretty at sunset.

And M looked quite cold (if you look carefully, you might be able to spot a snowflake or two in this photo):

Next stop: Back to Assateague.

I leave you with one more photo. Make of it what you will.

Childish? Me?

Maybe just a little.  🙂