I tan on the inside

Ocean City, Maryland. I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I say those words or think of that place. I was introduced to OCMD in my early 20's and fell in love at first sight. I should say fell in love at first sunburn! I am very fair skinned. I get a sunburn driving the car let alone sitting in the sun on a sandy beach, but there is something about this wonderful place that gets me excited.

Growing up I was never a beach comber. Despite multiple applications of sun screen, the sun's rays still penetrate the block and scorch me. So, we never visited the beach. We were always at a campground, under trees and cooking outside or sitting next to a camp fire. And I love that too! It's still one of my favorite things to do, but the beach was always a place I wanted to visit and share with my kids. We have been visiting since my baby was one and that was 6 years ago. It's usually an expensive little jaunt, but I budget it regardless of my finances.

I love the boardwalk, window shopping and souvenir shopping. I always pick up a memento of our annual trip and keep them together on an OC shelf. We all get hermit crabs every season. Usually they die and we have funerals, then dig up the shells at the end of summer. I have had hermies crawl away and get lost only to be found a couple days later and poor Rey Mysterio crab...he crawled away never to be seen again. We get caramel pop corn, a tub of it to enjoy for a treat at home, and stopping into the Candy Kitchen is a must for fudge to take home and share with friends at work or family members that put in their order.


Since mine are young we visit Trimper's Rides and they ride from 1p-7p with their wrist band, over and over on the rides. Trimper's has rides for toddlers through teens. Each year as they grow up, they grow bolder and try different rides. They have yet to get on the loop-de-loop rollercoaster. They have conquered everything else.

The board walk stretches from the inlet to 27th street. It is filled at the inlet and downtown with multiple shops and eateries. I have to get Thrasher's french fries every year. A big bucket costs 10$ and I smother them with vinegar. They drip with vinegar. Dough Roller restaurant is another one of our must-go's. Food is abundant. Everything from cheap to pricy seafood. I start to get a hankering for the all-you-can-eat crabs around April. It's a joyous event ripping cooked crabs apart. They are smothered in old bay seasoning and just hot enough to get your mouth burning. I eat mine with a bottle of budweiser.

Everything is easily accessible without a vehicle. I love OCMD because I can park my mommy mobile and I can leave it parked for the entire trip. The bus runs 24/7 and is a dollar all day if you keep your stub. There is a boardwalk tram that runs from the inlet to 27th street all day. I prefer that. For 5 people it's 25$ round trip, but the view is awesome the entire ride. Dolphins swimming in the ocean and jumping out of the water. People watching as you ride by them. Kites flying on the sand. Water front hotels looming like giants over the boardwalk and sand.

OCMD is friendly to everyone of all ages. I have never had any unsettling incidents or seen one. There is nightlife if you want it, but I go for the family oriented stuff. The beach itself is clean and free. You find a spot and sit in it all day if you want and no one will bother you. The kids love the water and riding the shore front mini waves on their boogie boards. We comb the sand for shells and goodies. Every once in awhile we'll come across a horse shoe crab or a tangle of seaweed or a mass of a jelly fish that, to me, looks like a breast implant laying in the sand. Our group has never been stung.

For fun, Ripley's Believe It Or Not has a museum there. It's pricy, but fun. We didn't do it the last couple of years. If we go back a couple days in August, we are going. All the oddities you can think of are in the museum and the looming shark head that moves on top of the building...I think everyone takes a pic of it.

The weather has always been great. I like wearing next to nothing, sundresses to keep cool and flip flops. The boardwalk in OCMD has all kinds of family oriented activities.If it rained, it did so at night.

My favorite OCMD thing is definitely the water. I take my boogie board out in the ocean and float. That's it. I let the waves rock me back and forth and around. The water is crisp and soothing, like a massage from Mama Nature. Sunburn be damned. I tan on the inside.

SOM 6/26/11