Ocean City scrapbook
Jul. 18th, 2006 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serindeI tagged along with Brian to Ocean City, MD this weekend for some glorious Fun In The Sun[tm].
So this is a beach resort in the classic sense, and the direct descendant of places like Coney Island and Asbury Park. It's almost wall-to-wall hotels and rental apartments; I would say that less than 15% of the buildings do not contain some portion of tourist residency, and that might be a lowball estimate. There's a boardwalk along the beach with shops etc. (often on the first floor of hotels), a mix of eateries, beach/surf shops, jewelry stores, and the kind of place you see along St. Marks containing primarily t-shirts with crass mottos. (Though I think the world needs more shirts that say "You looked better on MySpace".) The character of the boardwalk changes as you go along--the north end is more shiny and genteel, then it gets cheesier as you proceed southward to the oldest section. The southern end is very Coney Island-esque, including two small amusement parks where you pay points for rides, and thereby get nickel-and-dimed to death.
Ocean City's beach is deeply superior. The water depth is up to about my shoulder for a good many feet out, so those who are less sure of themselves can still play in the good waves without too much worry. It's also the, and this is going to sound weird, but cleanest ocean water I've yet seen--there was very little seaweed or other wrack coming in and wrapping around you. Brian notes that they actually rake the beaches every night, and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sweh points out that most oceanside crap is from stuff that gets washed up and then circulates back in, so I'm guessing that's why.
There are baby dolphins cruising inshore! I didn't see them, but the couple who parasailed right before us did. We saw about 10 manta rays and a couple jellyfish, which look very creepy from above, let me add. Also saw wild ponies on Assateague Island. My eight-year-old self screamed in ecstatic delight.
I'm evolving a theory that there's some American college equivalent of the Grand Tour, only with more throwing up. They start at Mardi Gras, then go to Florida for spring break, then to Ocean City in the summer. The place was jam packed with loud drunken yobs, many of whom were drag racing their riced-up yutzmobiles up and down the boulevards. Since a lot of those roads are not over-supplied with traffic lights, there can be a definite Frogger element to crossing them. We did see one group of goobers in a shouting match with a little old lady in housecoat and curlers who was giving them whatfor, but I couldn't make out what the issue was. And then the cops showed up. I really would like to see the police blotter entry for that one.
The place also seems to be a Mecca for foreign students looking for summer work. I swear, there were more accents (proportionately speaking) in Ocean City than in The Great Melting Pot, here.
It is not in any way a food vacation, except insofar as junk food is concerned--ice cream, funnel cakes, fresh lemonade, fudge, that kind of thing. Those are all awesome. The restaurants, however, seem to answer to the lowest common denominator. (And you're paying NYC prices for it, at that.) It might be that the seafood is what to get, but since I was with a vegetarian, I may never know.
They aren't lifeguards now. They are Surf Rescue Technicians.
So this is a beach resort in the classic sense, and the direct descendant of places like Coney Island and Asbury Park. It's almost wall-to-wall hotels and rental apartments; I would say that less than 15% of the buildings do not contain some portion of tourist residency, and that might be a lowball estimate. There's a boardwalk along the beach with shops etc. (often on the first floor of hotels), a mix of eateries, beach/surf shops, jewelry stores, and the kind of place you see along St. Marks containing primarily t-shirts with crass mottos. (Though I think the world needs more shirts that say "You looked better on MySpace".) The character of the boardwalk changes as you go along--the north end is more shiny and genteel, then it gets cheesier as you proceed southward to the oldest section. The southern end is very Coney Island-esque, including two small amusement parks where you pay points for rides, and thereby get nickel-and-dimed to death.
Ocean City's beach is deeply superior. The water depth is up to about my shoulder for a good many feet out, so those who are less sure of themselves can still play in the good waves without too much worry. It's also the, and this is going to sound weird, but cleanest ocean water I've yet seen--there was very little seaweed or other wrack coming in and wrapping around you. Brian notes that they actually rake the beaches every night, and
sweh points out that most oceanside crap is from stuff that gets washed up and then circulates back in, so I'm guessing that's why. There are baby dolphins cruising inshore! I didn't see them, but the couple who parasailed right before us did. We saw about 10 manta rays and a couple jellyfish, which look very creepy from above, let me add. Also saw wild ponies on Assateague Island. My eight-year-old self screamed in ecstatic delight.
I'm evolving a theory that there's some American college equivalent of the Grand Tour, only with more throwing up. They start at Mardi Gras, then go to Florida for spring break, then to Ocean City in the summer. The place was jam packed with loud drunken yobs, many of whom were drag racing their riced-up yutzmobiles up and down the boulevards. Since a lot of those roads are not over-supplied with traffic lights, there can be a definite Frogger element to crossing them. We did see one group of goobers in a shouting match with a little old lady in housecoat and curlers who was giving them whatfor, but I couldn't make out what the issue was. And then the cops showed up. I really would like to see the police blotter entry for that one.
The place also seems to be a Mecca for foreign students looking for summer work. I swear, there were more accents (proportionately speaking) in Ocean City than in The Great Melting Pot, here.
It is not in any way a food vacation, except insofar as junk food is concerned--ice cream, funnel cakes, fresh lemonade, fudge, that kind of thing. Those are all awesome. The restaurants, however, seem to answer to the lowest common denominator. (And you're paying NYC prices for it, at that.) It might be that the seafood is what to get, but since I was with a vegetarian, I may never know.
They aren't lifeguards now. They are Surf Rescue Technicians.
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Date: 2006-07-18 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-18 06:00 pm (UTC)