Spring Break

Spring Break
4/4/2010 8:03:07 PM
Since the kids had a week off of school we decided to do a couple nights at Ocean City, Maryland. It's a few hours from here and a popular summer spot with people locally. A pretty cheesy "Coney Island" type place along the ocean with a boardwalk, arcades, rides, cotton candy - and a menagerie of characters. Our first stop was a little town nearby called Lewes, which is more on the upscale side, with a quaint little downtown, an old cemetery and beautiful homes. Ocean City, located on a peninsula with the ocean on one side and a bay on the other, however, was a long strip of high rises, strip malls and cheap hotels -- one of which was ours. After checking in and wandering the boardwalk a bit we went in search of dinner - but it since it was early April there weren't many places open and we had to settle on a overcooked buffet. We noticed a couple stores everywhere we went - namely, Candy Kitchen and Sunsations (a beach store chain) - so Patrick took to counting them. The next day we took in Assateague - a wildlife refuge that's home to wild ponies - and walked the beach. Perfect for Martha - but frustrating for the boys ("like we don't have horses at home?"). On the way back we stopped for lunch in another quaint little town called Berlin whose claim to fame is the location for the film "Runaway Bride." So now that we'd done several things for Martha, it was the boy's turn.....so we headed back to the boardwalk. Chris and Patrick wandered arcades while Martha, Nathan and I rented a surrey-type bicycle and rode the length of the boardwalk - 27 blocks and back. Patrick actually blew more than $18 trying to win an iPod touch from some machine! Then back to the hotel for a rest and dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Tequila Mockingbird (cute!). The next day - Friday - we took in one of the dozens of mini-golf joints (we really jammed on all the cheesy stuff!) then did the boardwalk one last time -- doing bumper cars, taffy apples and funnel cakes. Then homeward bound - though we stopped in Annapolis on the way home. The Maryland state capitol and the U.S. Naval Academy surround this jumping, trendy town (cute, again!) Had lunch an an Irish pub where Patrick mistakenly ordered a turkey club; then walked among the crowds on a beautiful day eating ice cream and then the final drive home. All in all, a nice diversion.