The following pictures were taken from our recent trip to OC MD.
This would be the first time our family has officially made a trip out to Ocean City, Maryland. As a kid I spent most of my summers in OC New Jersey, and despite the New Jersey affiliation it is much different the OC MD. At one point the two cities by the ocean were probably very similar, but OC MD must have made a judgement call at one point to allow high rise development to occur, which started to displace or irradicate the smaller cottages that were once so prevalent along the shore. We spent the weekend at Maria's family beach cottage which was RIGHT ON THE BEACH. A short walk out the back door ensured prime towel real estate by the ocean. The East Coast in general has had a fair share of bad storms this summer (as has most of this country), and the beach had a very, very steep decline into the ocean as a result of the errosion. This can be difficult for small children to maneuver, and I had to constantly get Robert out of some sloppy waves. We went down to the OC MD boardwalk for some rides on the amusements, and some decadent food. Robert and Lili enjoyed every ride, and of course did not want to leave after the tickets were all used up. We had crabs at the "Crab Shack" one night, which was nice although it is a crying shame what crabs have amounted to lately. When I was a kid growing up in Annapolis, you could eat XL crabs until the cows came home....anything whimpy less that 6inches was just plain illegal. Now of course they serve almost everything less than 6in or so it seems. A couple of pitcher's of beer made me think less about the size of the crabs and more about the meat within. The kids got a little antzy, and so the evening ultimately boiled down to Matt and I eating crabs and drinking beer. And I might add that life really can be appreciated with a few dozen crabs and a couple pitchers of beer. We walked home that night, and to my chagrin realized that a city block in OC MD terms was more like 3 blocks in a normal city. A little longer to walk, but not a bad trade off. As usual, the drive back home always surprises me. I have been doing this drive to the beach for the better half of 30 years, and it always kills me that the same roads, and same number of lanes exist now as existed then. Where do all our taxes go??? My point is much like my point on any discussion...it's amazing how the developers are allowed to come in, build millions of new homes anywhere and everywhere, and yet the same old roads are still being used with no to little improvements. All in all we had a wonderful weekend, and were appreciative of the invite. My next post will be from the 4th of July parade in downtown fairfax from this last 4th of July.