Family Fun for Everyone on the Ocean City Boardwalk

  

  The smells of cameral popcorn, funnel cake, and pizza penetrate the air, mixing with the smells of sunscreen and salty sea air on the two-and-a-half mile long Ocean City Boardwalk. The boardwalk, which is dotted with amusement pier rides, souvenir shops, boutiques, three miniature golf courses, and eateries, is the place to be if you’re visiting Ocean City.

      The atmosphere is family-friendly and most boardwalk visitors are young children being pushed in strollers or running ahead of their parents, elderly people sitting on the benches, and teenagers looking to grab a bite to eat or play in the arcades. The only thing visitors have to worry about are the seagulls that love to swoop in a snatch food. However, if you visit the boardwalk between five in the morning and noon you have to dodge the roller bladers, bike riders, and skateboarders.

     I love visiting the two amusement piers on the boardwalk. While Gilligan’s Wonderland Pier has many wonderful rides such as the log flume and Runaway Train Rollercoaster, it is targeted to a younger audience. I prefer visiting spending my hard-earned cash at Playland’s Castaway Cove. There are many different thrill rides at Castaway Cove, but my favorite rides are the Python, the only up-side down roller coaster in Ocean City, and the Double Shot, which shoots riders 110 feet into the air.

I am deathly afraid of heights and I always have to take deep breathes while waiting in line, but in the end I’m always glad I didn’t chicken out because the views of the beach and boardwalk are beautiful, especially at sunset.

     After riding the rides I love visiting Jilly’s Arcade and playing skee ball and the crane games. The crane games are my favorite because I am always determined to win something. It would probably be cheaper to just buy whatever prize I am trying to win, but I am always determined to beat the crane. It takes concentration and finding the prize in the best position, but after several tries I am usually successful at capturing my prize. Half of the machines offer tacky and cheap stuffed toys and the only reason I play is to beat the machine. However, some cranes, such as the ones in Wildwood, NJ, offer fabulous prizes such as COACH wristlets, baseball jerseys, and Apple iPods. I have never won any fabulous prizes, but every time I am on the Wildwood Boardwalk I give it a few tries, but I always know when to walk away.

     I love finishing my night of walking the boards by sitting on a bench and eating a strawberry sorbetto from Lolly’s Ice Cream, which severs gelato and dairy free sorbetto. The strawberry sorbetto tastes like fresh strawberries and, if you like chocolate covered strawberries, there is also a chocolate sorbetto that tastes like fudge.

     If you are not hungry for any of the delicious boardwalk treats, you can always visit one of the several salt-water taffy shops or fudge shops buy some homemade treats. Most of the places offer free samples if you are planning on purchasing something. My favorite part of shopping for fudge is sampling the various flavors before settling on plain chocolate, cookies and cream, and vanilla.

    Eating my sorbetto and people watching from my bench is my favorite way to end my beach adventures.  

For a complete list of shops located on the Ocean City Boardwalk click here 

Lucy the Elephant Struck by Lightning

    Several weeks ago I visited and wrote about Margate's beloved Lucy the Elephant, the National Historic Landmark located on Decatur Avenue and the beach. Lucy, who is going to celebrate her 130th birthday on July 23, was struck by lightning for the second time in two years over the holiday weekend.
     Thankfully Lucy survived with no damage to her outer structure, though the strike did damage her climate control system, computer and office electronics, the alarm system, and the communications system. If you are planning to visit Lucy I recommend bringing cash because credit cards are currently not being accepted due to the damage to the computer system.
    For all those planning on attending Lucy's 130th birthday party on July 23, don't worry because the Friends of Lucy are not letting a lightning strike stop them from throwing her a grand party as is befitting for a lady of her years.

4th of July at the Jersey Shore

Happy Birthday America! There is only one place to be this weekend and that is the shore. However, there were not a lot of people on the beach yesterday, which shocked me.
     Yesterday I decided to venture down to Ocean City with my family even though I expected to have to fight traffic, something I hate since sitting in traffic frustrates me. However, there was no one on the road. I concluded that people must have left Thursday night to get a head start on the four day weekend so I expected the beach to be full of people. After a traffic free drive, I arrived in Ocean City and, to my surprise, it wasn't that crowded. Of course there were people on the beach, after all it was a beautiful day with a bright blue, cloudless sky, but not as many as I thought there would be.
     I'm sure the beaches of South Jersey will be busy throughout the weekend, especially with so many activities taking place along the coast. From fireworks to bike parades there is something to please everyone. For more information on Independence Day events at the shore click here.
     I will not be one of the many that will flock to the shore since I have to work, but the water is warm, the ice cream is cold, and the atmosphere is festive making it the perfect place to celebrate America's birthday.