Ocean City Maryland for the 4th of July, great views, sand, sun, beach, boardwalk, good eats, and good times
It's that time of year again where the people in the Northeastern areas of the USA, flock to the beaches or shores. Dependent on where you're from, you call it "down the shore" or "at the beach". In Philly, most people generally don't cross the center of New Jersey for beaches or shore towns. We leave those to the New Yorkers, although some will venture up the "Jersey Shore" area where Snookie and The Situation shack up for their show up in Seaside Heights or Point Pleasant. We have to be patriotic at this time and not worry about Snookie.
Most of the Philadelphians will go to the shore points beneath Atlantic City, NJ. Avalon, Ocean City (NJ), Wildwood aka The Wildwoods, Margate, Longport, Ventnor, Cape May, Sea Isle City, but then there are some who will travel the extra hour or more all the way down to Maryland to end up on Ocean City, Maryland. This is entirely different than Ocean City, NJ. One of the biggest differences is that the one in New Jersey is considered a dry town. There are no bars or anywhere else to procure alcohol. OCMD has liquor stores, bars on the streets, clubs, bars on the boardwalk. There are pros and cons to both of these scenarios, especially when you are vacationing with children. As adults, if you really want a drink in Ocean City, NJ, you drive 10 minutes over a bridge to nearby Somers Points or another city to a bar or a liquor store. You can also bring the alcohol back into the city for consumption in privacy of your own home (or rental space for the week).
The beach is also significantly larger in Ocean City, Maryland than it is in New Jersey. New Jersey's Ocean City is an island that is in a constant state of erosion. They keep dredging the sea bottom, to bring sand back up to the beach every year. OCMD doesn't have this issue at all.
The kids like the beach. They can dig for tiny sand crabs that are about the size of jellybean or so. The waves are good and will keep you bobbing up and down. I've been knocked down by them myself pretty good at times and you can see I'm a good sized guy.
The kids still fight over nothing, like taking one another's sand bucket or finding a shell, but they don't usually want to leave the beach for the day once we are set up.
Happy 4th of July! I am posting this today since I don't know how many readers there will be tomorrow in the USA. People end up busy at picnics and parties and BBQ's and actually leave the online world alone a little bit on those days.
They are usually occupied with family or friends that are actually live and in-person and not just online friends. For those that are not in the USA, you can still enjoy the pictures of my girlfriend (picture #2 is great), the beaches, Atlantic ocean and the kids having a good time.
This town is loaded with things to do. I had already a done a previous posting about eating at the crepes restaurant recently, if you follow me. I had also posted some rainbow pictures that came after a crazy black clouded storm came in fast from the ocean one time as well. Feel free to have a look at my blog for those if you are interested in more. I still have more OCMD pictures to post as well. I have video of boating out in the bay when we rented a boat that is pretty fun and interesting too.
Looks like a fun day at the beach. I just picked up a Paddleboard from Costco recently so have been at the beach pretty much every weekend lately
Paddle boarding has become a whole lot more popular lately. Not just down the shore, but in places like Cancun or other tropical vacation spots. It good exercise and requires good balance and keeps water out of your face too if you've got reasonably still waters to navigate and play around in.
Yeah in addition to being a lot of fun adn a cool way to see stuff you otherwise wouldn't be able to get to its a great workout as well. Great workout for your core and shoulders and arms. My gf last night was like your looking pretty buff today have you been working out, I'd been out paddleboarding the past couple days so definitely a good workout although i must admit my shoulder is killing me the past few days
Costco has some great deals on paddleboards. I'd been wanting to get one but was kind of turned off by the idea of paying $1,000 or $1500 and not really being sure how much use I would get out of it.
Costco has a great hard board on sale for $299 and I picked up an inflatable body glove board for $399, it comes with everything the pump, duffle bag, etc so the whole thing can be thrown in your trunk and carried to the beach in a backpack. I was a bit hesitant to buy an inflatable as I didn't know how sturdy it would be but I was very impressed. Here's a photo of my first time out on it just off the Chicago Skyline at Montrose Beach
Nice. Great view. From that perspective, it looks like you're really far out but you say your just off the beach so it is just a far away view of the city. That's cool. I've been to Chicago for business more than any other city in the USA, so I like these lake views.